Way of the Samurai: The Battle Continues
by Lily Hanson
Summary: Follows Way of the Samurai and all the little stories in between. The life of a Samurai is a dangerous life and with Master Xandred and the Nighlok back from the Netherworld, life is about to get so much harder.
1. Moving Forward

_Dislclaimer: I do not own anything_

_Author's Note: So here's my "season two". With the show coming back (finally), I'll be able to get all my ideas running together. If there's anyone coming in just now, here's a warning: you're going to be terribly lost._

_This story follows Way of the Samurai and all the little stories and oneshots in between. If you don't like being lost, I suggest you read those first._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

><p>Kevin hugged Mia as the two of them stood by the door and watched Serena sit on the bench and play her flute. She hadn't said anything to anyone since her parents had left. She knew her father was ready to support her with anything she needed, but her mother had walked out, never promising to come back.<p>

In some ways, Serena thought this was worse than anything she had ever imagined. At least, if they had both been angry with her, they wouldn't have been torn apart so deeply. She didn't know how this was going to affect their relationship once they got home. Her father supported her and it seemed her mother wanted nothing to do with her anymore.

"You should talk to her," Kevin whispered in Mia's ear.

"I tried," Mia sighed. "She just sits there and nods along with everything I say. I know she's upset but she doesn't want to show it.

"This might be something she only wants to talk to Emily about," Jayden said softly as he stepped outside, "Dinner's ready if you two are hungry."

"Starved," Kevin nodded and kissed Mia's cheek before he headed inside to see what Mentor Ji and Antonio had cooked for dinner.

Mia didn't budge and Jayden stepped up beside her. The two of them stood in silence as they watched Serena. They both felt terrible. Announcing her pregnancy, while it needed to be done, hadn't been helpful to the mother-to-be at all. If anything, it had set her back miles from where she needed to be emotionally. They knew her father was on her side, but his support would always come with a price. If Serena's mother couldn't accept the baby, the strain on her relationship with her husband would only worsen until it finally snapped. Now, not only did Serena have to worry about bringing a baby into this world, but she had to worry about keeping it safe from the Nighlok, she had to worry about how this would affect the Rangers, she had to worry about how this would hurt Emily, and she had to worry about her parents' relationship. Nothing would ever erase her guilt if she knew her parents split up because of her pregnancy.

The Rangers all knew this. It had been evident in Serena's eyes the minute her mother turned away from her. Her pain made the Rangers want to help her out more, though. Even Mentor Ji was a lot more sympathetic around Serena, promising her a permanent place in his home even after the Rangers' duties were done. He was certain his offer was only a back-up for Serena, who would probably rather live with her sister and possibly Mike, but it was something that needed to be done. Not only did it help him feel like he was doing something to make her life a little easier, but it comforted Serena to know that if all else failed, she had a home with people who loved her.

Jayden's eyes strayed over to Mia and he watched her for a moment. He knew how hard this was for Serena, but it was also taking its toll on Mia. The pink Ranger was a nurturer. She took care of her friends and family, especially when there was no one else there to help. The situation Serena found herself in only made Mia's nurturing instincts stronger. The Wind Samurai wanted to help and she wanted to make things better, but she didn't know how. She was stressing herself out. Mia's only saving grace was Kevin, who also wanted to help Serena. His support lightened Mia's self-imposed burden and actually helped his relationship with his fiancée. Whether they knew it or not, they had stepped up to care for Serena unconditionally; almost as if they were taking over the role of her parents while things were complicated.

Antonio was doing his best to help out too. He had taken a few parenting classes in high school, so he was already a step ahead of the Rangers when it came to knowing what was happening to Serena and what to expect, but now that Serena's parents weren't in the picture he was really stepping up to be the man with the answers. He knew the best foods an expectant mother could eat and he knew remedies for her morning sickness (which Emily was thankful for because it meant she could actually sleep at night and no longer curst the bastard who called it _morning_ sickness).

Jayden was going to help in another way. The baby, while important, was a distraction. The Rangers were going to need something else to focus on from time to time if they wanted to survive the long months. Keeping them on top of their training would help take their minds off the stress of pregnancy.

"You should eat," he whispered to Mia. The pink Ranger nodded her head and made her way inside. Jayden glanced over at the garden to Serena. He didn't want to leave her all alone. Not when she was so vulnerable. Deciding to eat later, he took a seat on the steps and looked up at the stars while Serena's music danced through the air.

-Samurai-

The giant turtle swam right past the glass as he put on a last minute show for the yellow and green Rangers who were standing on the other side of the glass watching. Mike was rather impressed on the turtle's swimming skills, but Emily could barely take her eyes off the floor. She wasn't in the mood to look at fish. She wasn't in the mood to be on a date. She wasn't in the mood for anything.

When Mike didn't hear her laughing at the turtle he took her hand and sat her down on the bench. They were the only two in this section of the aquarium and he was sure the fish weren't going to eavesdrop on their conversation. He tucked her hair behind her ears and smiled at her.

"They aren't mad at you," he whispered gently to her. Emily shrugged her shoulders.

"It could have been me."

"How so? It's not like we've done anything irresponsible."

"Less than a year ago Serena was dying; there was no way she was going to recover. It was only a matter of time. You'd think my parents would take advantage of the second chance they have with her, even if she's pregnant."

"Your father is on your side," Mike assured Emily as he pulled her into his chest.

"Mom's not. What if she never comes around?"

"Your mother loves you, and Serena. This is just a little hard for her to deal with. Personally, if she can't be committed, it's best if she stays away."

"Am I going to have to choose?" Emily asked, looking up at Mike with teary eyes. "When mom wants to have the family over for dinner… do I leave Serena behind?"

"You do what you want."

"I want my mom," Emily muttered sadly.

"Serena will understand…"

"I can't do that to her!" Emily shouted. Mike had to calm her before she scared the fish and the other people walking around the aquarium. "I can't choose between her and mom."

"No one is ever going to ask you to choose," Mike assured her, taking both her hands in his. "Serena is a wonderful older sister who would move mountains for you. She really wouldn't care if you wanted to keep a relationship with your mother. That relationship should not be affected in anyway by Serena and the way your mother feels about your sister."

"What about mom? What if… what if mom invites me to dinner and… and I can't go because I have to help Serena… will she get mad?"

"She shouldn't," Mike wasn't as sure about this one. He didn't know her mother like he knew Serena, but one thing was sure: no good mother would ever put this kind of stress on her daughter. "Emily, if your mother does get mad because you cancel a dinner to help your sister when she needs it, she's not worth the effort."

"Who? My mom or Serena?"

"Your mother. Both, actually. If either of them force you into the middle and ask you to choose, send them to me."

"What about mom and dad? This isn't some disagreement on what to do with the litter of puppies our dog had. They won't argue and then go to bed all lovey-dovey because it doesn't matter. This is their daughter and their grandchild. Even if they can ignore it for years, it's going to come up. I can't choose between my parents."

"You won't have to," Mike promised her. "No one will ask you to choose, Emily. And if they do, tell them where they can go. You have a right to your own opinion on this matter and you have a right to have a relationship with everyone you choose. If they don't want you, that's their problem."

Mike kissed her cheek before spotting a playful otter dive under the water and swim around, having the time of his life. He gently pulled Emily from her seat and raced over to the otter. When he stood in front of the glass he wrapped his arms around Emily. The otter, seeing he had an audience, decided now was the best time to dance around. Mike watched with a smile on his face. The otter was really funny. But what really warmed his heart was Emily's laugh when the otter began to play with her on the other side of the glass, sticking its nose right up against the transparent wall, he began to make faces.

-Samurai-

Antonio noticed Mia's bowl of ice-cream was completely melted when he joined her in the common room. He was insulted at first; who let perfectly good ice-cream go to waste? Then he saw Mia was staring at the city map on the table and he realised why the ice-cream had died tragically. Mia was caught up in something else.

"A watched city never needs help," he told her as he took a seat. "Do you think a Nighlok's going to turn up if you keep staring them down?"

Mia pointed to a red spot on the map, "That's Dayu."

"She's in the city?" Antonio frowned. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe a watched city did need help.

Mia nodded her head, "I don't think she's going to do anything. I've been waiting for her to make a move for half an hour."

"That explains the ice-cream," Antonio leaned forward in his seat to get a good look at the map, "She's barely even in the city."

"She's stalking the forest," Mia whispered and her eyes strayed to the window. Serena was still sitting outside. She was worried Dayu was after the older Samurai, which had been why she wanted to check up on the Nighlok, but now she had gotten carried away with Dayu.

"Our forest?" Antonio was alarmed now too. Dayu and Serena did not get along, and once Dayu found out her precious Dekker's firstborn (hopefully) belonged to Serena, she wouldn't stop until Serena, the baby, and possibly the entire team of Rangers was dead.

"She's not doing anything," Mia breathed. "She just keeps walking around."

Mia reached over to the map and pulled up another sector of the city, "Dekker's on this side."

"I get why you're keeping tabs on Dayu," Antonio frowned. "You've got this thing about figuring her out and she's likely going to try and kill Serena again, but why Dekker?"

"Dayu might be looking for him," Mia said. "That might be why she hadn't done anything."

"When is Dayu not looking for Dekker? Besides, what does it matter? Serena doesn't want him back. I say let Dayu get her man. Maybe he'll do to her like he did to Serena."

Mia glared at Antonio, "That's a terrible thing to say! You don't know the first thing about Dayu."

"What do you know?" Antonio asked Mia. "From what Dayu's shown me she doesn't deserve the man she wants. She deserves someone who will treat her the way she treated Serena. She's half-human but she's a straight-up bitch."

Antonio picked up Mia's melted bowl of ice-cream, "I'm going to see if there's anything I can do to save this poor soul," he pouted as he walked into the kitchen.

Mia nodded her head, "Same here."

-Samurai-

Jayden saw Mike and Emily approaching the Shiba House after their date at the aquarium and headed inside for his dinner. Serena would be safe with the youngest Samurai and he was starving.

Serena had also seen her sister and the green Ranger headed home and put down her flute. She felt a little light-headed from playing so long but that quickly wore off and she chuckled when she saw a stuffed otter in her sister's arms.

"You visited the gift shop?" she asked even though she knew the answer. She gave Mike a look. She had only given him enough money for admission.

"Support the otters," Mike pumped his fists in the air, "Those little buggers are pretty funny."

"And cute," Emily nodded. She turned her look to Serena, noting the tear stains on her cheek. "Are you okay?"

Serena nodded, "Better now."

"Will a little stuffed Nemo make you feel even better?" Mike pulled out a Nemo toy from behind his back and presented it to Serena. "I had some money left over and thought I would get you something too."

"You didn't have to," Serena smiled as she accepted the gift.

"It's a toy for your Nemo," Mike said, "but until the baby's born you can hold onto it."

"Thanks, Mike," Serena hugged the gift close to her chest with one arm while the other pulled Mike in for a hug. Nothing could outdo the blanket her sister had given her baby, but there was something special about her child's toy that seemed to make the pregnancy all the more real and exciting to her. It was something she could hold and hug, especially seeing as her stomach was still rather flat.

"Like I said, extra money," Mike nodded. He then gestured to the house. It was getting late and very dark. He didn't want to keep the two girls outside. "It's been a long day. I think I'm ready for bed."

"I have to tell Mia about the otter first," Emily bounced excitedly as she ran into the Shiba House to find her Ranger sister. Mike took this time to talk to Serena.

"Dude, you're totally cool if Emily wants to have a relationship with your mom, right?"

Serena looked at Mike like he had just asked her what colour the sky was. "Are you stupid?"

"That's a yes?"

"Dumbass," Serena muttered and started to walk away. Mike grabbed her arm, holding her back.

"Serena… I know this is going to be really, really tough, but you do have a loving family behind you. No matter what happens, we're here for you."

"I know," Serena nodded. "I won't ever doubt that."

"Good. I didn't just buy Nemo because Emily thought it would be cute. Junior's part of my family too."

"Thanks," Serena smiled.


	2. Mia Heads Out

Kevin couldn't help but laugh when he finally found his fiancée. She hadn't come to bed the night before. At first he just thought she would pull a late-nighter and study up on Dayu, but when he woke up that morning he saw her side of the bed was completely made. He walked out of his room in search for her and found her asleep in a book.

"Mia," he whispered in her ear, "Mia…"

Mia stirred but didn't wake up. Kevin pulled the book out from under her head as well as the notes she had taken. Pages were filled completely. Left to right, top to bottom, it was a miracle Mia could keep track of all this information. She read books over and over again, trying to put the pieces together and fill in the blanks on Dayu's story, but she could never get it.

She was determined now more than ever. Getting to know Dayu would give them a small advantage in keeping Serena safe from the crazy Nighlok. Ensuring Serena's safety would mean the should-be-yellow would have one less thing to worry about during her pregnancy. This meant she would be less stressed. Mia wanted Serena to feel less stressed and more relaxed. She was doing this to help.

"Mia," Kevin called her name again and lightly tapped her head with the papers. Mia yawned and opened her eyes. She looked around.

"Did I fall asleep?"

"Yes."

"Oh," Mia looked around for the clock and saw the time, "It's still early."

"I thought the bed would be a little more comfortable for you," Kevin suggested, "unless you find books to be more comfortable than pillows."

"I should do a little more…"

Sleeping," Kevin interrupted as he scooped her up in his arms and carried her back to their room. He set her down in their bed and kissed her forehead. "You've done a lot. How about you take a break today and you and I can make dinner for the Rangers? We haven't cooked together in a long time."

"Deal," Mia nodded before drifting off to sleep. Kevin smiled again and then tip-toed out of the room to get started on his breakfast.

-Samurai-

"Serena… Serena… Serena…"

Serena felt like a child again. She was trying to sleep in but her little sister was determined to wake her up early. She pretended like she was still sleeping and hoped Emily would quiet down and relax, but that didn't work. She should have known. It never worked.

"Serena… Serena… Serena…"

Serena rolled over and pressed her face into her pillow. If she couldn't ignore her sister's calls she was going to muffle them out.

"Serena… Serena… Serena…"

That didn't work.

"Go bug Mike," she grumbled and waved her arm in the direction of Mike's bed. Now she was regretting not letting the couple share a bed. She trusted them, especially when she was in the room with them all night, but the last thing she wanted was to fell like she was intruding. Sharing a bed with her sister made her feel like Mike was the one intruding on sister time, and that wasn't nearly as awkward.

"I can't. He's sleeping."

"What do you think I'm doing?"

"You're sleeping on my seal," Emily whispered. It was then Serena realised there was something pressing against her chest. She propped herself up and found Emily's toy seal from the aquarium had lodged itself between her and the mattress sometime during the night. She ripped the seal out and tossed it to her sister's face before dropping back into her pillow. She felt Emily laying back into bed and counted backwards from five. Just as she reached one she felt Emily moving again.

Before her sister could speak, she lifted her head, "Don't bother. I'm up too."

"Are you sure?"

It was just like when they were kids.

Serena nodded, threw off the blankets and pushed herself out of bed. She turned around to Emily and held her arms out lazily, "See? I'm up. I'm…"

"Uh oh," Emily whispered when she saw her sister's face turn green. Serena nodded slowly before racing off to the bathroom, with Emily hot on her trail.

Mike opened one eye as the two sisters ran to the bathroom. He winced and his face twisted in disgust when he heard Serena retching into the toilet. He then checked the time and saw he had woken up right on time for breakfast. But his eyes widened when he realised what that meant. If Kevin, who was now making breakfast every morning, had cooked even one egg, Serena would be vomiting all morning.

Mike jumped out of bed and raced to the kitchen to stop the disaster before it happened.

-Samurai-

After a puke-y morning, the all the Rangers but one were outside in the yard practicing their swordsmanship before dinner. Jayden, Mike, Emily, Antonio and Kevin were hard at work, training with all the strength they had while Mentor and Serena supervised.

Mia, meanwhile, was inside. She was no longer focused on the history books, but now her gaze was on the city map. Dayu had been off the map for a few hours, but had suddenly turned up again, this time in the city. The Gap Sensor hadn't yet gone off, so Mia was sure she wasn't terrorizing any citizens, but it was still concerning behaviour from the Nighlok. Mia couldn't help but wonder why Dayu was even in the human world if she wasn't causing any misery.

Biting her lip thoughtfully, Mia decided it was time to do some investigating. She had promised herself she wouldn't get carried away in this work, but now it was important. She was doing this to protect the Samurai. They were counting on her to figure out Dayu. Serena was counting on her to keep her safe. Mia wouldn't learn anything about Dayu through books.

Grabbing a few grocery bags, Mia decided to head into town. She would tell the Rangers she wanted to pick up supplies for the dinner she and Kevin planned on making. It wasn't a complete lie. Dayu was near the grocery store and Mia did need a few extra ingredients that weren't in the house.

Smiling brightly, Mia walked out into the yard.

"Hey, guys!"

Everyone turned to her and noticed she was in her regular clothing. Unless she wanted to get her clothes dirty, she wasn't coming to train with the rest of them.

"Where are you going?" Serena frowned.

"Picking up a few things for dinner tonight," Mia gestured to the bag on her arm and then looked over at Kevin. He nodded his head. He had promised they would cook together and the fridge didn't have everything they were going to need.

"Do you want someone to come with you?" he asked his fiancé. It was against the rules that the Rangers venture out alone. The Nighlok could easily go after them while they were defenceless.

Mia, however, shook her head. She pulled out her Samuraizer.

"It'll be on," she said, "and the Gap Sensor's working fine. I'm good by myself."

She didn't want anyone coming with her and interfering. She needed to do this on her own. She had all the pieces of the puzzle and Dayu could put them together for her. An extra set of hands would just get in the way.

"Are you sure?" Mentor Ji frowned, obviously troubled by the pink Ranger's insistence to go out on her own.

"At least take Scruffy with you," Emily suggested. "He's extra hyper today. He could use the extra walk."

"He can't come with me inside the…" Mia noted the seven pair of eyes glaring at her and sighed loudly, "I'll figure it out."

She headed back inside, called the dog, clipped on the leash and was finally on her way out.


	3. Goodnight Rangers

Training continued as usual, even though the Rangers were missing Mia. That didn't stop them from working hard, though, as they practiced hitting dummies to finish off the day.

Serena kept one eye on the Rangers' training, but her other eye lingered on the gate to the Shiba House and she couldn't help but wonder why Mia insisted on leaving on her own. She knew the pink Ranger had been studying Dayu relentlessly since learning of Serena's pregnancy with Dekker's child and Serena couldn't help but think Mia's little trip had something to do with Dayu.

She shook her head before her own mind wandered. She trusted Mia and the other Rangers would keep her safe from Dayu. She didn't want to think about the crazy Nighlok who had nearly gotten her killed twice. The more she thought about Dayu, the more she wondered why Dayu had an obsession with Dekker. The more she thought of Dayu's obsession with Dekker, the more she thought about Dekker. The more she thought about Dekker, the more she thought about her child and the fatherless-life he or she was going to leave. The more she thought about her child, the more she wondered if she made the right decision.

Again she shook her head. Of course she had made the right decision. A child was innocent. Dekker was a monster. As her child's mother it was her responsibility to keep her baby safe from anyone or anything that could hurt it, including its father.

Over on the mat, Emily noticed her sister seemed distant and worried and it began to worry her. Nothing had gone right for Serena since learning of her pregnancy and Emily was scared this would wear Serena down to the point where it was impossible to get back up. Emily lowered her sword to her side and made her way over to her sister.

"Are you okay?"

Serena looked down at Emily and nodded, "I'm fine."

"Want to hit my dummy for a few minutes?" Emily held out her sword, "Pretend its mom's head. It's not mean because it's not actually mom."

"It's okay, Emy. I'm fine."

"You don't look fine."

"I am fine."

"But…"

"Emily, stop talking about mom."

"Sorry…" Emily lowered her gaze. Serena saw this and her expression softened. She took the sword from her sister as the boys gathered around to see if they could help.

"I'm sorry, Emy," Serena said to her sister as she set the sword aside. "I was just thinking and it wasn't about mom. Not this time."

"What were you thinking about, then?" Mike asked.

"Do you think Mia's going to find Dayu?" Serena looked over at the boys, but Kevin in particular. He knew Mia the best.

"She wouldn't," he shook his head. "She promised herself she wouldn't get carried away with Dayu."

"Are you worried about Dayu?" Emily asked. "She won't come near you, Serena. I promise."

"I know, Emy."

"It's natural for her to worry, Em," Jayden assured the younger Samurai. "It doesn't mean she doesn't trust us."

"I'm fine," Serena promised her sister. "My thoughts just… stray sometimes. It's nothing to worry about. I'll tell you if I'm freaking out."

Serena turned and made her way inside. The Rangers stood in silence for a moment, exchanging looks between each other.

-Samurai-

Mia hadn't seen Dayu when she first reached the city so she decided to head into the story to pick up some groceries. Before she could enter, though, she needed to figure out what to do with Scruffy.

The sound of music reached her ears and Mia looked over to see a man entertaining people with his guitar. She looked down at Scruffy who seemed completely absorbed by the music. If anything happened to the dog, Emily would be furious, but Mia thought she could trust the man.

She approached him as he played and dropped a five dollar bill in his case. When he looked up to her to smile and thank her for the donation Mia decided to ask for her favour.

"I have to run into the store," she said. "Would you mind watching Scruffy for me? My little sister would freak if anything happened to him."

She hoped that by playing the little sister card the man would be more inclined to agree. He did, nodding his head. His held out his hand to take the leash.

"Does the dog enjoy music?"

"My sister plays the flute for him sometimes," Mia shrugged. "He won't make a sound, I swear."

"Let him sing," the man smiled and gave the dog a pat on the head. "Get what you need; he'll be safe with me."

"Thanks," Mia hurried inside the grocery store. It wasn't busy; it was still the middle of the day, so most people were at work. She grabbed what she needed, paid for it, and made her way back outside.

The first thing she saw was Scruffy racing away from her, she went to chase after the dog but was nearly trampled as dozens of people came running past her, screaming a terrified scream. She turned to see what they were running from and noticed Dayu had the man who played the guitar in her grasp and she was dragging him off. Mia hurried to a hidden spot in the plaza, morphed and then raced over to Dayu before she could take the man away.

"Let him go!" Mia shouted, swinging her sword at Dayu. The Nighlok evaded each and every swing and used her Shamisen to block several swipes.

"You want him so bad?" Dayu called back before throwing the man at Mia, "Here!"

Mia caught him in her arms and only at the last minute did she see Dayu rushing towards her, swinging her Shamisen. With no choice, Mia let go of the man, the Shamisen passing between them, and Dayu took him back.

Just when Mia thought things couldn't get any worse, a misty cloud filled the plaza, hitting several civilians just around the corner and knocking them out cold. As the Nighlok turned the corner, he spotted Dayu and Mia and made his way straight over.

"Rhinosnorus?" Dayu was surprised to see the Nighlok and Mia didn't fail to notice this, "What are you doing here?"

"The boss sent me," Rhinosnorus held out his hand, blasting another cloud of mist at Mia, Dayu and the music man, "It's nap time for you!"

Mia rolled to the side, avoiding the hit. She had been in enough battles with the Nighlok to know nothing good ever happened when she got hit by one of their attacks. Dayu, instead of moving out of the way, pulled the man in front of her, using him as a shield. As soon as the man was hit by the attack he fell limp and was out cold on the concrete ground.

Dayu let go of the man and faced the Nighlok, "This is Master Xandred's wake up call," she told him. "I'm not coming back!"

"That's what you… hey!" Rhinosnorus hit the ground hard as the red Ranger struck him with his sword. He had been so caught up with Dayu he didn't notice four other Samurai Rangers had arrived to help their friends. "Hey! I'm working here!"

While Rhinosnorus was distracted by the Rangers, Dayu turned to the music man. She needed his help. Down in the Netherworld, Master Xandred was no longer happy with her. As soon as the Nighlok king found out Dayu's plan to destroy the yellow Ranger's sister hadn't ended with her death, he regretted allowing Dayu to venture off on her own. The only thing she had accomplished was angering Dekker, something Master Xandred did not need. He had no idea whether the half-Nighlok was still aligned with the Rangers, but he knew Dekker was an enemy of the Nighlok. Xandred did not need another enemy to get in the way of his plans to flood Earth. He preferred it when Dekker didn't have a side.

As a result of his anger, he had broken Dayu's Shamisen. It was the only thing she cherished and he knew it would be an effective punishment to teach Dayu her lesson. He hadn't expected Dayu to run away, though, but she did. She needed to repair her Shamisen and the music man would help her.

She lifted him up onto her shoulder and turned away from Rhinosnorus and the Rangers.

In the battle, Mia saw Dayu leaving in the corner of her eye and she was taking the man with the guitar with her. Mia had no idea what she wanted with that man, but, like everything else concerning Dayu, it didn't make sense and Mia needed to figure it out. Without consulting her team first, she took off, racing after Dayu.

"Mia!" Kevin called her name just as he swung at the Nighlok. The monster avoided the attack and turned to another Ranger, who didn't have their guard up so high.

Emily had seen Mia racing off and for just a moment she turned to see where the pink Ranger was headed. Rhinosnorus saw his opportunity and blasted at Emily.

"Not this time," Mike shouted as he jumped in the way, grabbed Emily and pulled her down, just out of the mist before she was hit. The two rolled on the ground for a quick moment before Mike sat up in front of Emily, his sword at the ready.

"Go after Mia," he told his girlfriend. Mia had already run off on her own once and two Nighlok had turned up, he didn't need any more popping up because Mia wanted alone time.

"Are you sure?" Emily asked.

"Go!" Jayden ordered her. Emily nodded her head, got to her feet and raced off before Mia or Dayu could get too far away.

Mike, Jayden and Kevin regrouped, standing a few feet away from the Nighlok, hoping to keep him away from the girls. The last thing they needed was a chase.

The Nighlok didn't make any move to run after them, though. He needed to finish off the Rangers before going after Dayu or there would be too much interference.

"Time to turn out the lights," he cried, holding up in arm in an attempt to spray the Rangers. Before he could hit them, though, he was attacked by flying fish.

"Not so fast, horn-nose!" Antonio cried, running onto the scene. Jayden, Kevin and Mike rolled their eyes behind their visors.

"Dude, you said you would only be a minute!"

"I couldn't find my fish," Antonio smirked. He stood before his friends, "Leave this to me…"

He reached for his Samuraizer but his vision fogged up as the Nighlok sprayed him. Taking the full effects of the mist on his own, Antonio collapsed to the ground.

"Antonio?" Jayden knelt down beside his best friend while Mike and Kevin exchanged worried looks.

"He won't wake up until I say so!" Rhinosnorus called to the Rangers. "The more he dreams, the tastier a snack he'll be!"

"Didn't we already do this?" Kevin asked.

"That's not happening!" Mike shouted.

"You can't stop me," the Nighlok answered. "I grub down my snack in the dream world, but I'm going to let him marinate for a while. I've got to go catch Dayu."

"You're not leaving!" Kevin said. Mia had gone after Dayu and he wasn't about to let this monster anywhere near his fiancée. But when the monster leaped forward, surprising the Rangers who thought he would turn and run, a portal opened up over Antonio's body and the Nighlok disappeared.


	4. Dayu's Nightmare

With no idea where Rhinosnorus had gone to, Jayden, Kevin and Mike powered down and stood over Antonio as the gold Ranger slept. He seemed rather content in his sleep, so the Rangers knew he wasn't suffering. Mike gently kicked the fisherman's arm with his foot, trying to wake him.

"Dude, I know we're all tired after a Nighlok attack, but this is no time for a nap."

"Don't kick him!" Kevin smacked the green Ranger on the arm. Mike slapped him back.

"What's the worse I can do?" he asked with a shrug, "Antonio will wake up and ask me not to hit him?"

"Guys!" Jayden called to the two boys and gestured to his Samuraizer. The boys nodded, remembering they were still on duty. They pulled out their own Samuraizers and pressed it to their ears.

"Go ahead, Mentor," Kevin said.

"The Nighlok is Rhinosnorus," Mentor told the boys, "he puts his victims to sleep and enters into their dreams. His victims then experience vivid fantasies, usually happy ones. Once devoured, his victims never wake up in the real world again. Who knows how long before Rhinosnorus…?"

"Cut the Rhino crap," Serena's voice suddenly came on the other end, "What about Dayu? Where the hell did she go?"

"Mia and Emily went after her," Mike said. "She won't get far."

"We need to focus on the Nighlok," Kevin told the older Samurai. "We can't let him eat all his victims."

"You need to hurry," Mentor said.

Jayden nodded and pulled his Samuraizer away from his face. He looked over to the boys. They were looking to him for a plan. "Rhinosnorus is in the dream world so we have to go after him."

"How do we do that?" Kevin asked.

"I can use symbol power," Jayden looked down at Antonio, "I'm not sure how much energy it'll take. But I'll open up a portal. You two jump inside. If I can, I'll be right behind you."

"Got it," Kevin and Mike nodded. Jayden got to his feet and stood a little ways away from Antonio. The two boys took their places behind him while he focused all his energy on his symbol.

"Portal!" he shouted, casting the symbol onto Antonio. It took a moment before the symbol took any effect, but a small, barely visible portal opened up. Kevin and Mike wasted no time jumping into the dream world. As soon as they were in, Jayden collapsed to the ground. The portal took up too much energy and he couldn't follow them. He sat next to Antonio, hoping the gold Ranger would wake up soon.

-Samurai-

In a forest just outside the city, Mia and Dayu were locked in a battle with the music man only a feet away. Mia didn't want to hurt Dayu, only help, but if she was causing trouble she needed to stop the Nighlok, especially with a civilian's life at stake.

"You have an annoying habit of meddling in my affairs," Dayu shouted to the pink Ranger.

Rhinosnorus suddenly appeared from a portal over the man's body, and while Dayu and Mia were focused on each other, he blasted them with his dream mist.

"Pleasant dreams!" he shouted as Mia and Dayu hit the ground. Mia grunted in pain and lifted her head before sleep overcame her. She hit the ground again and suddenly the pain was gone.

-Samurai-

_Mia's big day was finally here. Master Xandred was defeated and she and Kevin could finally get married._

_Her wedding was everything she wanted it to be. Her friends and family were all gathered in the church for her big day and she knew her groom was waiting, just like her, for the big moment._

_Mia couldn't help but smile as she twirled her engagement ring on her finger, knowing that soon there would be another ring added and she would have the life she always dreamed of having. A normal life. She would be a wife with a loving husband; she would be a mother to kids who wouldn't have to worry about Nighlok because she had defeated them. She and Kevin had bought a house just outside the city with a big backyard and a white picket fence in the front yard. Everything was perfect._

_She looked up to check the time. She wanted to know how much longer she had to wait before it was time to leave. But as she glanced across the room at the clock she noticed a black cloud of smoke. Not wanting anything to ruin her day, she got out of her seat to check it out. She reached her hand out and was suddenly pulled into the cloud._

_When she opened her eyes she was no longer in her wedding dress, just regular clothes. Mia wondered how this had happened and looked around for any clue._

_It was then she noticed her dress was being worn by another woman. She was being carried by a man in a tuxedo. Mia frowned. This was supposed to be her wedding. But as she took a closer look at the couple stealing her moment, she recognised the face of the man._

"_Dekker?" she whispered and her eyes strayed to the woman in her dress, "Dekker… a tuxedo… a wedding dress…"_

_Mia followed the couple through the darkness until they reached a house. Dekker carried the woman in the dress over the threshold, just like a groom would do to his bride after their wedding._

_Mia's eyes suddenly widened, "Dekker was married?"_

-Samurai-

In the forest outside the city, Emily was having a hard time finding Mia and Dayu. She had seen them running in here, but the forest was so thick that she had a hard time following their trail and after nearly stumbling over several roots she had lost them completely.

Her chest burned and she could barely breathe as she continued to run as fast as she could. She had already nearly lost one sister to Dayu; she didn't want Dayu succeeding with another.

"Mia!" she screamed, hoping the pink Ranger would respond to one of her calls before it was too late.

-Samurai-

_Unbeknownst to Dekker and his bride, Mia followed them into their house and saw what appeared to be their honeymoon suit. A table was set for a special dinner for two and candles were lit everywhere. Dekker set his bride down and their lips met. When they parted, the bride smiled brightly._

"_I have a wedding gift for you," she said, turning away from Dekker for a moment to reach into a cabinet on the side of the room. Mia saw Dekker turning away as well and from behind the door he pulled out a Shamisen . Mia furrowed her brow when she saw this gift. Dayu carried a Shamisen with her everywhere she went, and given Dayu's strange obsession with Dekker and her jealousy towards Serena for having a relationship with Dekker, Mia was finally able to piece it all together._

"_Dayu…" she breathed._

_She watched the exchange of wedding gifts. Dekker handed Dayu the Shamisen and in return she gave him Urumasa. Mia's eyes widened. The sword that cursed him for years had been a gift from his new bride._

_Suddenly, the scene faded away. Mia found herself in the bedroom of the house. Dayu was sleeping but Dekker was nowhere to be seen. All around, fire burned the house. Dayu sprinted from her bed, grabbing her Shamisen and Urumasa as she did and Mia followed, hoping to find a way out. To her surprise, Dayu wasn't looking for a way out. She was searching for Dekker. She found him passed out just outside the bedroom, a bucket in his hands. Mia assumed he had tried and failed to put out the flames. Dayu picked up her groom and dragged him outside. She set him down safely away from the burning out and placed his head in her lap. Mia followed the couple and watched. Dekker was badly burned as far as Mia could see, and without help there was no way he was going to live. Dayu hadn't woken up in time to save him._

_Dayu also seemed to realise there was nothing she could do herself to save Dekker. She cried out for help, anyone's help and suddenly a shadowy figure appeared from the sky. The figured promised to save the life of Dekker for a price. In exchange for Dekker's life, Dayu was to give herself over to the Nighlok and spend eternity in the Netherworld._

_There was a moment of hesitation on Dayu's part, but she finally agreed to the deal, unable to watch the man she loved lost his young life. She stepped away and let the figure do what he needed. She grabbed her Shamisen from the ground and clutched it tightly to her chest_

_Dekker's breath returned and he began to stir, but the figure wasn't done with Dayu yet. He laughed as he told her Dekker would never remember her, and that he had cursed Dekker to walk the Earth as a half-human, half-Nighlok. Dayu knew she couldn't do anything as the figure disappeared and she watched Dekker as he got to his feet and transformed into his Nighlok form. He picked up Urumasa and began to walk away._

_People from the village arrived at this moment. Dekker, while he was able to walk, was still weak. The people, having seen the Nighlok before, knew they couldn't let this monster roam free. They needed to grab him while he appeared injured._

"_We have a place for him," they cried, grabbing him and dragging him and Urumasa away. "Lock him up. He'll never be able to escape."_

"_No!" Dayu screamed as she watched them take Dekker away. She turned around, unable to watch the scene any longer. Behind her was a well and as she looked down it began to glow. It wasn't a warm glow and Dayu knew what this meant. She looked down at her hands as she transformed._

_Mia wiped the tears from her eyes as she watched. She had known all along that there had been something between Dekker and Dayu, but she never expected it to be this terrible. Dayu had selflessly traded her soul to save Dekker and had been badly betrayed. It was no wonder she was the way she was. In one night she had lost everything she ever loved, and now, centuries later, she had to watch as the man she gave up her own life for loved another woman._


	5. Regrouping at Home

Mia was pulled suddenly from her sleep, feeling as if she had been freed. She opened her eyes and looked around, recognising the forest she had been battling Dayu in. The music man was nowhere in sight, and she assumed that, like herself, he had woken up and took advantage of the fact that she and Dayu were sleeping to run away.

Mia pushed herself up, taking in her surroundings. She knew she wasn't safe yet. Dayu had been with her, and if the Nighlok was smart she would finish her off.

But Dayu was sitting away from Mia, with her back turned. Mia got to her feet and heard sobbing coming from the Nighlok as Dayu clutched her shamisen tightly. Everything from her dream came back to her and she remembered what had happened to Dayu. Feeling nothing but sympathy for the half-Nighlok, Mia slowly and quietly began to approach her, hoping that if she remained unthreatening, Dayu would give her the chance to help.

The pink Ranger didn't see the twig under her feet and when it snapped, Dayu's head spun around. Mia knew she had been caught and she took a cautious step back.

"I knew I sensed someone in my dream," Dayu whispered. "You had no right to spy on me."

"You and Dekker were married," Mia said softly. "That's why you're so jealous of him and Serena…"

"Shut up!"

"Maybe… maybe he could remember you," Mia whispered. "Is it too late to go back to your human form? That might…"

"You're so naïve that you would seek to save me rather than destroy me?" Dayu pulled out a sword from the end of her shamisen and pointed it to Mia. Mia instinctively pulled out her Samuraizer, but didn't open it. She didn't want to fight Dayu. The Nighlok had suffered enough. Dayu laughed loudly, "I don't need your pity. I know whose side you're on!"

Dayu charged forward, swiping at Mia with her sword. Mia, at the last minute, held up her Samuraizer but it was too late. Dayu knocked it out of her hands and threw her to the ground. Mia covered her head as Dayu swung her final blow. Without protection from her Ranger suit, Mia knew she was dead.

Just before the swing could connect, Mia heard someone shouting her name and footsteps pounding in the dirt. Metal clashing filled her ears and she heard Dayu gasping in shock. When Mia finally had time to look up, she saw Dayu wiping off blood from her sword before setting it back inside her shamisen.

"I have no time for this," Dayu snorted as she turned away from Mia. "Tell that pathetic Ranger's sister that as long as she stays out of my way, I am done with her."

Mia gulped as Dayu set off, leaving her on her own in the forest. It was then she realised what she had said. Mia wasn't alone. Someone had saved her and they were still here. She turned around and her heart stopped.

"Emily!"

-Samurai-

Mike and Kevin returned from their battle with the Nighlok and found Antonio and Jayden limping to a bench. After jumping into Antonio's dream they had found the Nighlok and beat him at his own game, they pulled him back to the real world and destroyed his mist blaster, which caused all his victims to wake up. They had tried to defeat the monster after that, but he had taken off.

Once Antonio had woken up, he and Jayden were forced to battle creatures from the Sanzu River, which had appeared from nowhere. Jayden couldn't form the Megazord, but Antonio had his Clawzord and the lion Zord was also willing to help. Jayden was already tired from creating a portal to the dream world, but he had no choice but to help Antonio.

They had successfully defeated the army of monsters and were now catching their breath. They smiled when they saw Kevin and Mike approaching.

"Did you defeat Rhinosnorus?" Jayden asked.

"He got away," Mike sighed, "but when he comes back, we'll be ready."

"He won't be able to put people to sleep anymore," Kevin smirked as he nudged Antonio. "He's got nothing on us."

"The city's safe for now, then," Jayden grunted before looking to Antonio. "I don't know about you, but I could go for a nap."

"Ha-ha," Antonio rolled his eyes playfully. "I'll have you know, that was the best nap and the best dream I've ever had."

"We know," Kevin and Mike both laughed and Antonio caught their looks. He then remembered they had tried to take away his gold trophy for biggest fish of the year. He growled at them.

"You couldn't have let me have my dream?"

Mike pointed to Kevin, "I was all for it. He was the one trying to rip it away."

"Dream crusher," Antonio crossed his arms over his chest and he turned to Jayden and lifted his tired friend from the bench, "We should head home. I don't want you passing out on me."

"It's inconvenient, huh?" Jayden teased.

"Shut up, I wasn't ready when he hit me."

"You told us you would take care of it."

"I was wrong."

"I know."

Kevin and Mike were entertained by the back and forth between Jayden and Antonio, but neither of them could go home. They didn't follow the red and gold Rangers and the two retreating Rangers noticed. They turned back to Kevin and Mike with a frown.

"Aren't you coming?" Antonio frowned.

"Have either of you heard from Mia or Emily yet?" Kevin asked.

"Where are they?" Antonio looked around. The girls were nowhere in sight and when he thought about it, he hadn't seen them at all.

"They went after Dayu," Mike said. "Well, Mia went after Dayu. Emily had to follow."

Jayden reached into his pocket and pulled out his Samuraizer, "Mentor, any clue what happened to Dayu, Mia and Emily?"

"Dayu's signal is gone. Mia and Emily seem to be headed for home," Mentor answered. Jayden hung up and looked at the boys.

"We'll meet them at home," he smiled comfortingly. Kevin nodded and helped Antonio walk Jayden back to the Shiba House.

"That portal took a lot of power from you, huh?" he chuckled.

"No more dream hopping again," Jayden nodded.

-Samurai-

As the boys approached the Shiba House, Jayden could help but notice red dots on the walkway. At first he just thought it was his eyes playing tricks on him because he was so exhausted, but when he tried to blink them away they didn't disappear. Not even for a moment. He pulled on Kevin and Antonio and pointed to the ground.

All four boys came to a stop when Jayden demanded their attention and they looked down.

"Blood…" Antonio whispered and suddenly he felt himself carrying all of Jayden's weight by himself as Kevin raced into the house. Mike was right behind him.

The boys first raced to the common room. Only Mia was there. She turned around when she heard footsteps and jumped to her feet. Kevin instantly noticed her shirt was stained with blood.

"I got carried away!" she screamed but Kevin was more focused on the blood on her shirt, worried it was hers.

"Mia, what happened?" he took her by the arm gently, hoping he wouldn't hurt her.

"This is exactly why I gave up on Dayu!" Mia ignored Kevin's question and pulled her arm from his grip. Fresh tears flooded her eyes, "I knew someone was going to get hurt! You talked me into it! This is your fault."

"Where's Emily?" Mike looked around for his girlfriend but she was nowhere to be found.

Kevin wrapped his arms around Mia, "Has Mentor taken a look at you? Are you okay?"

"It's not me," Mia squirmed in his arms, trying to break free. She didn't want to talk to him. She didn't want to look at him. She hadn't been focused in battle and again her friends suffered the consequences for her actions. She hated it, she hated herself and she hated Kevin for encouraging her to get carried away with Dayu again. She never should have tried to figure the Nighlok out. It didn't matter who Dayu was, especially if she didn't want to be saved. All that matter was the monster she was now. Mia only realised this once it was too late.

"Kevin, let her go," Jayden instructed as he and Antonio walked into the room. He could see Mia was upset and though Kevin was trying to help, his touch only seemed to distress her more. Kevin did as he was told but as soon as he let go of Mia she fell to her knees. He dropped down with her, refusing to leave her side while she was this upset.

Mentor Ji came in at this moment. His eyes fell on Mike. The green Ranger noticed this and his gaze shifted to the blood on the floor. He loved Mia, but he really hoped this was her blood.

"She's fine," Mentor didn't need to specify who, he knew Mike understood him. The green Ranger charged forward but Mentor Ji grabbed him. "I just finished with the stitches. She'll be back to normal in a few days. No more."

"What happened? Mike asked before shaking his head, "No, you know, what, I don't care. Where is she?"

Mentor pointed to the bedrooms and Mike was off. Mentor then turned to Mia. He picked her up off the floor and walked her to her stool. The boys took a seat as well, eager to know what had happened.

"Mia…"

"I'm not saying a word, Mentor," Mia turned away. "Emily's going to be fine. You don't need to know what happened."

"Mia…"

"No!" Mia jumped up from her chair and stormed off. She needed to be alone.

-Samurai-

Mike walked into his bedroom and saw Serena just finishing with the sling around Emily's arm. Serena looked up at Mike when he stepped in and smiled.

"It's just so she doesn't pull the stitches," she assured him. "It'll be off before you know it."

Mike nodded and took a seat on the bed. He took Emily's hand in his, "What happened?"

"Dayu was going to kill Mia," Emily whispered. "I tried to stop her but she swung again and hit me."

"She was bleeding quite a bit" Serena nodded. Mike didn't need to be told that. The trail of blood leading up to and inside the house, as well as the blood on Mia's shirt had already tipped him off to that. Serena continued, "It's nothing to worry about, though."

"It hurts," Emily frowned to her sister. Mike looked closely at her arm. She had a bandage wrapped around part of her upper arm, hiding the stitches, but nowhere else. He smiled, happy to see this truly wasn't something he needed to worry about. Knowing Emily, she would be back on her feet in a few hours.

"Mentor gave her a few painkillers," Serena announced to Mike as she fluffed Emily's pillow. "She'll probably fall asleep soon because of it."

"Is everyone going to sleep today?" Mike chuckled. He kissed Emily before getting out of bed and leaving her to sleep off the pain. Serena handed Emily her stuffed otter and followed Mike out the door. When they were in the hallway, Serena grabbed Mike's arm and pulled him back.

"I don't want her ever going near Dayu again," she growled.

Mike frowned, "What? Serena, you heard her, Dayu was going after Mia. She jumped in the way…"

"I don't care how it happened," Serena shook her head. "Dayu hates me. She'll do anything to kill me or see me hurt. Emily hates Dayu. Do you see where I'm going with this?"

"Not a lot of love?"

"Michael!" Serena punched him in the arm and he reeled in pain. She really let him have it that time.

"OW!"

"I'm not going to let Dayu tear my sister apart because she hates me and I don't want Emily thinking she needs to protect me."

"She wants to…"

"She won't," Serena shook her head. "I got into this mess. I won't let Emily get hurt because of something I did. Never send her after Dayu again!"

"Okay, okay," Mike agreed for the sake of his arm, which was now starting to go a little numb as the result of Serena's punch. He rubbed it and flinched as Serena bumped past him and stormed off. "Women…" he muttered and then went in search of ice.


	6. Mia's Guilt

No words could describe how angry Mia was at herself. Going after Dayu was a big mistake. Worrying about the Nighlok in the first place was a mistake. It didn't matter what Dayu had done in the past. It didn't matter who she used to love. She was a Nighlok now. She wanted humanity wiped off the face of the Earth. Mia was a Samurai. It was her job to protect humanity.

Instead, she got caught up in her fantasies. She wanted nothing more than a happy ending for herself and could even extend that dream to anyone else. Dayu had first touched her when she had been kidnapped and saw Dayu making the wedding dress. Mia had really gotten her passion once she learned Dayu was part-human. The romantic inside Mia knew there was a story of love involved when she realised Dayu's obsession to Dekker was due to jealousy. She wanted to know why, and she wanted to help Dayu, if at all possible. Because of that, she had hesitated to attack Dayu twice now, and both times someone else paid the price.

The first time was on the beach. Instead of helping Mike and Jayden, Mia had chosen to confront Dayu and ask her about her past. Not only did she fail to get any answers, but she nearly let her fiancé, her little sister and one of her best friends drown in the ocean because she didn't help Mike and Jayden hold the Nighlok off.

This time, though, it felt worse. Mia had really let her team down. Someone had to go after Dayu because she had taken the man with the guitar, but Mia hated herself for volunteering. Actually, she knew she hadn't volunteered. She hadn't told anyone she was leaving. She left them to fight the dream monster on their own. That alone could have put them in danger. She wasn't the strongest or the smartest but the team was always weaker when it didn't have all six teammates. By leaving, she gave the team no choice but to send someone after her to make sure she would be okay. It was their best move. They had no idea what she was doing and she had taken off after a powerful Nighlok; one of Xandred's best. She was going to need back-up, even if she didn't think so at the time. Why they had chosen Emily, though, she had no idea.

What made this really bad was what happened after Mia woke up from her dream. She didn't want to fight Dayu. Here she was, a strong Samurai, standing before her vulnerable opponent and she couldn't bring herself to send Dayu back to the Netherworld. She had tried to be kind; she had tried to help, but Dayu showed her true self when she attacked Mia.

She could have protected herself. Before approaching Dayu she could have morphed. She should have been smart. But she had let her guard down and made herself just as vulnerable as Dayu. Had Emily not jumped in when she had, Mia knew she would be dead.

That was what hurt the most. If Mia had protected herself Emily wouldn't have had to jump in. She would have been safe and Mia would have been punished for her own stupidity. She considered herself lucky Emily's injury wasn't too bad, but she knew it could have been worse. Dayu could have continued her beating on both the girls and they would have been without help.

There was a knock at the door and she yelled at the person to leave her alone but the door still opened. Mia didn't bother to see who it was. She didn't want to talk to anyone.

"Go away," she muttered, her head buried in her arms as she laid face down on the bed. She felt someone sit down beside her and place a hand on her back.

"Kevin sent me," she recognised Antonio's voice. "He says that if you're mad, it's best if I piss you off by asking what happened."

"Nothing," Mia wouldn't open up. Not to Kevin, not to Antonio, not to anyone.

"Kevin thinks you're already mad at him," Antonio pointed out. Mia huffed.

"It is, technically, his fault."

"How?"

"He convinced me to start studying Dayu again."

"So, it was something involving Dayu."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Why not?"

Mia sat up in bed and looked at Antonio, "Get out!" she shouted and pointed to the door. Antonio shook his head.

"Alright, alright, we don't need to talk about it."

"I don't care. Get out!" Mia fell back into the pillow face down.

"Mia…"

"Get out!"

Antonio held his hands up and got off the bed. Mia was angry and he was not the best person to deal with an angry Mia. He backed away slowly from the bed and winced when his foot hit a squeaky toy. He was terrified the sudden noise would tip Mia over the edge.

Her head jumped right out of the pillow when she heard the squeak. Her eyes were wide as saucers. Antonio chuckled nervously as he reached down and pulled the dog toy out from under his foot.

"He-he… Scruffy's toy."

"Dammit! She's going to kill me!"

"Mia!" Antonio dropped the toy and followed Mia as she raced out of the room and down the hallway. When she got to the front door she slipped on her shoes quickly and grabbed her jacket. Antonio, who was in charge of keeping an eye on Mia and getting her to talk, knew he had to go with her. He pulled on his shoes and grabbed a coat and followed her outside.

Antonio caught up to Mia as they reached the city. He grabbed her as she raced out into the street and pulled her back onto the sidewalk as a car sped by.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he shouted to her, keeping a firm hold of her arm, "That car could have killed you!"

"I… I…"

"Mia, what's bothering you?" Antonio lowered his voice slightly. Mia didn't seem like herself and though he really wanted to yell at her for what seemed like an attempt at suicide, he knew it would do no good.

"I can't talk about it."

"Mia, it's just you and me," Antonio said. "Whatever it is, I want to help. I know I'm not Kevin but…"

"I hurt Emily…"

"But Mike and Serena said that…"

"They don't know what happened," Mia turned away from Antonio and hugged herself. "Emily doesn't even know what happened."

"What happened?"

"I let my guard down."

"What?"

"I chose helping Dayu over destroying her. She took advantage of that and attacked me. Emily jumped in the way and took a hit that was meant for me! I made the mistake. No one else should have to suffer."

"Is that all?" Antonio frowned. "When you said you hurt Emily I thought you actually turned on her and sliced her up yourself."

"What do you mean? I did hurt her…"

"We take hits for each other all the time, Amiga," Antonio shrugged. "It's no big deal. Emily's still alive, you're still alive. What's the problem?"

"She's hurt!"

"So? She'll bounce back. By tomorrow she's be driving us all crazy, just wait and see."

"No she won't," Mia lowered her head. "I also lost Scruffy."

"Oh…" Antonio breathed his tone suddenly very solemn, "Okay, Emily might not forgive you for that."

"He raced off when Dayu attacked at the grocery store. I couldn't go after him, there were people in danger. I feel bad enough for hurting Emy. I can't lose her dog too."

"He's got his collar on him, right? Someone will find him and…"

"What if he got hit by a car?"

"Mia…"

"It almost happened to me! It could have happened to Scruffy."

"Mia," Antonio grabbed her arms, "you're panicking."

"Great, I nearly get Emily killed, but I don't do a good enough job there so I get her dog killed while she's recovering from the attack she took for me!"

"Mia…"

"She's going to kill me and then Mike and Serena are going to make sure I'm dead…"

"Mia…"

"I'm a horrible person!" Mia's knees buckled but thankfully Antonio was already holding her up. He pulled her back to her feet and looked her in the eyes.

"For starters," he said, "You're not a horrible person, you're just having a bad day."

"Liar…"

"Secondly, there's a dog shelter a few blocks from here. Animals must go missing all the time when a Nighlok attacks. They probably already found Scruffy and they're waiting for us to pick him up. I'm sure he's fine."

"He better be," Mia grumbled, "Or else I'm attacking you next."

"Mia, everything's going to be fine," Antonio promised her. He let go of her arms and gestured across the street. "Let's go over before they close. Remember to look both ways before crossing the street this time."

"Antonio…"

"Everything's fine, Mia," Antonio smiled as they stepped off the curb once all the cars were safely stopped.


	7. Lost and Found

"Animal shelter was a bust," Mia heart was heavy as she and Antonio walked out of the shelter without Scruffy. The kind people inside had promised to give her a call if they collected a dog with a yellow collar and the name Scruffy engraved, but they could do nothing more. Mia, having never owned any pets, had no idea where to look for the dog around town and refused to go home without Scruffy.

Antonio was feeling just as bad. Scruffy was Emily's dog, but he was part of the family. If they couldn't bring him home, things would feel weird around the house.

"We'll ask around," he suggested, "and we'll check the places Emily usually takes him. If he's scared, he'll go somewhere familiar, right?"

"Let's hope," Mia nodded.

-Samurai-

After a long nap, Jayden finally stumbled out into the common room, finding it eerily quiet. Emily was still resting in her bedroom thanks to the painkillers and mentor was in the kitchen making dinner. Kevin and Mia had promised to cook something, but after the day they had, Mentor knew it was best if he made the meal.

Jayden had no idea where Antonio and Mia had gone, but he assumed they were out of the house, given Kevin's upset state. He left the blue Ranger alone and took a seat with Serena and Mike.

"How's Emily?"

"Nothing serious," Serena smiled, "Personally, I think the whole experience scarred Mia more than it did Emily."

"Kevin seems pretty miserable too," Jayden tilted his head in Kevin's direction. Mike nodded.

"Mia did let him have it when we got home. He can't figure her out and it bugs him."

"It would bug me too," Serena said, "but I'm just glad everything turned out okay. I kind of want to know Mia's side of the story, but Emily's okay, that's all that matters to me."

"What about Dayu turning up again?" Jayden asked. "That's got to bother you."

When Serena wasn't looking, Mike lifted the sleeve of his shirt to show Jayden the bruise from Serena's punch. He then pointed to the blonde and Jayden got the hint. He hissed, feeling sorry for the green Ranger.

Serena didn't seem bothered at all. "I hope the bitch comes back," she said. "I don't care how pregnant I am. Next time she turns up I'll make sure it's the last time anyone sees her alive."

"The crazy Nighlok's going to do more than try and slice your arm off if she figures out you're pregnant with Dekker's child," Mike pointed out. "I'm pretty sure you showing up to a fight pregnant will seriously piss her off."

"I don't care. I'm done with this. I'm done with Dayu, I'm done with Dekker, I'm…"

"You probably haven't gotten the chance, but have you told Dekker?" Jayden asked and gestured to Serena's stomach. She looked at him and felt something turning inside of her. She shook her head.

"I'm not telling him. What's the point? I don't want him in my life or the baby's life. I don't care if he turns into a Saint overnight. He's never, ever going to know he has a kid."

"What if he finds out?" Mike asked. "I'm not trying to tell you to go find him to tell him, but…"

"He'll never find out."

Jayden shrugged his shoulders and got to his feet as Mentor called the Rangers in for dinner.

"Never is a really long time."

-Samurai-

"Is that him?"

"Antonio, that's a poodle. A black poodle."

"Maybe Emily won't know the difference."

"You're kidding me, right?"

"What about that one."

"That's a lab."

"It kind of looks like Scruffy."

"But it's not Scruffy."

"So?"

"Antonio, we can't just replace the dog and hope Emily doesn't notice!"

"Says you."

"Maybe, when I bring the lab home, I'll exchange you for its owner. Maybe no one will tell the difference."

"What else can we do?" Antonio took a seat on the park bench and sighed heavily. The park was the last place he and Mia were going to look before giving up and heading home. There was nothing else they could do to find Scruffy. They just had to hope they could find him here, or that he would turn up by himself before Emily noticed he was missing.

There were plenty of dogs at the park. Dog owners usually brought their canines to the park for a game of fetch, a run, or a simple, relaxing time away from home. Like any other evening, the park was filled with dogs, but all of them were accompanied by an owner.

Mia took a seat next to Antonio and put her head in her hands. She groaned loudly, "I'm a terrible, terrible person."

"Mia, the biggest mistake you made was trying to help someone. You're not a bad person."

"I let Emily down."

"She wasn't counting on you to save her," Antonio felt this was getting ridiculous. He just wanted Mia to end her little pity party and for her to see that she hadn't done anything really wrong. Maybe it wasn't the smartest move for her to go after Dayu alone, but that didn't make her a horrible Samurai or person. Antonio placed his hand on Mia's back, "Emily was saving you. That's what she needed to do. I'm sure if you just talked to her…"

"How can I face her?"

"Very easily. You look her in the eye and apologize. We all know what Emily's going to say to that."

"Don't be sorry, Mia. It's my fault, I didn't fight hard enough," Mia had a small smile as she tried imitating Emily. Antonio chuckled and nodded his head.

"Exactly."

"I don't like being saved," Mia pulled her feet up onto the bench and hugged her knees to her chest. "Not like this. Not when it means putting someone else in danger."

"We kind of noticed," Antonio smiled. "You don't like depending on others, huh?"

"Not really. Not when they're counting on me to look after them."

"You know, we're all even on the battle field," Antonio said. "It's nice to know you'll always have our backs, but just because you're the big sister doesn't mean you always have to look out for us. In a fight, whoever needs help, gets it. You needed help. You're lucky Emily took that hit."

"I know you weren't there, but sorry I ran off on you guys," Mia whispered. "I just… I had to figure out Dayu, and she took off with the musician… I got carried away. I know I shouldn't have and…"

"Mia, it's fine. Today wasn't exactly my best performance either. I totally flopped before I could even morph! I came in to save the guys, and they ended up saving me."

"Did you defeat the Nighlok?"

"Mike and Kevin pulled him out of the dream world, and he won't be sending people back, but apparently he got away before they could finish him off."

"He'll be back."

"Are you feeling better at least?" Antonio asked. Mia shrugged her shoulders.

"I know you said everything's fine, but it just doesn't feel that way. If I could only find Scruffy; maybe that would help me feel better."

Antonio took Mia's hand, "C'mon, then, we have a dog to find."

Mia took a deep breath, "I'm so going to feel like an idiot…"

"Why?" Antonio asked her. Mia shook her head.

"Because I never thought I would do this," she answered before calling Scruffy's name out loud, hoping the dog would turn up. She and Antonio searched the park, high and low. If Scruffy was anywhere in the city, they hoped he would turn up.

When they were out of sight from most people, Mia pulled out her Samuraizer and created a squeaky ball. She bounced it on the ground. She knew Scruffy loved squeaky toys. When she and Emily shared a room he would sometimes wake her up in the middle of the night by chewing on the loudest squeaky toy he owned.

"Scruffy!" Antonio called with Mia while the pink Ranger continued to bounce the ball. She didn't see the small pebble on the path and when the ball hit it, it shot off sideways, disappearing inside a bush. Mia groaned.

"Someone up there does not want me finding this stupid dog," Mia muttered as she glared at the bush.

"That or they really want to see how far you'll go to help Emily," Antonio pointed to the bush, "It's got thorns. Either you get the ball or we give up and hope Scruffy finds his way home."

"I'm not giving up," Mia shook her head and reached to her wrist for a hair elastic while she shot Antonio a look, "Emily sliced her arm open for me. I can handle a few cuts and…"

She trailed off when she felt something hit her foot. Looking down, she saw the ball had somehow been returned to her, as if the bush had spit it out. It wasn't a crazy though; giving the ball was coated in what appeared to be a layer of spit.

"What the hell?" Mia reached down and picked up the ball before dropping it, realising that it was in fact coated in spit.

"Mia…" Antonio chuckled. Mia looked up at him and saw he was pointing down the path. She looked to where he was pointing and saw a golden retriever standing in a playful stance, waiting for Mia to throw the ball so he could run after it and bring it back. Mia spotted the yellow collar around the dog's neck, as well as the leash still clipped on.

"Scruffy?" she asked. The dog glanced up at her before eyeing the ball again. Slightly disgusted, Mia pinched the ball between her two fingers and tossed it at the dog. He caught it in his mouth and raced back to her. He dropped the ball at her feet and Mia grabbed his collar and checked his tag. Her smile extended from ear to ear when she read Scruffy's name on the tag and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I take it it's him," Antonio said, picking the twigs and dead leaves from Scruffy's coat. Mia nodded her head and grabbed the end of Scruffy's leash.

"C'mon, you little rascal," she smiled, "let's get you home."

"Clean him off, first," Antonio laughed, picking the last of the twigs and leaves from Scruffy's fur. He looked up at Mia with a smile as they started their way home, "Emily's going to be grateful."

"It was the least I could do," Mia shrugged. "I did lose him."

"Talk to her," Antonio insisted. "I'm sure she'll tell you you're not at fault."


	8. Telling Dayu's Story

When Emily woke up she was feeling a little better. Her arm was a little stiff and still hurt quite a bit, but not as much as before thanks to the painkillers. It was still wrapped up in the sling so she couldn't move it. She was starting to wonder how Mia managed not to move her arm for so long back when she had broken her wrist. It was already bothering her how she couldn't use her left hand or arm for anything. Thankfully, the sling was only for a short time to keep her from pulling the stitches.

There was no one in the room with her and she assumed they were all sitting around in another room; the common room or dojo, maybe. She pushed herself up out of bed, struggling a little with only one arm.

When she got into the hallway she had a feeling something was missing. She couldn't quite put her finger on it until she was halfway to the common room and she stumbled. That was when it occurred to her. After spending a long time locked away in her room sleeping or napping, Scruffy would usually hear when she made her way out and he would always come to greet her and would usually knock her over in the process. But there was no Scruffy today and it slowly dawned on Emily why. She had let Mia take Scruffy for a walk right before Mia was attacked by Dayu and the Nighlok. When Emily and the other Rangers arrived to help, Scruffy hadn't been in sight. Her heart was in her throat as she picked up her speed and raced to the common room. She found Jayden, Kevin, Serena and Mike sitting together playing a board game after dinner. They saw her running into the room and Mike was instantly on his feet to catch her before she tripped herself and fell over.

"Emily, it's okay…" he tried to pull her into his arms, thinking she had woken up and forgotten about the injury to her arm. Emily shook her head and with her one hand she pushed against Mike's chest.

"Where's Scruffy?" she looked around the room for her dog. He liked to sleep where everyone was gathered. He needed his alone time but preferred to be with people on most days. She saw he wasn't in sight though so she pulled free from Mike's grip and raced to the laundry room. Scruffy ran there when he wanted to be alone.

He wasn't there either. By now Emily had the other four following her.

"He's got to be here somewhere," Serena opened one of the closets, though she wasn't sure why. It wasn't like he could lock himself in, but she did remember finding a live chicken in her pantry once. How it got there, no one knew.

"I… I gave him to Mia and… and…"

Scruffy's bark interrupted Emily and the sounds of claws hitting the hardwood floor alerted everyone that Scruffy was home. Emily raced over to the front of the house, where Scruffy's noises were coming from and she was tackled into the floor as he dog jumped up onto her and began slobbering her with wet kisses.

"Boy, does that dog love you, Emy," Mia laughed, massaging her arm, "I couldn't get him to leave the park until I mentioned your name. He practically ran the whole way home."

Antonio snapped his fingers as he hung up the leash, "I was sure he was going to rip your arm off. That would have been so funny!"

Serena and Mike gently pulled Emily to her feet while Jayden and Kevin held the dog back. Scruffy was so excited to be home and with his family that he couldn't contain all his energy. The boys were fairly certain he was going to tear through the house like a tornado if they let him go.

Emily looked to Mia and Antonio once she was on her feet, "You found him?"

"We searched all day," Mia nodded, "We weren't about to come home without him."

"We almost brought home a poodle and a lab," Antonio chuckled and nudged Mia. She rolled her eyes.

"Emily's not stupid, she would have seen the difference and she would have… oof!" Mia lost her breath for a moment when a hundred pounds of yellow Ranger jumped into her arms. She caught Emily and stumbled backwards slightly. Thankfully Antonio was there to steady her before she and Emily fell over. Mia wrapped her arms around her little sister, giving her a slight squeeze. She then pulled away and looked Emily in the eyes, "So all forgiven?"

"You found him, why would you need to be forgiven?"

"I meant about the…" Mia looked down at Emily's arm, seeing it bandaged and wrapped up in a sling. She let out a heavy breath. Emily glanced up at her Ranger sister, seeing a look of regret and pain in her eyes. She nestled back into Mia's arms.

"I'm fine, Mia."

"Was that what was bothering you?" Kevin asked his fiancé. "You were upset because Emily got hurt?"

"I get hurt all the time, remember?" Emily smiled. Mia chuckled and nodded her head. She took Emily's hand as she led the team into the common room. They all took a seat to listen to Mia.

"I hesitated, that's why you got hurt, Emy" Mia whispered. "Dayu and I entered the dream world and somehow I ended up caught in hers. But it was different from mine… it wasn't really a dream, it was a memory."

"You saw her memories?" Antonio asked.

"Just the one," Mia shook her head. "It was her wedding day… well, night. You'll never guess who she had gotten married to."

"Who?" the team leaned forward, they were all on the edge of their seats.

Mia looked to Serena as she answered, "Dekker."

"That explains so much," Kevin said. Jayden looked at Mia skeptically.

"I trust that's what you saw, but how do you know that's real?" he asked her. "How do you know she wasn't just…?"

"They were on their honeymoon," Mia interrupted to explain. "The exchanged gifts and suddenly everything changed. Next thing I knew, Dayu was alone in her bed and the little house they were in caught fire. I followed Dayu, thinking she would leave the house, but she went for Dekker. He had gotten up and tried to put out the fire but he couldn't. He had collapsed and he was badly burned. Dayu dragged him out of the house… but it was too late."

"Wait a minute," Antonio frowned, "if this is real, Dekker can't die! If he did Serena wouldn't be pregnant. Not with his kid."

"Dayu called for help and her cries were heard," Mia said. "She traded her soul to the Nighlok but she was betrayed. The Nighlok who helped her cursed Dekker. He would forget her and everything else about his past life. He would leave Dekker to walk the Earth alone forever and Dayu would live for eternity in the Netherworld. Dayu sold her soul to the devil to save him and now he doesn't remember her at all."

"Ouch," Mike breathed.

Mia nodded, "When I woke up I saw her crying. I wanted to help her and I thought she would maybe accept. She didn't. She attacked me and I wasn't ready," Mia turned to Emily, "That's when you jumped in. I made myself vulnerable in front of her and let my guard down. If I hadn't of done that I could have fought back, or at least taken that attack myself."

"You were just trying to help Dayu," Emily squeezed Mia's hand gently; "you were doing a nice thing. She's the one at fault, here."

"Still, I…"

"Mia, I don't care how it happened. The way I saw it, Dayu was going to kill you. You were inches away from being chopped in half when I jumped in! If it means you'll survive, I'll take a cut to the arm any day."

"A cut?" Serena, Mike and Mia frowned. "Emy," Serena continued, "when I saw it your arm was practically torn in half!"

"Your blood coloured half my shirt red!" Mia agreed.

Emily pouted, "You know what I mean. I'm alive and Mia's alive. That's all that matters."

"And we're alive," Antonio joked, gesturing around the room to himself, the boys and Serena, "That's pretty important too."

Emily looked at him playfully, "Meh…"

"Hey…" it was Antonio's turn to pout.

"Speaking of important," Jayden said, turning his head to Serena, "Dekker and Dayu…"

"I don't care," Serena got up from her seat.

"Serena…"

"In case you all forgot," Serena turned to the Rangers, "Dekker and I are broken up. We're not a couple anymore. I don't care what happens to him: past, present or future!"

"You can't just turn your feelings off," Kevin told her. "A part of you must still at least still care for him."

"So? What the hell does that have to do with what he and Dayu had? Why should we even care? We wanted to find out and now we know. Does that change anything?"

"It could…"

"Dayu's a bitch. Mia offered her help and she tried to kill her in return. That doesn't need to be saved."

"But…"

"She's a Nighlok," Serena shook her head, "and as far as I'm concerned, she's no different than Master Xandred."

"What about Dekker?" Antonio asked. "Should he know?"

"It's his and Dayu's past. If she really wanted him to know she would have told him. Instead she tried to kill me. You guys do what you want, but this isn't our business. We have no right to tell him who he was and who he should be."

Serena stormed out of the room, slamming doors behind her as she left. The Rangers looked around the room at each other.

"She still likes Dekker, doesn't she?" Antonio asked.

Emily tried to get up from her seat but Mike pulled her back down.

"Leave her alone for a minute," he wrapped his arms around Emily. "You haven't eaten yet. Let's get you some dinner."

"But…"

"She needs to be alone," Mike assured her and led her to the kitchen. He tapped his thigh as he walked, "C'mon Scruffers. You must be hungry too!"

Scruffy leaped up from his dog bed and raced to the kitchen for food.


	9. A Promise For Forever

Serena walked into the bedroom she shared with Mike and Emily and fell into the yellow bed, face down. She crawled her way up to her pillow and hugged it as she began to cry.

She felt like everything was going wrong. She couldn't win, she couldn't do anything right. Dekker was married and it killed her to hear. Even if she wanted him back, she could never take him away from Dayu. He was obviously missing something and until he figured it out for himself she could never, ever let him love her again.

She didn't want him. Not after the way he tried to protect her. But she knew he hadn't tried to hurt her which made it harder to hate him. All she saw that week he locked her up was the monster he had been for centuries. The monster he was capable of turning into at a moment's notice, but anytime she thought of him she couldn't help but see the man he had become for her. The kind, sweet, and gentle man who loved her so passionately he was willing to do anything to protect her.

Sobbing into the pillow muffled her cries. She didn't want her friends knowing she was upset. She didn't think they would understand what Dekker had put her through. He had been the man who saved her life in so many ways and yet he had also put her through hell. From trying to kill her sister and her friends, to his crazy Nighlok bride kidnapping and beating her, to trying for a second time to kill the Rangers, to locking her up by herself in a dark room for a week, to getting her pregnant and breaking up her family. He had given her everything when he cured her with Urumasa. He had given her a second chance to live her life, be with her parents and sister, and experience the joys of love, friendship, and freedom to a degree only she could ever reach. But he had also taken all of that away, making healing her almost futile. Instead of curing her, he could have just stabbed her in the heart right then and there. He could have taken her out of her misery.

She cried on her own for almost an hour before footsteps approached her and a gentle hand lifted her away from her pillow and an arm wrapped itself around her. Serena wiped her eyes and looked up, seeing her sister smiling down at her. Serena sobbed loudly, burying her face in Emily's chest.

"I'm sorry…" she whispered, hating the fact that she was crying in front of her baby sister. Most of the things that were hurting her affected Emily as well and she didn't want Emily to feel like she had to be the strong one. Serena had always been there to take care of Emily.

Emily shook her head and kissed Serena's forehead. She let go of her older sister and slipped off the sling from her arm. Serena wiped her eyes from her cheeks and watched as Emily reached to her night table and pulled out her flute.

"You know just as well as I do how it plays magic," Emily smiled.

"That song you wrote…" Serena said, "I haven't been able to practice it… can you play it?"

Emily nodded her head. She had that song memorised. She placed the embouchure under her lower lip and smiled to her sister before beginning to play. Serena felt her problems beginning to melt away as Emily's music filled the room. Her hand reached under her pillow, where her child's blanket rested. She pulled it out and hugged it to her chest.

-Samurai-

Emily tip-toed out of her own bedroom and slowly and quietly closed the door. Her sister was inside, finally sleeping. Serena hadn't spoken about why she had been sobbing with so much pain, but she had fallen asleep with a smile so Emily could only hope that meant she was feeling a little better and she would talk soon.

When she turned around to find her friends she jumped when she almost bumped into Mike. She let out a screech but it was quickly muffled when Mike put his hand over her mouth.

"You just got her to sleep," he chuckled and pulled his hand from her mouth before wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her into him.

"How do you know?" Emily asked him as she wrapped her own arms around his neck. Mike smirked.

"I heard the flute," he said. "I came to listen and saw you taking care of her. I stayed to watch."

"You spied?"

"I wanted to make sure you would be okay," Mike smiled. He leaned forward and gently rested his forehead on hers. "This is hurting you too. Your sister broke up with her boyfriend, your niece or nephew on its way; your mother walked away from Serena and you in a way…"

"I know, Mike…"

"You're sister's lucky to have you," Mike said, brushing noses with Emily. "You were amazing in there with her."

"Things are going to be okay, right?" Emily looked Mike right in the eyes, asking him for the truth. Mike took a moment to answer. He hated giving Emily bad news but he couldn't lie to her. He pulled away from her slightly. Emily saw this and frowned. She tried to get away from Mike but he continued to hold her. He hugged her to his chest.

"Dekker might never figure out his past," he whispered into her ear, "Serena might never know what she wants to do with the baby or with Dekker. Your mother might not come back around and, truth be told: this could be the end of your little happy family…"

"Mike!"

"But we're all still here," Mike squeezed her lovingly. "You love your sister, no matter what. She loves you. Soon, you're going to have a very, very precious baby added into the mix; making you yellows an awesome Nighlok-kicking trio. You've got a mentor who's going to help you when your parents can't. You've got an amazing friend in Antonio, a loyal buddy in Jayden, and a strong, protective older brother in Kevin. Mia loves you to pieces and will do anything for you and I'll never leave you, Em."

"Mike…"

"It's all changing, but it's not all gone. Maybe you'll lose a few people, but the ones you really need in your life are going to stick by you no matter how many times you fall and hit rock bottom."

Emily's lower lip quivered as she wrapped her arms around Mike's waist and rested her head against his chest. He hugged her and kissed the top of her head.

"To answer your question," Mike whispered softly in her ear, "Yeah. I think things are going to be okay."

He placed his hand under her chin and lifted her face so she was looking up at him. He leaned down and kissed her lips.

"Let's do something fun before she wakes up," Emily smiled when they broke apart. She looked up, her eyes shining with enthusiasm

"Fun?" Mike frowned slightly, "Emily, I'm not…"

"Not that," she slapped him playfully, "that's what got my sister into this mess."

"Then what?"

A smirk crossed Emily's face.

-Samurai-

"Emily, we're going to be in so much trouble if someone realizes we snuck out," Mike whispered as Emily dragged him to the park. It was the middle of the night, just after 1:00 AM. The Rangers were sleeping so they had no idea Mike and Emily were gone.

"Aren't you supposed to be the rebel and me the good little girl?" Emily teased and let go of his hand. She raced to the swings but instead of sitting the normal way, with her butt in the seat, she laid on her stomach and soared back and forth as the swing swung.

"They are so going to kill me," Mike rolled his eyes as he approached Emily's swing. He stood in front of her, but stayed far enough away so that he wouldn't get hit as she swung.

"They won't kill you," Emily promised with a laugh. "Either nothing's going to happen and they'll never find out because we'll be home before they wake up, or something does happen and we both get hurt and they'll be too worried about our wellbeing to give us trouble for being out."

"You have this all figured out?" Mike smirked and reached out, grabbing the chains of Emily's swing as she came forward. He held her up in the air, "You realise we'll still get yelled at for leaving even if we get hurt."

"Yeah, but then I do my puppy face, apologize and they all melt, tell me it's okay and they're just happy we're okay."

Mike let go of the swing and Emily soared backwards, "You're a sneaky little thing."

"You don't spend seventeen years being the cute little sister without figuring out how to play your older siblings," Emily nodded. "My grandmother once told me I would be excellent at the violin because I already know how to play people like a fiddle."

"Maybe your grandmother was right," Mike laughed. Emily giggled, swinging forward and then just as she was about to fall into a backswing she planted her feet in the ground. She lifted the swing over her head and let it go before grabbing Mike's hands.

"Help me with the monkey bars."

"What?" Mike was pulled by Emily over to the monkey bars, "How do you not know how to swing across the monkey bars? Your Zord's an ape!"

"Accident prone, remember?" Emily laughed as she climbed the play structure. Mike stayed on the sand and watched her, "Whenever Serena used to take me to the park back home she never let me go on my own because I would always fall and get hurt. I once broke my arm falling from the monkey bars."

"Ouch."

Emily reached for the first bar and then looked over at Mike. He nodded his head and caught her as she let herself drop. He held her up and walked her across the monkey bars. When they reached the end, Emily let go but Mike didn't. He held her in his arms and looked up at her.

"Emily, I…" he paused for a moment and saw her eyes lit up. He knew she knew what he wanted to say and that gave him an idea. "I broke my nose playing on the monkey bars as a kid. I climbed up on top, slipped and hit my face pretty bad on one of the bars. There was blood gushing out everywhere. It was pretty gruesome for an eight year old."

Emily furrowed her brow and swatted Mike in the shoulder, "That's a horrible story."

Mike gasped while pretending to look hurt as he walked her back to the play structure and sat her down. He looked up at her and placed his hand over his heart, "What? No asking me if little me was okay? That's mean."

"I'm sorry," Emily giggled. "How was your wittle face?"

"Are you mocking me now?" Mike asked. "Well, Em, manipulation, lack of empathy, teasing? You are not the woman I fell in love with."

Emily shrugged her shoulders, "Things change. Live with it, Romeo."

Mike laughed and stood on his toes to give her a kiss. When they parted he smiled, "You know, I broke my nose playing football for my high school team in my sophomore year."

Emily pulled away and looked at Mike curiously, "You never told me you played football."

"Never seemed important," Mike shrugged. "It was just for that one year, though. Dad thought it would help with discipline. I didn't understand how until I heard practice started at 6:00 AM sharp every Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings before school."

"Seriously?" Emily asked, shock written all over her face.

Mike laughed, "That was my face too when I first heard the schedule. But coach wanted a winning team and he thought the only was he was going to get that was if he worked us to the bone."

"Did you win?" Emily asked. "Did you lead the team to victory?"

"Em, we were a bunch of high school kids getting up before the crack of dawn only to wear ourselves out by the time the sun rose. Do you think we had any energy to win our games?"

"You must have won one," Emily said. Mike nodded.

"Okay, we did win a few. We made it to playoffs but couldn't win first place."

"What position did you play?" Emily asked.

"Running back."

"No idea what that means," Emily giggled. "Aren't you supposed to run forward? You know, to the other team's side to score a goal?"

"Touchdown," Mike corrected her with a laugh, "but yeah. It's just the name of the position."

"It's a stupid name. Why couldn't you have been quarterback? I know what that is."

Mike smiled and kissed her, "Doesn't matter now. I don't play."

"You play video games," Emily nodded. "Killing video games."

"Video games you just can't seem to master," Mike gave Emily a knowing smirk, "I went to play earlier today and noticed I was a couple of lives short from the last time I played."

Emily began to whistles and looked away. Mike nudged her in the ribs.

"You wouldn't happen to know what happened to those lives, do you?"

"Men go boom?" Emily giggled. "It's funny!"

"Are you killing my men on purpose just to watch them blow up?"

"Yes."

"Emily!" Mike cried and reached forward to grab her but Emily slipped away and climbed up the play structure. Mike jumped on and chased after her. Emily jumped down the twisted slide and made it all the way down before Mike could hop on the slide. She started running, leaving the sandy park and out into the field. Mike took off after her and caught up fairly quickly before gently tackling her to the ground. He rolled on top of her and looked down as they both caught their breath.

"Mike," Emily smiled, "You were serious back at home when you said you would never leave me, right?"

"No matter how bad things get, Em," he nodded. "I'll always be here for you."

"Forever?"

"Forever."

"Then yes."

"Yes?"

"To forever."

"What?"

"Yes to forever with you," Emily's eyes shined brightly in the moonlight as she looked up at Mike. A smile lit up his face and he leaned down to kiss her. Emily deepened the kiss by placing her arm behind his neck and pulling him in.

When they broke apart for air Mike fell beside her in the grass and wrapped her up in his arms. He pulled out his Samuraizer and traced a symbol. A blade of grass grew out above the rest while right beside it a very small, yellow flower bloomed. The blade of grass looped itself around the flower once before making another loop, this time leaving a hole about the size of a finger. Mike pulled his creation from the grass and finished morphing it into a ring. Emily giggled as he slipped it on her left ring finger.

"The others are going to freak," she pointed out. "You're still just nineteen and I'm only seventeen."

"So we don't tell them right away," Mike smiled. "They know we're in love. What we do with our love is our business. Once we make it official we'll tell them."

"As in somewhere down the road? Later on?" Emily asked.

Mike nodded, "This is a secret between you and me. A promise. Once we're done with Master X I'll do this right. I'll actually ask you."

"For now we're just secretly engaged," Emily smiled, "That sounds… really nice."

"When things get hard, Em, remember you'll always have this to fall back on. Me and forever; no matter what."

Emily rested her head on Mike's chest as he rubbed circles on her arm, careful not to accidentally irritate the stitches. "I love you."

"I love you too," Emily yawned. He kissed the top of her head and laid there in the grass. He could feel her breathing slow until it evened and he knew she was sleeping. He hugged her close and stared at the ring he made her. A smile graced his lips even long after he fell asleep.


	10. Hurt and Love

"You may now kiss the bride," the minister said and Dekker leaned forward, a smile present on his face as he lifted his bride's veil, revealing Dayu's face. As his lips met hers, Serena watched from down the aisle.

"No!" she screamed and she was suddenly ripped from her sleep. She sat straight up in bed and blinked her eyes as the sunlight shone through the windows and blinded her for a moment. As she regained her vision she looked around the room. She could hear a faint vibration and searched for the source.

On the night table she saw a phone shaking very slightly and realised it was what was vibrating. Emily's cell phone was receiving a call. Wondering who would call her sister, Serena reached over to pick it up, intending on passing the message onto her sister once she found her. Emily wasn't asleep in her bed. Neither was Mike, but Serena thought nothing of it. Looking at the time, she saw it was 8:00 AM. Knowing Emily she was usually up at this time, and she had likely woken up Mike.

Serena answered the phone, "Hello..."

"Sweetheart, I know we're not supposed to contact each other but there's something I needed to tell you."

Serena felt her blood boil as she recognised her mother's voice but she tried to stay calm. Emily had every right to want to keep in touch with her mother. Serena would never ask her to choose sides.

Figuring her mom had mistaken her for Emily, Serena tried to set her straight, "Mom, I'm…"

"I love you, Emily," her mother interrupted her. Serena found that to be a little rude and pouted as he mother continued, "I love both you and your sister so much but… I can't do this."

"Mom…"

"I tried… I really, really tried to understand what your sister was going through, Emily, I just… it's not right. You must know it too. She loves a man who tried to kill you and the other Rangers! You've got to wonder about that."

"Mom…"

"I don't want to do this over the phone but… I'm leaving."

There was a silence; giving Serena the perfect opportunity to tell her mother who she was really talking to but Serena was frozen. She was mad at her mother for the way she reacted when she learned of her pregnancy, but this was still her mother. She would never stop loving her mother.

"L-l-leaving?"

"I can't do this, Emily. Your father and I don't speak anymore… I don't think I'll ever be able to look at your sister again without feeling hurt and anger and…"

"You can't just leave," Serena shook her head and shouted. "No, you can't do this! You can't do this to her over the phone! She didn't do anything wrong!"

"Who is this?" her mother asked. Serena realised she must have picked up on the fact that "_Emily_" was talking about herself in the third person and clued in that she wasn't speaking with Emily. "Why are you answering her phone?"

"You're not doing this to her over the phone," Serena said again and ignore the knock on the door that she heard just before Jayden, Antonio, Mia and Kevin stepped into the room. They had heard her shouts and wanted to know what was going on. They saw her on the phone and remained silent until Serena was done with her mother.

"Serena? Serena, is that you?" Serena's mother asked on the other end of the line. Serena growled.

"Don't do this, mom…"

"Serena, I love you. I'm so sorry but I can't live with this…"

"Don't walk away. We're mad but we can fix this!"

"I can't…"

"Mom!"

"I'm sorry…"

"Mom!" the line was dead, "Mom! Mom!"

"Serena…" Mia called softly. Serena hung up the phone even though the call was already ended and tossed her sister's phone across the room, smashing it. Mia, Kevin, Antonio and Jayden jumped as the phone hit the wall. They were all thankful Serena's aim was spot on or it could have hit one of them.

"She's leaving," Serena screamed. Instantly Mia was by her side on the bed, taking her hand.

"Leaving?" Antonio asked as he started to pick up the pieces of the phone. "Leaving like… shitty-timed vacation or…"

"Just leaving," Serena's voice broke into a sob. "She called to tell Emily she was leaving."

"Did she say where?" Mia asked. "Is she moving out and getting her own place or actually leaving, leaving?"

"I don't… I don't know…" Serena shrugged, ripping her own cell phone out of her pockets to call her mother back. She knew it wasn't likely her mother answered, but she had to try. She dialled the number and put the phone to her ear. She began to tremble. Her mother's phone didn't even ring once before Serena heard that the number was no longer in service. "No… no, no, no…."

"Serena…"

Serena pulled the phone from her ear and looked at the screen. She could barely see it through the blur caused by her tears. Thankfully she knew where all the buttons were. She dialled another number. This time it did ring but no one picked up. When she got to the answering machine message her world crumbled. Her father had erased her mother's name from the machine, asking callers to leave messages for only him.

"Serena," Mia called again, taking Serena's hand as the older Samurai slowly lowered the phone away from her face and stared blankly ahead.

"I killed it…"

"Serena…"

"She's gone."

Mia wrapped her arms around the Samurai. Serena buried herself into Mia as she cried. The pink Ranger turned to her teammates with a sad look on her face. Nothing needed to be said. They all walked over and took a seat on the bed, each placing their hand on Serena's back or arms to let her know they were still there.

-Samurai-

Emily giggled happily as she and Mike raced through the forest. They could both see the gates surrounding the Shiba House and knew they were close to home.

After their date in the park they had fallen asleep in the field and when they woke up they realised they were late getting home. The sun was up so some on the Rangers would have had to be awake already. This was why they were racing to get back home.

"Mike slow down," Emily called to him, "My shoes' un…"

She tripped over her shoelace and nearly face planted in the dirt but was caught by the arms (which hurt a little given her injury) and pulled back upright.

"Tied?" Mike finished for her as he looked at her. She laughed and nodded.

"Yeah. Wait a minute while I tie it up."

"Of course," Mike nodded, kneeling down with her, "Or I could just…"

He gently pushed her over and grabbed her foot, ripping the shoe off and racing away with it. They were so close to home now that it didn't matter whether Emily ran in shoes or socks. Emily laughed as she called his name and pushed herself up to chase after him.

"Mike!"

"You don't have to worry about untied laces when you don't have a shoe!" he jogged backwards into the yard and waved Emily's shoe in the air. Emily caught up to him when he stopped running, but he held the shoe up high. She tried to jump to snatch it back but was too short. Mike teased her, "C'mon, Em, just a little higher. You can do it!"

Emily pouted playfully when she realised her was teasing her. She knew she would never reach the shoe so she tried something else. She pulled him into a deep kiss, lowering his guard and his hand. She opened her eyes and watched him slowly bring the shoe down slowly to her height. When it was in reach she broke the kiss and snatched it back. She hugged the shoe to her chest as Mike began to pout.

"No fair!"

"Fair," Emily laughed. She placed her left hand on Mike's shoulder and used him for support as she lifted her shoeless foot to put her shoe back on. Mike looked at her left hand. The grass and flower ring he hand made for her was still holding on, but it was beginning to wither away. He knew she couldn't keep it on for much longer anyways now that they were home so when Emily had both feet firmly on the ground he took her hand and pulled the ring off.

"Secret promise," he smiled to her when she looked up curiously. She smiled back and nodded her head.

"You'll get me a real one, one day, right?"

"Of course," Mike nodded and leaned forward to kiss her. Just before their lips met they both heard someone clearing his throat. Mike's shoulders slumped forward and Emily sighed as they both turned and saw Kevin standing by the door watching them. He didn't seem impressed.

"Where have you two been?" he crossed his arms over his chest and frowned. "Actually, forget that. I don't care where you've been. I want to know how long you've both been gone for and why you thought it was a smart idea to leave! We've been looking everywhere for you."

Mike whispered to Emily, "Busted. Told ya."

"Sorry, Kevin," Emily apologized. "We got carried away."

"Doing what?"

"Stuff," Mike answered. "Couple stuff."

Kevin sighed deeply and massaged his temples in frustration, "No more middle of the night dates! Not outside the house. And I don't even want to know what 'carried away' means."

"Not what you're thinking," Mike smirked, his hand tightening around the grass and flower ring he took from Emily. He moved his hand behind his back and dropped the ring to the ground so Kevin wouldn't notice. He then reached for Emily's hand.

Kevin pointed inside the house, "Just get inside and let the others know you're home so they can stop looking for you. We were two minutes from unleashing the search and rescue team."

Mike and Emily nodded as they made their way to the door. When they reached Kevin he grabbed Emily's arm gently, stopping her for a moment.

"Your sister waiting for you in your bedroom," he told her. "Go talk to her."

Emily nodded and went inside while Mike stayed behind. He looked at Kevin.

"Is she okay?" he asked, remembering how Serena had been upset the night before. Kevin shook his head.

"Just wait for her, okay?"

"Always," Mike answered, nodding his head, "But… why?"

But it was too late. Kevin had already turned and was walking away.


	11. After Mother Leaves

Mia stepped out of the girls' bedroom quietly, wiping the tears away from her eyes. After Serena had learned that her mother was leaving she knew she needed to tell Emily, but Serena couldn't do it alone. She was still processing everything and felt largely responsible for everything that happened. Mia offered to stay through the talk with Emily. She had experienced something similar with her parents when they went through their divorce so she already have a sensitivity to the subject and enough knowledge to know when and where help would be needed. She made sure Serena was clear when explaining the situation to Emily and she made sure Emily understood Serena properly.

The talk was over, though it had mostly been one-sided. The moment it sunk in for Emily that her mother had wiped herself off the face of the planet she had stopped talking. Mia and Serena had to start asking her yes or no questions if they wanted an answer once they realised they weren't going to get anywhere with any other kinds of questions.

Mia was leaving now because the conversation was over and she knew the two sisters needed some time by themselves. She walked into the common room, where the boys and Mentor Ji were sitting silently, playing mindlessly with their Zords or their hands. Mia looked over at Mike. He hadn't been in the house when Serena received the phone call and given how involved he was with both sisters she thought it was important for him to know. Mike simply looked back at her and nodded his head. The others had told him and Mentor Ji the news once he got home. They figured it was best. Emily wouldn't want to repeat the story to Mike and he needed to know what was going on.

"How did she take it?" he asked as Mia took a seat on Kevin's lap. She needed him after the long talk. He pulled her in closely and wrapped his arms around her. He knew the story behind her parents and could understand how this was affecting her.

"She gets it," Mia answered with a slight shrug. "She knows her mother took off and she's not coming back… but I don't know anything else."

"What do you mean?" Antonio asked. "Is she upset? Worried? Happy, maybe?"

"Upset, I think," Mia sighed. "I don't know. As soon as Serena told her she just… stopped talking. She cried for a bit… Serena cried too, but when we tried to talk to her again she just… didn't answer."

"What does that mean?" Jayden asked.

"She responded. She looked right at us, she would nod occasionally… but when Serena asked her a question like 'what's going through your head?' she just… didn't answer."

"Maybe she didn't have an answer," Kevin suggested. "It's a lot to swallow."

"I don't think that's it. Serena asked if Emily was mad at her mother and Emily nodded. She asked if she was mad at her and Emily nodded… but when a question came up where Emily had to actually answer with something… she didn't…"

"She's mad at Serena?" Jayden asked. Mia nodded.

"I would be too. Serena gets it. What worries me is if Serena's mad at herself."

"It's not her fault her mother made the decision to leave," Kevin agreed. "I mean… sure, if Serena hadn't gotten pregnant this wouldn't have happened, but her mother makes her own decisions."

"Serena may not see it that way," Mentor Ji whispered as his eyes turned to the hallway. "Neither will Emily."

"I'm not worried about Emily blaming the wrong person. She's mad at Serena right now, but she's a smart kid," Mia said.

"She'll figure it out," Mike added.

"Serena probably feels like she single-handedly destroyed her entire family," Mia leaned closer into Kevin. "And she's going to feel that way for a long time…"

Kevin hugged and kissed the side of his fiancée, "We won't let her think that. She'll come around. She'll…" he trailed off slowly as Emily stepped into the room, hugging herself for comfort as he eyes fell on Mike. She didn't say anything. She couldn't bring herself to say anything.

Mike got up from his stool and walked over to her, "How do you feel?" he asked her as he pulled her into a hug. There was no reply. Mike furrowed his brow, "Em, are you okay?" he felt Emily's head shaking against his chest. Excusing himself and Emily from the room, he walked out so they could talk on their own.

Serena appeared next in the room and sat down on her stool. She didn't look at the boys or Mia. She kept her eyes on the floor, but they could see she had been crying.

"Serena…"

"She won't say a word," Serena looked at Mia. "Not a single word…"

"It's probably still processing," Jayden put a hand on her shoulder, "she might feel more comfortable talking to Mike. You never know."

"How are you feeling?" Kevin asked. "Are you okay?"

"I don't want to talk about me," Serena whispered.

Mentor Ji approached Serena and knelt down in front of her. He took her hands in his and smiled up at her.

"You will not be going through this alone," he promised her. "Your mother had her reasons for leaving, we must understand that, but no matter what they are, they do not justify the pain she has caused you."

"It's my fault…"

"Serena…"

"It's this stupid baby," Serena clutched the piece of her shirt over her stomach until her knuckles were white. Her body shook and fresh tears streamed down her face. "This stupid, Nighlok-freak baby."

Mentor shook his head, "the baby is just as innocent as you and Emily."

"I'm not innocent! This is my fault!" Serena screamed. "Mom hates me!"

"She hates that you are pregnant," Mentor cupped Serena's face in his hand. "Your mother's actions have surprised me, but I doubt she hates you. You were all she ever spoke about when she was here with me and the other Rangers. You had already begun your training before she came here and she was always so proud of you."

"I disappointed her…"

"You have," Mentor Ji nodded. "I will not lie. Your mother never expected her daughter to fall in love with a Nighlok."

"I shouldn't have," Serena said. "I was stupid to think he could change. I was stupid to…"

"The only thing worse than putting down others is putting yourself down," Mentor interrupted Serena. "I will not have that kind of talk in my house."

"It's true!"

"Serena," Mia called, "I know it's hard to believe, but this isn't your fault. When my parents divorced, my grandmother always told me they were responsible for their own decisions and no one was to blame for the choices they made but themselves. People are not always going to behave the way we want them too and we need to learn to accept that. Their behaviours will impact what we do with our lives, but we always have choices."

"Your mother wouldn't have run off if you weren't pregnant," Kevin nodded his head. "But you are. That doesn't mean you made her run away. She had the option to stay. She had the choice to try and work things out. She had the chance to be a better person."

"It's because of me…"

"Emily tripped, fell and ruined Abby's biome diorama before Abby had the chance to show the science teacher," Mia said, pulling from her memory a story Emily told her long ago, shortly after revealing to the Rangers she had been bullied as a child. "When Abby turned up to class empty handed the teacher didn't believe that the accident had happened and Abby failed the assignment. Emily felt so bad for what she had done and apologized, but Abby couldn't forgive her. Do you remember what happened?"

Serena nodded, "Emily didn't come home from school that day. I remembered waiting for her to walk down the driveway but she didn't turn up. After an hour I started walking to her school to see if she was on her way home. I made it all the way to the school without seeing her so I checked her classroom. She wasn't in there either… or so I thought. The class had a big toy box filled with toys for when recess had to happen indoors. Apparently Abby got some of the boys to tie Emily with skipping ropes and tape her mouth shut. Then, so no one would find her and they wouldn't get in trouble, they dumped her in the toy box and ran home."

Serena looked at Mia curiously, "But what does that have to do with…"

"Abby could have just accepted what happened," Mia said. "Or, she could have talked to the teacher, or even her parents. They could have vouched for her. I'm sure they helped her with her project. Instead, she decided to get back at Emily. What happened to her, was it her fault?"

"No," Serena shook her head, ready to defend her sister. "Emily didn't do anything wrong! Even if she had broken the diorama on purpose, Abby shouldn't have done what she did!"

"I bet Emily felt like she deserved it, though. If she hadn't broken the diorama, none of that would have happened, huh?"

"Abby tormented her from kindergarten until the day she left to come here," Serena whispered. "She would have…"

"Serena, I think what Mia was trying to say was that Emily was not responsible for what Abby decided to do," Mentor said. Serena looked at him and sighed heavily.

"I still feel like it's my fault…"

"Stop telling yourself that it is and soon that feeling will start to go away."

"When?"

"Probably not for a long time," Mia told Serena honestly, "but trust me, it's going to be longer if you keep blaming yourself."

Serena lowered her head and sighed. Jayden squeezed her shoulder comfortingly. She knew she had all the support she needed from the people in the room. They weren't about to let her feel guilty for her mother's choice. Deep down, she understood they were right, but everything still felt like it was on her shoulders. Jayden noticed she was beginning to tear up again and he pulled her into his arms.

-Samurai-

After leading Emily away from the others he took her outside and they sat in the grass. He didn't know how to start a conversation with her right now but knew she wanted to talk. Emily just sat, almost completely still. She did nothing but pull at the grass with her fingers.

"Do you want to talk, Em?" he asked her and she shook her head no. He scooted closer to her, taking her hand gently, "Emily, you know I'm not going to leave you. Whatever you're feeling… I want to help."

Still there was nothing but silence from Emily. Mike moved in even closer and touched Emily's face.

"Em, I know this is a shock but please… please talk to me. About anything. It doesn't have to be about your mom. We can talk about whatever you want to talk about…"

Emily remained silent. Mike cupped her face in his hands, forcing her to look at him. She had no problem making eye contact but she still didn't try to say anything.

"I love you," he whispered. Emily's eyes spoke volumes, telling Mike she loved him too, but no words came out of her mouth. Her lips didn't move.

Mike sighed and pulled her into his arms, hugging her close. His eyes began to water and he kissed the top of her head, "It's going to be okay."


	12. Painfully Silent

"Ta-da!" Kevin pulled his hands away from Mia's eyes, revealing to her their bedroom. Mia furrowed her brow and turned to Kevin.

"You could have at least made the bed," she crossed her arms. "What am I looking at?"

Kevin chuckled, fixing up the wrinkles in the blankets before gesturing to the portable DVD player he placed on the bed. He and Mia kept it in their room for when they wanted to watch DVDs in the middle of the night. It was their idea of a romantic date now that they were trying to take things slow.

"Everything's been a bit of a mess around here," he smiled as he took a seat on the bed and pulled out a box of DVDs he had hidden under his pillow. "I just thought we could use a chance to unwind. You especially."

Mia nodded her head and took a seat next to Kevin. She looked through the DVDs and saw Kevin had picked out all her favourites. It was another thing she loved about him. He hated romantic comedies, but whenever they wanted to watch something together he always forced himself to watch them because he knew she loved them. She picked out a movie she knew he secretly liked and kissed his cheek. They cuddled up together on the bed and started up the DVD.

"This is nice," he smiled, enjoying the silence of his room. He hugged Mia and kissed her cheek, "Back to basics. There's nothing better."

Mia had to agree. She was finally getting a chance to relax. Things had been so stressful around the house lately that she and Kevin hadn't been able to do much together. They were always busy helping Serena with her pregnancy or helping Emily and Serena with their family crisis or trying to figure out Dayu's past. It felt good to finally get away from it all, even if it was just for one night. It had only been a couple of days since the phone call that changed everything for the Rangers, but it felt like decades.

"A happy ending isn't too much to wish for, right?" Mia looked up at Kevin. He shook his head.

"You make your own happy ending, Mia," he answered her with a smile and a kiss.

"They make it look so easy in movies," Mia sighed. "Like fate's always going to jump in and put the pieces together for you. Books, too. It always works out. Life doesn't do that."

"Life doesn't have a script," Kevin chuckled. "If it did… it wouldn't be interesting."

"My parents didn't get a happy ending… Why do I believe in it? Emily and Serena…"

"Hold up," Kevin shook his head and looked down at his fiancée, "Mia, your parents got a happy ending. Not a storybook ending, but they are happy, right?"

"Yeah," Mia nodded. "It took a few years after the divorce but…"

"But they found their happy ending. They're friends to this day, they both have an amazing, beautiful daughter, your dad found a new woman who seems to make him happy, and I'm sure your mother's doing something she loves."

Mia nestled into Kevin's arms, "You're right…"

"Of course I'm right," Kevin smiled proudly, "I'm always right."

Mia playfully smacked his chest, "You can't always be right. I'm the woman."

"Good point."

"See?"

"That doesn't count," Kevin laughed. His eyes moved back to the screen and he hushed Mia, "It's my favourite part! Shh."

"I knew you liked this DVD."

Kevin's face fell, "Technically, you can't be right about that one because I didn't argue it. Not today. And I'm not about to argue it because then you'll just be right again."

"So you do like it then?" Mia asked. Kevin nodded his head.

"This movie started to grow on me," he said. "All the others are stupid though."

"One day," Mia rested her head against his chest, "you'll love them all."

-Samurai-

Antonio twirled his spoon around in his bowl of cereal. He wanted to eat something before heading to bed but he was no longer hungry. He had caught sight of Emily's broken phone on the counter (the phone he recently promised Serena he would try to fix) and questions started running through his head.

Just then, Jayden walked through the kitchen.

"Don't wake me up when you go to bed," he pointed to the gold Ranger. "I want to get up early for training tomorrow and I need the sleep."

"Yeah… sure," Antonio muttered. Jayden knew that tone. Antonio always used that sad, '_nothing's bothering me, why do you ask'_ tone when there was something wrong. He sighed and took a seat at the table.

"Shoot."

"What?"

"What's the matter?" Jayden asked. He flicked his thumb over his shoulder, pointing down the hallway, "Two depressed Samurais is kinda the house limit at once. Either perk up or get out."

"Sorry," Antonio pushed his bowl of soup away, "I was just wondering… do you believe in love?"

"Do I… Antonio, why do you ask?"

"Well, the relationships in this house are okay, they work. But we're not exactly in the real world. My parents, from what I can remember, had a good relationship. Mike's parents and Kevin's parents are still together, so there must be something there that works, but…"

"But…"

"Mia's parents are divorced, right?"

Jayden nodded his head, "As far as I understand, yeah."

"Emily and Serena's parents are probably headed down that road."

"Most likely."

"But… it doesn't just stop there," Antonio looked across the table to Jayden, "I mean, people say there's nothing more powerful than a mother's love for her children. If that's true… what the hell kind of mother walks away?"

"It's complicated, Antonio."

"I know that. But I'm just thinking… are we really meant to love? Is it worth it?"

"I'm not the right person to ask," Jayden breathed deeply. "Love's not at the top of my list right now. Saving the world from Master Xandred. That's what I care about."

"So… you don't feel love?"

"I do… I love you guys… but it's just… it's complicated, Antonio."

"Maybe it's too complicated to be true," Antonio huffed and rested his head in his arms on the table. "Love sucks, that's why I don't date."

"Yeah, that's why," Jayden chuckled. "You spend most of your time fighting Nighlok, and anytime you do go out you smell like fish. But you're not dating because you choose not to."

"Exactly," Antonio laughed. Jayden rolled his eyes and smiled as he got out of his chair. He gave Antonio a pat on his back as he walked to the bedroom.

"I don't know much about relationships and love and all that fun stuff," he said to the gold Ranger, "but I see love as a kind of skill. Some people aren't good at it and some are just born to love. But no matter where you start, it's something you have to work on. If you don't, you lose that skill and that's when love dies."

"It's a skill?"

"An emotion you have to practice," Jayden nodded. He disappeared into the hallway, "don't stay up too late. I have training in the morning!"

-Samurai-

While Serena was in their bathroom getting ready for bed, Mike was sitting with Emily on his bed. She hadn't spoken a word or made a sound since learning her mother had walked away. At first, Mike thought she had just been in shock; so upset by the news that her family was breaking up that she didn't know what to say. But it had been two days since he had heard her voice and now he was beginning to worry that Emily was hurting more than he initially believed. It tore him up inside. He knew she would be devastated but now he couldn't imagine how she felt.

Emily didn't speak to anyone or anything. She wouldn't talk at breakfast, lunch or dinner, she wouldn't ask her friends questions, comment about what was happening or ask for favours. Everyone had to guess what she wanted or needed which was getting increasingly frustrating, and Mike was scared Emily was picking up on that frustration and it only made her hurt more.

There was one way she communicated with the Rangers and that was her eyes. Emily was almost completely void of expression except for in her eyes. Everyone in the house knew when something was upsetting her, scaring her, or, in the rare cases, made her even a little happy. It was all in the way she looked at them. Mike was really thankful there was a way he could read her. It was still frustrating how she wouldn't talk, but at least there was still a little communication, even if it didn't get her very far.

He took her hand in his and smiled at her. Emily looked up at him, a smile in her eyes but her lips didn't move.

"I miss you," he whispered. Emily lowered her gaze and wrapped her arms around Mike. He sighed as he squeezed her lovingly. "Just one word, Em, please."

Emily didn't say anything. She continued to hold onto Mike, as if she was terrified to let go. He kissed her cheek.

"I'm not walking away, Em," he promised her. "I won't walk away just because you won't talk. I love you."

Emily's eyes met his and he knew she was trying to say it back, but it was hard not to hear it. He missed the sound of her voice. For the first little while he could imagine her speaking. He imagined her saying yes or no when she nodded and shook her head, and he made up sentences in his head in her voice just so he could hear her, but he was starting to forget what her voice sounded like.

A tear ran down his cheek. Emily wiped it away before it dripped off his chin and leaned back into him. Mike wrapped his arms around her and lay back in his bed, holding her close. Serena came out of the bathroom at this point. There were a few tear stains on her cheeks, letting Mike and Emily know she hadn't been able to keep herself from crying. Mike reached out as she walked up to his bed. He took her hand and squeezed it. She smiled at him.

"Thanks," she looked down at Emily and kissed her sister's forehead. "I love you."

She thought saying it would help her sister but so far there was no progress. Emily didn't even smile when she heard those words. Not when Serena said them and not when Mike said them. Serena knew her sister appreciated hearing them, though. Just like Mike, she had discovered that everything Emily needed to say she said with her eyes. It was hard to figure out exactly what Emily was trying to say all the time, but one thing Serena never failed to understand was that Emily wanted her mother to come home.

"Night, junior," Mike placed his hand on Serena's stomach. He wasn't going to forget about his little niece or nephew. Serena didn't know he was officially going to be the baby's uncle but Mike knew, and it made the little squirt-in-the-making all the more special to Mike.

"Goodnight, Mike," Serena responded back for her child as she walked to Emily's bed and crawled in by herself. She looked to her sister, "Goodnight, Aunt Emily."

Still nothing from Emily. Serena sighed and turned out the lights. As she rested her head against her pillow she whispered, "I'm so sorry. I'll fix you, Emy. I'll fix all of this."


	13. Say Anything

Feeling refreshed and ready to tackle their problems after the movie date the night before, Kevin and Mia walked into the common room with smiles on their faces. They didn't care if the atmosphere in the house didn't call for smiles; they were going to spread them around.

Jayden was in the dojo training and Antonio had joined him. Mike and Emily weren't yet out of bed but Serena was already in the common room, sitting with a slice of toast and a pregnancy book in her lap.

"Good morning," Mia smiled brightly and to her surprise Serena looked up with a smile. There was no more sadness in her eyes. It almost knocked Mia off her feet. The days before she had been completely distraught and now it was like nothing had happened.

"Good morning."

"What's wrong with you?" Kevin asked, finding it weird he would have to ask that question to a smiling woman. He took a seat on his stool and glanced at Mia. She shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm not letting myself hurt anymore," Serena said. Mia looked skeptically at Kevin and then back to Serena.

"Uh, you know it's okay to hurt," she said. "I think you have the right to hurt for at least another… lifetime?"

"Did you know whatever stress I experience affects my baby?" Serena pointed to a page in her pregnancy book.

"So you're avoiding stress for junior?" Kevin asked.

"My family's a mess. You guys are working hard to pick up the pieces for us, which I'm grateful for, but… this can't continue. Emily still won't say a word and…"

Finally there was sadness on Serena's face. Mia took a seat next to her and placed her hand on her back.

"Still nothing from Emy, huh?"

"I don't want her to hurt," Serena nodded. "She shouldn't be hurting… but like the baby, she feeds off me. Nothing I can do right now will change mom's mind. You guys were right; mom leaving was her choice, not mine. Me being upset about it won't bring her back. Why waste my time?"

"Because it's unhealthy to keep it all bottled up," Mia pointed out. "It's okay if you want to cry or sulk or get angry. We don't mind, right Kevin?"

"You're free to express yourself around us. No matter how angry you get…"

"Anger won't bring mom back. She doesn't know what we're doing here. She doesn't know we're suffering, and even if she did, what does it matter? She walked away knowing we were going to hurt. Why can't I just be happy? It's healthy for me, it's healthier for the baby and maybe we'll hear Emily speaking again."

"Is this really what you want?" Kevin asked, "Are you really ready to just… move on?"

"What else can I do?" Serena shrugged. "I have nothing to fall back on. I've got to keep going. I need to keep living."

"Well, if you ever need us," Mia smiled. Serena looked at the pink and blue Rangers.

"I do," she said. "I want to be happy again. I was to be able to accept what happened and move on… but I need something to look forward to. I need a reason to be happy."

"How about nine?" Kevin suggested. "Your father's at home, ready to support you when you need it."

"Mentor Ji's going to help out while you're here, and he's offered to let you stay here as long as you need," Mia continued.

"Antonio's always willing to lend a helping hand and he catches and cooks some amazing fish."

"Jayden's going to do anything he can to help you out when you need him. He's always reliable for stuff like that."

"I'm always going to be here for you. And if you and junior ever need anything, you just have to call. And Mia's a natural when it comes to taking care of people. I'm sure she's wonderful with babies and crazy mothers."

"Aw, thanks, Kev," Mia pecked her fiancé on the cheek. "I'm sure you'll be a pretty fantastic uncle."

"Hello," Serena waved her arms in the air, "a little focus on me. You promised me nine good things. You're only at six."

Mia laughed, "You've also got Mike, who loves Emily and her family more than anything. I'm sure, if super-uncle Kevin isn't around, Mike will step in without you needing to ask. And that's with issues not related to babies."

"Your sister loves and cares for you unconditionally. No matter how many times you seem to mess things up she's always by your side."

"And, finally, in seven and a half months, you're going to forget about everything that happened in your first trimester," Mia placed her hand on Serena's stomach, "because for the first time ever you're going to hold your child in your arms. You're not going to care who fathered the child, where he is, where your mother is and all that other depressing stuff we're living through now."

"All that's going to matter is little baby Samurai," Kevin nodded. Serena looked down, placing both her hands on her stomach with a smile. This baby, for her, had been both a blessing and a curse. The baby had screwed up everything about her life and had caused her so much misery she had to wonder if it was worth it. This child was literally trouble from the start. But when she thought about what it would be like to have her own baby and to be a mother, she couldn't help but smile. She had watched Emily grow up, but this baby was hers. All hers. She loved that.

"I'm not going to leave," Serena whispered and she felt Mia hugging her with one arm. She rubbed her stomach, "I'll never leave you."

Kevin smiled when he heard this. Serena was on the right path now. All he and the others had to do was make sure she followed that path. To keep her encouraged, he reached over and snatched the pregnancy book from her lap. He looked at picture of a baby inside the womb and chuckled.

"It still looks like an alien."

"A cute alien," Mia laughed and began to coo at the growing baby until Emily walked into the room and everything was silent.

"Good morning," Kevin smiled to her. Smiling to Serena had helped her feel better; he could only hope it would do the same to Emily.

But it didn't. She didn't respond. She just sat down on her stool, right next to Serena, with her legs crossed, her elbows rested on her knees and her head in her hands.

"There's breakfast in the kitchen," Serena said to her sister. "I made extra toast."

Emily didn't get up to eat so Mia got up to get her a slice of toast.

"You're going to use that mouth for something," she said to Emily, "I'm not letting you shut up and starve."

Mia walked into the kitchen and saw there was enough toast to feed Emily, Kevin and herself. She grabbed the jam, peanut butter and regular butter as well as three knives and walked back into the common room. She set everything down in front of Emily to let her decided what she wanted to eat. Emily turned away from the food, towards her sister. She crawled into her sister's lap, wrapped her arms around Serena's neck and buried her head in her shoulder. Serena could only respond to that with a hug and held her sister close.

After a minute, Serena sighed, "You used to be quite the chatterbox at home when you were young," she smiled. "Not with mom and dad though. Usually just with me. You would talk, and talk, and talk. Sometimes I just wanted you to shut up, though, but I could never stop you from talking. I would try. I pick up the TV remote all the time and hit the mute button. It never worked."

Hearing that story, Kevin reached for the TV remote and tried pressing the mute button, hoping to unmute the yellow Ranger. When that didn't work he hit the volume button, turning her volume up. Still, she didn't speak. She didn't laugh. She didn't even smile. Not that Kevin could tell. Emily was still hiding with her head buried in her sister's shoulder.

Mike came into the common room and took a seat. He saw the toast on the table and reached for a slice. He ate it plain.

"Does food make you feel sick too?" Serena teased him when she saw he didn't put anything on the toast. "I didn't know men could have morning sickness too."

"Just too lazy to care," Mike said. He looked over at Emily sadly. When they had woken up he had tried to encourage her to speak but to no avail. It was killing him slowly. He missed Emily, and the worst part was that he knew no matter how much he was hurting, she was hurting a lot more, and he knew he couldn't help her because she wouldn't talk. She couldn't tell him what exactly it was that was hurting her, so he couldn't make it better.

Antonio and Jayden were next to come in, all sweaty from their morning training. Jayden saw the toast and reached for it and the peanut butter while Antonio's eyes strayed to Emily and Serena and then the food.

"Does she eat?" he asked. Serena shook her head.

"Not this morning."

"Does she speak?"

Serena sighed, shook her head, and kissed the side of her sister's head. "No."

Antonio reached for the toast with a heavy heart and took a slice. He was hungry after training and knew he needed to eat, but he didn't want to. Still, he forced himself to eat.

"Mentor's giving us the day off today," Jayden said. Mentor thought it was best to do something a little more fun and upbeat and suggested to Jayden he take the Rangers out for the day. Getting them away from the house would likely help them all feel a little better.

"There's an open field not too far from here," Antonio suggested. "I walk by it all the time when I go fishing. If we brought a soccer ball or something we could play a friendly game."

"We've got a beach ball," Kevin said, "I'm sure we can make that work."

"Or a frisbee," Serena smiled and hugged her sister. "What do you say, kiddo? Want to throw around the frisbee? We'll bring Scruffy with us and make a day out of it?"

Still nothing but complete silence from Emily. She didn't even move her head in a nod or a shake. She clutched only Serena tightly. Serena kissed her head and tapped her back gently, "Let me up, squirt. You go find Scruffy while we get ready."

-Samurai-

Jayden couldn't help but notice Mentor Ji had been right. A little time outside had been exactly what was needed to lift the Rangers' spirits.

The Rangers were divided into teams of two. On one team were Kevin, Mia and Antonio. On the other team were Jayden, Mike and Serena. The only person left out was Emily. The Rangers had offered she play on the second team; while the first team would take Scruffy (he was amazing at catching the frisbee. Getting him to let go was a small problem, though). Emily opted out of the game by sitting in the grass with her dog. Scruffy, ever loyal, stayed by her side, letting her pet his head and back mindlessly. He knew there was something wrong with her, just like everyone else knew, and he was trying to do what he could to help her.

Emily sitting out didn't stop the team from having fun. They hoped Emily would catch their excitement and decide to join. Even if she didn't speak it would be a huge step if she played with the others.

"I got it!" Antonio shouted as the frisbee came his way. He jumped into the air to catch it and quickly threw it back to the other team. He then turned to his own teammates to see if they were ready to catch the frisbee the next time it flew over. For every catch the team missed, the opposite team scored a point. Antonio's team was down by ten and he knew why. "Stop flirting!"

Kevin unwrapped his arms from around Mia and pouted, "We're not flirting. Besides, even if we were, we still have a higher catch rate than you."

"Catching two throws gives you a 100% catch rate, but that does not mean you're the star of the team," Antonio said before he felt something hit the back of his head. He turned around and saw the frisbee at his feet and Jayden, Serena and Mike were chuckling. He grumbled and glared back at Mia and Kevin. "I blame you."

"Catch the frisbee, Antonio," Mia laughed. "C'mon, you can do better."

Antonio turned to the other team, "I demand a switch on account of excess PDA!"

"Losers can't ask for a team swap," Jayden called back, "It's unfair for the winners. Only substitutions can be made."

Jayden gestured over to Emily and Scruffy and Antonio decided to try his luck.

"C'mon, Em, they're killing me over here!" he begged her as he picked up the frisbee and waved it at her. "Anything you do has to be better than Romeo and Juliet."

Emily didn't move so Antonio decided to try and appeal to Scruffy. At least he could catch a flying disk.

"Scruffy, want the frisbee?" he waved the frisbee around for the dog but Scruffy wasn't biting. Not today. He simply looked at Emily and refused to move when he saw she wasn't going to play.

Antonio crossed his arms, "I see how it is, Scruffs. We could have been the perfect golden team too. The gold Ranger, the golden retriever and the silence is golden Ranger."

The team all groaned and rolled their eyes.

"Another gold joke?" Mike whined.

"What?" Antonio shrugged, "It's automatically the winning team."

"Just throw the damn frisbee, fish-face," Serena said teasingly. Antonio pouted and tossed the frisbee as hard as he could. Jayden, Mike and Serena were unable to catch it, scoring him a point.

"Maybe I can do this on my own," he smirked and turned around to Mia and Kevin. He saw they were sitting down on the ground and frowned, "Guys!"

"You were going to trade us," Kevin chuckled. "We're on strike."

Antonio stuck his tongue out at the couple before turning back to the game and playing as hard as he could for a come-back.

The frisbee flew back and forth for a while without any team dropping the disk. Almost ten minutes passed before the frisbee finally hit the ground, giving Antonio a point. But the frisbee had landed right next to Emily.

"Can you toss it over, Emy?" Serena asked her sister as she took a few steps over. Emily didn't move so Serena called again, "Your arms still work, Emy, just toss it over."

There was no answer from her little sister so Serena walked over and picked the frisbee up herself. As she knelt down she looked at her sister.

"C'mon, Emy, you can't do this forever. Mom's not coming back and not talking isn't going to change that."

Emily hugged her knees against her chest and hid her face. Serena slammed the frisbee into the dirt.

"Stop hurting, Emily! It's not doing anyone any good!" her voice was louder than she expected and she suddenly felt the tears stinging her eyes. She had tried to be strong for her sister, knowing Emily needed her, but it obviously wasn't working. Nothing she did helped her sister. She felt terrible.

"I'm sorry, Emy," she shouted. "If you're trying to tell me you're mad at me, I'm sorry! I fucked up, I know I did! It's because of me that mom walked!"

"Serena…" Mia whispered as she walked over and placed her hand on Serena's back. She tried pulling the older girl away but Serena just let herself fall into the grass.

"I love you, Em. I'm so sorry…"

Emily looked over at her sister before suddenly throwing herself into Serena's arms. Her sister caught her and held on tight, terrified she would be letting Emily down if she let go.

Mike knelt down next to the sisters. He placed a hand on Emily's back and the other on Serena's shoulder. He couldn't look at Emily but he did turn to Serena.

"It's not your fault," he told her. He then leaned over and kissed Emily's cheek. "I'm coming back. Count on it, Em," he promised her before getting up and walking into the forest.

"Mike," Jayden called but Mike didn't stop. "Mike, where are you going?"

"Out!" Mike shouted.

Mia looked to Kevin and then gestured to Mike, "Follow him," she whispered. Kevin nodded and took off after Mike, leaving the others to care for Serena and Emily.

Serena rocked Emily back and forth, tears streaming down her own face but there was still nothing from Emily.

"Anything, Emy," they could hear Serena whisper, "Just say anything…"


	14. Abandoned

It wasn't completely by choice that Emily wasn't talking. Of course, she still remembered how to speak. Sounds made words, words made sentences and she used sentences to tell her friends how she was feeling. But no matter how much she wanted to talk, she just couldn't bring herself to utter a single sound.

She felt completely numb and empty. It was much worse than the time Splitface had stolen her spirit. At least, back then, she knew everything was going to be okay. Her friends would get her spirit back and it would be like nothing had ever happened. She would bounce right back into the same world she left, or even a better world, considering her sister had been cured.

But this time there was nothing to go back to. Emily never had much growing up, but she always thought she had her family. They were such a close group, especially after Serena's illness, that she thought nothing could tear them apart. No matter how bad things got for them, they would always face their challenges head on as a family and they would come out stronger for it.

Serena had made it clear that this situation was complicated and it could have been avoided if everyone had just made better decisions, but Serena had been clear to point out that Emily was completely innocent. She had nothing to do with Serena falling in love with Dekker and nothing to do with Dayu's obsession over her former husband. It hadn't been Emily's fault Dayu started stalking Serena and she wasn't to blame for the way Dekker tried to protect Serena. Emily also wasn't at fault for Serena being pregnant, and there was no reason for her parents (her mother specifically) to let Serena's actions influence their relationship with Emily. Emily couldn't be responsible for her parents' disagreement over Serena's pregnancy, and it was her mother's choice to walk away.

Emily had done nothing wrong.

But she wished she had. She wished she had done something that would justify everything that had happened. If she had been the one to tell Serena to go after Dekker, or if she had joined forces with Dayu to try and break up Dekker and Serena; or, maybe if she had yelled and screamed at her parents when they learned of Serena's pregnancy, maybe there would have been a reason why her mother left her. But there wasn't. She had been the best daughter she could be. She always listened to her parents as a child and when her sister got sick she did everything she could to help her parents and Serena. She took up Serena's responsibility as the yellow Samurai Ranger and worked to make everyone in her family proud.

It just wasn't enough. It wasn't enough to keep her family together. Her mother left, and though she had told Serena that she still loved both her and Emily, Emily didn't trust it. She couldn't understand why her mother would leave if she still loved her daughter. Because she couldn't understand why her mother would leave the daughters she loved, she stopped believing her mother loved her. It was the only thing that made sense to Emily. Her mother walked away from her, when she did nothing wrong, because she didn't love Emily enough to stay. She had a reason for leaving Serena; whether it was good or bad, it was still a reason. But there was nothing to explain her leaving Emily behind, so Emily had made one up and could no longer tell if it was the truth or just in her head.

Feeling unloved by her mother made her question why her mother couldn't love her. Emily started to feel like she wasn't good enough anymore. Her mother didn't stay because she didn't love her because Emily wasn't a good daughter. It all made sense to Emily. She had been a crybaby as a kid, always came in last or was chosen last for teams in school. Her grades had been far from perfect, her parents had to deal with numerous issues of bullying for twelve years; she was too small to do much work on the farm and struggled too much when she tried to help. She wasn't as good a Samurai as her sister. She was always getting hurt in battles and always worrying her friends and family around her.

It was no wonder her mother didn't want to stick around. Emily wasn't enough of a reason to stay. If her mother was arguing with her father, disappointed in her sister, and didn't love Emily, there was no reason to put up with all the trouble Serena's pregnancy had caused. It wasn't worth it because Emily wasn't worth it.

"Hamburger or hot-dog?" Emily looked up and saw Serena gesturing to either a hamburger or a hot-dog bun. After coming home from their day off, the Rangers decided to have a barbecue outside. Emily could tell not everyone was present for the barbecue. Mentor Ji was still inside and Mike was still missing. She knew he would come back. He had promised her he would come back, but she didn't know when and she didn't know where he had gone. She thought about calling him, but she couldn't bring herself to speak and couldn't ask him where he was. She thought about asking Serena or Mia to call, but then she would have to talk to them and she couldn't do it.

Kevin was also missing. It was another reason Emily knew Mike would come back. Kevin had gone with him and he would never leave Mia. So as long as Kevin was out with Mike (which was the reason he was gone: to keep an eye on Mike), Emily knew there was a chance Mike would come back home. On the very off chance Kevin did come home without Mike, Emily would know he was gone forever, just like her mother.

"Emily," her sister called her name when Emily didn't answer. "Hamburger or hot-dog?"

Emily stared blankly at both buns. She wasn't hungry and she didn't want to eat but she knew her sister was going to make her.

"Emy, please," Serena sat down across the table from Emily, "just… do something, sweetie. Point, nod… anything, Emy."

Mia took the hot-dog buns from Serena's hands. "She prefers hot-dogs."

"I know, but…" Serena got up from the table and moved away from Emily slightly to talk to Mia privately. Emily could still hear what they were saying, though. She saw Serena looked upset as she spoke with Mia.

"She can't even answer yes or no anymore," Serena said. "She just… doesn't answer. She used to nod her head or point."

Emily saw Mia looking over at her. She knew her two sisters worried about her. It helped to know they cared, but it also hurt. Her mother used to worry about her all the time and apparently got sick of it. If her mother, the woman who gave birth to her, could leave, so could Serena and Mia.

"It's only been a few days," Mia said. "It's still hard for her."

"But it's getting worse," Serena sighed. "I can barely read her anymore. I miss Emy."

Emily looked away from the conversation when she felt something cold and wet touch her thigh. She looked down and saw Scruffy with a ball in his mouth. Even he was trying to get her to open up. He dropped the slimy ball in her lap and waited for her to throw it. The ball rolled off her legs and hit the ground. Scruffy pounced to catch it and then gave it back to Emily, dropping it in her lap again. Still, Emily didn't move to grab it and the ball started to roll down her legs. Scruffy nudged it up with his nose, begging for Emily to play with him but she wouldn't. He began to whine and cry. Emily still couldn't bring herself to play. He nudged her legs. He placed his two front paws on the lap and nudged her face. Emily wouldn't respond. She wouldn't even push him off. Scruffy jumped back down himself and started to bark.

She ignored her dog until she saw Jayden pulling him away and tossing the ball across the yard. She saw Scruffy didn't run to catch it. Instead, she watched as he turned to Jayden and growled. Jayden looked at the dog.

"Emily doesn't want to play."

Emily looked down at the table as Antonio set a hot-dog in front of her. She stared at it, not wanting to eat.

"Ketchup? Mustard? Relish?" she heard him offer but she didn't look up from her hot-dog. She heard Antonio sigh. "Well, the yellow condiment for the yellow Ranger."

She watched him squirt mustard on the hot-dog, making it a little more appetizing but still she didn't eat. Antonio pushed the plate in closer. Emily still didn't move.

"Emily, please," her sister begged as she took a seat next to her. She ripped the hot-dog in half and held up one end for Emily to take. Emily didn't reach for it. She didn't want it. Her sister continued to beg, "Emy, eat something. You can't do this to yourself! It's not going to help!"

Emily could sense her sister was getting angry and upset again and wrapped herself in Serena's arms so she wouldn't leave. She loved her sister; she didn't want her to take off. She felt Serena hugging her back and kissing her head. She heard her whisper "I love you, Emy," and for a moment it made Emily feel something. Her sister offered her the hot-dog again and, finally a little hungry, Emily accepted it and took a very small bite. Serena cuddled her as she ate.

"I'm not leaving, Emy. I'm never leaving."

-Samurai-

Kevin had been following Mike for hours now, unsure of where the green Ranger was headed. He wasn't even sure Mike knew where he was headed. They had been walking around in circles the entire time.

Finally, Mike collapse onto a rock and held his head in his hands. Kevin fell to the ground and leaned back against a tree.

"Are you done this little adventure now?" he asked. "Can we go home?"

"It's not an adventure!" Mike shouted while pounding his hand into the rock he was sitting on. "This is serious, Kevin!"

"We're going around in circles. You're looking for something. Talk to me, Mike."

"I'm going to kill him…"

"Who?"

"Dekker! The son of a bitch who caused all this!"

"Dekker?"

"It's because of him! Everything's because of him. It's not Serena's fault she's pregnant!"

"Actually…"

"It's not Dayu's fault he doesn't remember her!"

"Yeah, well…"

"It's Dekker! Everything leads back to Dekker! Emily won't talk because of Dekker."

"Mike, you're stretching it a bit. You're just looking for someone to blame and Dekker's easy."

"But I'm right, aren't I?" Mike huffed. "I'm fucking right! You know it!"

He shook his head and kicked the dirt. He let himself slip off the rock so he was sitting on the ground. He collected some dirt in his hand and stared at it. Kevin saw a tear dripping down his cheek and walked over to Mike. He sat beside him.

"She always bounces back," he whispered.

"She won't talk," Mike sobbed and clutched the dirt tightly in his hand.

"Mia and I went a week without talking," Kevin reminded Mike. "I know…"

"This is different," Mike whispered. "I can't help her. I promised her I would protect her. She could trust me. She did trust me."

"Mike…"

"She's so hurt, Kevin," Mike looked over to his best friend, unashamed by the tears rolling down his face. "That's all I see when I look at her now. She's hurting so badly and I know it's getting worse. But I don't know how to help her. I don't know how to make it all stop."

"She'll talk when she's ready."

"What if she never talks?" Mike asked. "What if this goes on forever?"

"Mike…"

"I miss her, Kevin. I miss her so much. She's right there and I just…"

"I know," Kevin nodded, pulling Mike in for a hug, "I miss her too."

"How is she supposed to say 'I do'?" Mike asked. He didn't care if his engagement to Emily was supposed to be a secret. He needed someone to understand him completely. "She can't say it if she won't talk."

"Work on her saying yes, first," Kevin chuckled slightly. Mike let out a deep sigh.

"She already did."

Kevin pulled away, "What?"

"Don't tell a soul," Mike said. "Not even Mia."

"Mike, slow down…"

"I promised her I would propose when we were done with Xandred," Mike said. "We're… engaged to be engaged but it's all the same."

"I'm sure there are ways for people who can't talk to say I do," Kevin said, eyeing Mike carefully. "I'm sure you'll figure it out."

"I'm sure we will too," Mike nodded.

Kevin smiled, "You're completely serious about this, huh? You'll stand by her even if she never speaks again."

"I love her."

Kevin placed his hand on Mike's shoulder, "I'm glad I was wrong about you," he tapped the green Ranger on the back, "we should go home. Emily's mother walked away from her. She doesn't need her future husband leaving her as well."

Mike smiled when he heard he had Kevin's approval. The blue Ranger was extremely protective of the yellow Ranger, so it felt nice to hear Mike had his blessings.

But he couldn't leave just yet.

"What about Dekker?"

"Dekker doesn't need you," Kevin stood up and held a hand out for Mike. "Emily does. Go back to her."

Mike took Kevin's hand and was lifted from the dirt.

-Samurai-

"Thank you, Antonio," Serena smiled as Antonio handed her Emily's newly repaired cell phone. She saw it looked good as new and smiled at the techy, "You are officially my favourite Ranger."

"Just don't smash it again," Antonio laughed.

"I'll try to hold myself back," Serena nodded and Antonio saw her starting to dial a number. He furrowed his brow.

"Uh, that's Emily's…"

"Mom's pissed at me," Serena interrupted, "she won't answer a call if she sees it's my number. Besides, this is a bitch test."

"A what?"

"A bitch test. Mom left me… it hurts but I get it. But she couldn't possibly have left Emily behind. She didn't do anything."

"Serena…"

"Let me do this, Antonio," Serena said, her tone serious as ever. Antonio nodded and took a seat on his stool.

"If you need someone…"

"Thanks," Serena smiled slightly at Antonio before completing the number and pressing the phone to her ear. There was no ring. The number was out of service. Serena sighed, but she wasn't done yet. She dialled the number for the farm. This time her father picked up the phone. She spoke with him for a minute. Antonio could tell her father supported her because Serena kept having to assure him that she was doing well (all things considered) and the baby was still healthy and strong. Finally, Serena asked to speak to her mother. Antonio heard a long pause and Serena's face fell. He got up from his seat and took her hand, pulling her into a hug as she finished speaking with her father.

"I love you too, dad," Serena whispered. "I'll tell her. Goodnight."

Serena hung up the phone, "Mom and dad were fighting before she left. She kept saying she couldn't be a grandmother to a bastard Nighlok baby and…"

"Serena…" Antonio squeezed her hand as tears streamed down Serena's face.

"Dad told her the baby was still their grandchild, no matter where it came from and she just… couldn't deal with it. She walked out of the house and told him she wasn't coming back. She changed her number and hasn't told anyone what the new one is, obviously her address changed. She just… she wiped herself off the face of the planet. She just… she walked and left us all behind. We have no way of contacting her. This is… it's done… she's gone… I don't have a mother."

Antonio sat Serena down in the seat, seeing she was weak.

"I know it hurts," he sat next to her and hugged her warmly, "you feel like you'll never get over it. But it does get easier. You just take it one step at a time. That's what I did when my mom died."

"But she had a good reason for leaving," Serena sobbed.

"I'll never see her again," Antonio said. "It's different but it hurts, no matter how they leave."

Serena rested her head on Antonio's shoulder, "Thanks for staying. You really are my favourite Ranger."

Out in the hallway, hidden in the shadows, Emily had seen and heard everything. Her mother was completely gone and there was nothing she could do to bring her back. No way of contacting her, no way of ever seeing her again. Unless she decided to one day turn up, it was over. All over.

She didn't flinch when she felt someone taking her hand but she did turn to see who it was. She saw Mike and figured he must have just gotten home. Kevin was taking off his shoes and Mike still had his jacket on.

"What's going on?" Mike asked her and didn't wait for a response. He knew it wasn't coming. Instead he just looked to where Emily had been staring and he saw Serena crying into Antonio's shoulder. Mike hugged Emily tightly, "She's hurting too, but I guess you knew that."

When Mike looked back to Emily he noticed she was trying to blink back tears. It was bittersweet to see her starting to cry. She hadn't shown any emotion in days now, so he was happy to see something was coming out of her, but he didn't want her to cry. He wrapped his arms around her, one around her back, pulling her into his chest, and his other hand rested gently on the back of her head. He helped her hide and whispered to her that it was okay to cry.

Kevin knew they needed a moment so he excused himself to find Mia. Mike nodded to him as he left and then looked down at Emily. He continued to hold her as she cried. She still never made a sound; not a sob or a sniff, but he could feel her tears soaking his shirt.

"I love you."

Emily clutched onto his shirt tightly. He had come back as promised, which meant a lot to her, but she was still terrified he was going to leave her. After all, her mother had left. Anyone could do the same.


	15. A Cry For Help

Emily couldn't live without a reason. She needed a reason for her mother to leave and hate her.

It had been a week. One complete week since Serena told her their mother was gone and Emily had plunged into silence. She couldn't even remember the sound of her own voice but she still couldn't bring herself to talk, both because she didn't want to and because sound just wouldn't come out, no matter how hard she tried.

"Emily, please," even Jayden hard started to beg as Emily reached the one week mark. She knew everyone was desperate to hear her speak and help her, but she couldn't let them.

They had promised her it would get easier down the road, but Emily felt like it was just getting harder. Every morning she woke up disappointed and hurt that her mother hadn't returned overnight, and every night she would go to bed feeling angry and worthless because her mother hadn't come back during the day.

She needed it to make sense. Things weren't making sense for her and it terrified her. If her mother had left her, she had to of done something wrong, and if her mother wasn't coming back, Emily would give her a reason to stay away. At least then it would make sense why her mother didn't care for her.

Mia set a bowl of soup down in front of Emily for lunch. She smiled to herself when she saw Emily reaching for it without hesitation. Usually someone had to convince Emily to eat but today seemed better. She was proven to be very wrong when, instead of eating the soup, Emily purposely knocked the bowl over, spilling the soup everywhere on the table, and then she picked up the empty bowl and smashed it against the floor.

Mia was shocked, "Emily!"

"I'll get a rag," Jayden sighed, getting up to get a cloth to clean up the mess.

Mia shook her head, "Sit down, Jayden," as Emily tried to leave Mia grabbed her wrist and forced her back into the chair, "Just because you're hurting that does not give you the right to throw stuff around. Clean it up!"

Emily didn't move. Mia reached to the counter for the rag and placed it in front of Emily. Emily grabbed it but instead of using it to clean up the mess she made, she tossed the rag across the room.

"Emily!"

Emily grabbed her spoon and threw it, nearly hitting Jayden in the head. She then knocked over the salt and pepper shakers and when she got out of her chair she pushed that over. Again, she tried to walk off but Mia grabbed her arm, pulling her back. Emily struggled to get free, beating her fist into Mia's arm and pushing her away but Mia didn't let go even though it hurt.

"Ow, Emily… OW! Stop it!"

But Emily didn't stop so Jayden intervened. He grabbed both her wrists so Emily couldn't push and punch. He held them together until Emily stopped trying to hurt him with them and then he forced her into a chair. Emily tried to get up but he pushed her back down. She tried again only to get the same results. Jayden wouldn't let her up. She tried to punch him in the stomach but Jayden caught her hand by the wrist and held it tightly. As he knelt down before her she tried to pull her wrist away so he pulled back.

"You are not going to behave like this," he stated firmly. "It doesn't matter how silent you are, it doesn't matter how much you're hurting, you will not throw things around or hit other people in this house. Is that clear?" Emily didn't answer him, as expected. Jayden was demanding a response though and, trying not to hurt her too much, slammed her back into the chair, "Is that clear?"

Emily looked from Jayden to Mia and then back to Jayden again. She knew they weren't going to let her up and let her leave. She tried to push one last time but Jayden held her in place so she grabbed his hand and bit him.

"Ow!" Jayden pulled his hand away from her.

"Emily!" Mia shouted as Emily took advantage of Jayden's pain to run off. She sighed loudly, clearly frustrated with the yellow Ranger. She looked to Jayden, "Are you okay?"

"Should be," he nodded, "she didn't break the skin. Hurt like a bitch, though."

Suddenly, the sound of something shattering reached their ears following by a firm yell of Emily's name by Mentor Ji. Jayden and Mia exchanged looks before rushing into the common room.

Mentor's bonsai was on the ground. The pot was shattered to pieces and the pebbles were everywhere. The tree laid on the floor as if dead. Mentor was trying to pick up the pieces before all was lost but Emily was nowhere in sight.

"Ji…"

"Be careful, Rangers," Mentor whispered to the pink and red Rangers, "I'm afraid it's getting worse."

Mia and Jayden raced around the house until they found the others in the dojo with a furious Emily. Mike was trying to hold her but she kept struggling and hitting and pushing. Mike got a few bumps to the jaw, several punches to the chest, smacks to the arms and kicks in the shins before he finally let go, unable to take more of a beating. When he let her go, Emily pulled out her Samuraizer and created small pointed rocks which she blasted at her friends. While they jumped to the ground, trying to avoid being sliced by the attack, Emily pushed over the training equipment and started to run out. Serena caught her sister's ankle as she ran by, tripping her. With a loud, painful thud, Emily hit the floor. Serena crawled up, sat on her sister and pinned her down.

"That's enough!" she shouted as Emily squirmed and squirmed but to no avail. She wasn't strong enough to push her sister off and free herself. Serena glared angrily at her sister, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Serena…"

"Shut up, Kevin," Serena screamed and fixed her eyes on Emily, "You're hurting. I get it! Trust me, Emy, I know how you feel. But that does not give you any right to break things and attack the people who love you. You are going to stop this now!"

Emily screwed her eyes shut and tried to wiggle and squirm free but still her sister wouldn't let her go. Becoming increasingly frustrated, Emily tried to punch and hit her sister but Serena controlled her hands by holding her wrists. She finally managed to pin them to the ground. Emily struggled for a few more seconds before she finally screamed: "Help!"

Serena's hold on her sister loosened and she shifted her weight off Emily. She pulled her sister up and into her arms, hugging her tight and rocking her back and forth, "We're trying, Emy."

Emily clutched her sister, terrified to let go, as if her life depended on her sister being right next to her. She buried her face in her sister's chest and cried loudly. She began to choke on her own tears. Serena rubbed her back in an attempt to sooth her and the other Rangers sat by her side. Mike placed his hand gently on the back of her head and leaned in to the side of her face.

"We love you, Em," he whispered to her and kissed the top of her head. Emily's sobs slowly faded into silence, but her body trembled hysterically. Serena continued to hold her and rock her.

"What did I do?" Serena heard her little sister ask a question that broke her heart. She shook her head.

"Nothing, Emy," she squeezed her lovingly, "Absolutely nothing."

"Then why did mom leave me?"

"I don't know," Serena kissed her head. "I really don't know."

There was silence after that. Nothing but painful silence as the Rangers all sat together. As the time passed, Emily's body slowly ceased to shake and her breathing evened out. Jayden gently gave Serena a pat on the shoulder as he pushed himself up from the floor.

"I'll clean up the mess in the kitchen," he said and walked out.

Antonio looked around the dojo, "I'll clean up in here."

Mike gently pulled Emily from Serena's arms and lifted her up. He carried her into the common room and laid her across two stools so she could sleep. He didn't want to take her to her room. In there, it was dark and lonely. When she woke up, he wanted her to know everyone was around her. The common room was easily the busiest room in the house.

Mia had followed him and grabbed a blanket to drape over Emily so she wouldn't get cold before she left to help Jayden with the mess in the kitchen.

Serena walked up to the room but stopped at the doorway and leaned against the frame. She watched her sister sleeping.

"Mom really did a number on her…"

"On both of you," Mike corrected, "but she had an excuse for leaving you. A really bad excuse, but it's still something."

Mike breathed heavily, stroking the back of Emily's hand with his thumb before letting go and looking up at Serena, "She needs you."

"I know…"

"Then sit down," Mike pointed to a stool. Serena sighed and dragged it next to her sister. She sat on it and took her sister's hand from Mike. He kissed Emily's forehead, whispered he loved her and then walked to his bedroom to be alone.

Serena reached over and pulled another stool closer. She lied down across it, next to her sister, and stayed with her while she slept.

"I'm not leaving, Emy," she whispered softly and for a minute she felt Emily squeezing her hand. She pulled her little sister in closer to hold her, "We're sticking together, no matter what. I promise."


	16. Never Leave Her

Jayden twisted the rag over the sink to get out the cold soup that he had to clean up off the table and the floor as he let out a deep sigh. After the rag was rinsed and washed he set it down by the side of the sink and leaned forward. He looked out the window thoughtfully when Mentor Ji came in. He turned to the man who raised him.

"The pieces don't fit together," he said. Mentor frowned at his words.

"I'm sorry?"

"I remember Emily's and Mia's mothers," Jayden sighed. "They were nice people."

Having grown up in the Shiba House, Jayden had been around the entire time the former Rangers had been living in the Shiba House. He had gotten to know his teammates' parents quite a bit in that time. While he was usually busy training during the day, in the evenings and during big meals, Jayden would sit with his father and the other Rangers and listen to their conversations, watched as they goofed around and sometimes he even joined in.

Mentor nodded his head, "They were really easy to get along with."

"Emily's mother was really sweet," Jayden said. "I knew she was a force to be reckoned with when Master Xandred threatened any of the other Rangers, but she was usually always smiling around the house."

Jayden turned around and leaned back against the sink, "Mentor, if you had asked me two weeks ago if I thought Emily and Serena's mother was the kind of person who would run away from her problems or her family, I would have laughed at you. I would have told you, you were being silly and I would have kept my eye on you for a few days to make sure you didn't hurt your head or get hit by a Nighlok or something. How does this happen? How does someone who was practically like a mother to a child that wasn't her own, abandon her two daughters?"

"You must understand that while her actions seem inexplicable she is not the kind of person to leave without a reason. Whatever is bothering her must clearly be too much to handle and she felt the best thing she could do was run away."

"From her pregnant daughter? So what if Serena liked the man who tried to hurt us. That doesn't mean Serena tried to hurt us. Besides, he was different around her. He was human."

"I agree with you, Jayden," Mentor nodded his head. "That is what I told her mother. Serena and Dekker may have had feelings for each other, but Serena never once turned her back on us. Family before romance, she knew her priorities. But her mother cannot see it that way. For one, the father of her grandchild did, on several occasions, threaten Emily's life. To a mother, that is an unforgivable act."

"Alright, fine, points for that, but…"

"Dekker is not around to help Serena during the pregnancy," Mentor also pointed out.

"But he has no idea."

"Because he has become a danger. He is not a suitable man for fatherhood. The child would be in too much danger with him around. Whether he knows he has fathered a child or not, there is no way he can be here for Serena before or after the birth. Her mother would have to watch Serena go through all this alone."

"But she's not alone. And she wouldn't be alone if her mother had stayed!"

"Leaving would not have been a decision she made lightly," Mentor said. "This is just as hard on her as it is for Serena and…"

"That's a lie, Mentor," Jayden growled. "Serena needs her mother now more than ever, and Emily done a lot of growing up, but she's still just a kid. A kid who didn't deserve to have her mother walk away from her. She asked what she did to make her mother leave and no one has an answer."

"Jayden…"

"If their mother knows what's good for her," Jayden clenched his fists, "she's never coming back. She's put this team through too much pain and she's done something completely unforgivable to her daughters. I'm not letting her come back."

"That decision is not yours to make," Mentor said. He placed his hand on Jayden's shoulder, "The only thing you can do is help your teammates with the choices they make. If Emily or Serena want to see their mother, being supportive would help a lot more than trying to protect them. The last thing they need is another battle to fight."

-Samurai-

Serena didn't move from Emily's side the entire time she slept. She couldn't be moved. Her sister needed her and unlike her mother she wasn't going to leave, even if she had an excuse.

Serena played the moment in the dojo over and over again in her head. For the first time in a week she had heard her sister's voice and the first thing Emily said was 'help'. Serena had her heart broken before, but nothing hurt as much as hearing her sister's cry for help and not being able to do anything to help her.

She was struggling with this issue as well. She knew how Emily was feeling. Her mother had left her too. The only difference was that Serena seemed to be more resilient than Emily. But she also had a little more reason to bounce back than Emily did. Because their mother left, Serena was going to have to take care of Emily. She would have to take on the role of mother to her little sister and for that she needed to be strong. She was also going to be a real mother. She had a child growing inside of her who was experiencing everything she was experiencing. Serena knew her stress hurt her child and she didn't want to cause her child any pain. She had to move on for her baby. She would never let it suffer.

Emily didn't have a reason to come back. With one phone call (which she didn't even receive) her entire world had come crashing down around her. Serena had thought her little sister had been upset when she had to leave for the Tengen Gate, knowing she would be coming back one day. She was devastated, hysterical, and emotionally broken now that her mother was gone and she knew she was never coming back.

Emily's eyes fluttered open slowly and she looked around the room before feeling her sister's gentle touch on her cheek. She leaned into her sister and Serena wrapped her arms around her.

"It's okay," Serena whispered as Emily began to cry. "I'm here. We're all here and we're not leaving."

"Promise?" Emily looked up at her sister and Serena could do nothing but tell the truth as she looked into Emily's hurt-filled eyes.

"I promise."

"And promise you'll never leave baby?"

Serena felt Emily's hands touching her stomach and she nodded her head. "There's nothing this child can do that would make me leave."

"Good," Emily buried her face in her sister's chest, "because it hurts. It hurts a lot."

"I love you, Emy."

"I love you too, Serena."

The girls stayed wrapped in each other's arms for almost a full hour before Mike finally came out of his room to check up on Emily. He took a seat next to her on the stool and placed his hand on her leg. Emily uncurled herself from Serena's arms and jumped into Mike's. He held her warmly and Emily could feel he didn't want to let go. She kissed his neck and buried her face in his shoulder. Mike rubbed her back.

"Please say something, Em."

Emily pulled away from Mike and looked him in the eyes. Mike looked right back at her, waiting anxiously to see if she would say anything to him. His hand reached out for hers and he held it gently.

"Em…" he was stopped when Emily pulled him in for a kiss, a deep, loving kiss. Mike felt his heart soar as Emily's love overwhelmed him in the best way possible. When she pulled away she looked him in the eyes.

"Thanks for not leaving."

Mike smiled back at her and touched her ring finger. It was empty but he remembered the promise he had made to her a week before. He still kept that promise. Emily felt him touching her finger and her smile grew. She leaned forward, into his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist as he held her.

"I'll never leave you, Em," he promised her.

Right next to Emily, Serena couldn't help but notice when Mike had played with Emily's ring finger and she smiled. She had no idea what it meant exactly but she could narrow it down to them being ready to take on forever and she smiled. Her sister was still young, but Serena had never seen someone as happy as Emily was around Mike.

She reached forward, stroking her sister's hair once before leaning over and kissing her head. She then smiled at Mike before getting up. Emily shifted slightly when she felt her sister moving.

"Where are you going?"

Serena looked at her, "Em, I'm pregnant and I haven't moved in hours. I've really got to pee!"

"You're excused," Emily giggled. Serena smiled when she heard her sister's laugh. Mike kissed Emily's cheek, making her turn to look at him. He rested his forehead against hers and looked straight into her eyes.

"I missed you."


	17. Dekker And Dayu

_Author's Note: Sorry for the late update. Thanksgiving made it extra busy at work and then had my family over. Hope you enjoy._

* * *

><p>"What are you doing?"<p>

Kevin looked up and turned to the doorway. He saw Mia leaning against the frame with a curious look on her face as she stared at him. In his hands he held a letter and when he saw Mia he quickly tucked it away.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her. Mia approached him, rolling her eyes.

"This is my room too, remember?"

"Oh," Kevin tried to tuck the letter under the blankets of his bed so Mia couldn't see it but the pink Ranger caught him and held out her hand. Kevin shook his head, pulled the letter out of hiding and held it against his chest. "It's private, Mia."

"Alright."

Kevin was a little surprised she agreed so quickly. He expected her to at least beg a little to see what he was trying to hide from her. Then she smirked. Sighing in defeat when he realised he was being played, he held out the letter for her to see. Mia grinned happily and took it. She furrowed her brow when she realised she had already read it.

"Kevin, this is from ages ago," she said. "This is the later Jayden got from your father."

"Yeah," Kevin nodded his head. "With all the drama going on with Emily and Serena's mother I kind of started thinking about what my family was up to. Do you think it would be okay if I were to write to them? Just to check up on how things are going at home?"

Mia handed Kevin his letter back and shrugged her shoulders. She sat down on his lap and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"I don't know, Kev. You would be breaking the rules…"

"Emily has Serena here with her twenty-four seven and permission to phone her father whenever she needs."

"Because Serena's pregnant and her mother left her," Mia shrugged. "I'd count my blessings if I were you."

"You don't get it, Mia," Kevin sighed, pulling away slightly from his fiancée. "My parents could have gotten into a fight while I was gone and…"

"Kevin, even if they did, don't you think they would still both be waiting for you to come home?" Mia asked. "You're their son. They love you. Hell, my parents got divorced because of something I did and they still loved me and worked through their differences so I could spend time with both of them together."

"But…"

"I know it's a scary thing to imagine," Mia hugged Kevin, "but you just have to trust that your parents will be waiting for you when you get home."

"I guess," Kevin nodded his head and pulled back into Mia. He held her warmly. Mia looked up at him and kissed him.

"And hey, I'm not telling you _not_ to write to your family," she smirked. "I won't tell Mentor Ji if your hand were to accidentally pick up a pen and accidentally write out coherent words on a piece of paper. And I won't tell Mentor if that paper somehow magically flies its way into an envelope and stamps are already somehow licked onto said envelope. And I won't tell Mentor if, while on a run you accidentally took the letter with you and accidentally thought a mailbox was a city garbage pail."

"That's a lot of accidents," Kevin chuckled and shook his head at Mia's secret plan. "I think Emily's the only person who would be able to pull off that many accidents without raising any suspicion."

"Hey, I'm just saying," Mia shrugged her shoulders. "If it were to accidentally happen, I wouldn't tell and Mentor couldn't get mad at you."

"I guess my hand should _accidentally_ get started then," Kevin smiled and lifted Mia off his lap so he could go write. The pink Ranger grabbed his wrist as he got up.

"Actually, before you go do something, and I have no idea what because it's going to be an accident," Mia winked, "she's finally speaking."

"She? Emily?"

Mia nodded, "Serena and Mike were finally able to talk with her. Apparently she's feeling much better about everything but it would still be nice if you could go talk to her and let her know you'll stick by her. She's still feeling a little abandoned."

"Have you already spoken with her?"

Mia nodded, looking a little embarrassed, "I, uh, nearly killed her when I first heard her speaking."

"How?" Kevin laughed.

"She's my best friend and she hasn't spoken in a week! A girl needs her best friend, especially when she lives with people like Mike and Antonio!"

"Point take," Kevin nodded, "I'll just…"

Kevin grumbled as the Gap Sensor sounded and he looked at Mia was a disappointed frown. Mia shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"Master Xandred has amazing timing, doesn't he?"

"At least this time we weren't…"

"Yeah," Mia nodded her head before he could say it and the two of them raced out of the room.

-Samurai-

The Rangers ran into the city after the Gap Sensor had gone off. They had morphed already so they didn't look weird running in the opposite direction of the fleeing citizens.

As they raced through the streets, the six of them couldn't help but overhear a few scared civilians screaming something about a Nighlok on Nighlok attack. None of them could figure it out until they arrived to the sight of the already started battle.

Rhinosnorus was back but he wasn't alone and he wasn't looking to challenge the Rangers. Not anymore. He was already locked in a fierce battle against Dekker.

"Why is he helping us?" Mike asked. His hand strayed to grab Emily's arm, unsure of what the yellow Ranger was going to do now that she was only a few feet away from where her niece or nephew's father stood.

"He's winning," Antonio gasped. "Dude, he should be on our team permanently."

"No," Emily shook her head and turned to Antonio. He couldn't see it, but he knew she was glaring at him. He shivered slightly and stepped behind Jayden.

"Right… he's kind the reason for… shutting up now."

"Guys, look!" Kevin redirected the team's attention to the fight as Dekker swung the final blow and Rhinosnorus exploded. Dekker put his sword away, a sword he had taken from the Tengen Gate to protect Serena. He still had it with him even though he was no longer part of the Tengen Gate or the Samurai.

"Don't even bother coming back," he whispered to Rhinosnorus, "you and I both know it's best if you don't come back."

Dekker stood for a few moments over the spot where he had defeated the dream Nighlok and nothing happened. Smirking to himself, he turned to walk away and finally saw the Rangers standing and watching him. He transformed back into his human form and sighed. He knew he had to leave, but he couldn't walk away just yet. Questions that he had been trying to bury deep into his mind were starting to surface and he was unsettled without answers. He needed to ask. He needed to talk with the Rangers.

"My allegiance is still to you," he promised them. "Rhinosnorus wasn't an opponent worthy of your time. The battle would have been too easy."

"If you were really a friend you would help in the difficult battles," Mike spat. "Don't think for a second you're fooling me. I know what you want."

"Green Ranger…"

"We don't need your help, Dekker! You've done enough damage!"

"How is she? I assume that by now she's feeling better. Has she…"

"Don't ask," Jayden shook his head and stepped forward. "You have no right to ask about Serena!"

"She will not let me near. I just wanted to…"

"She wants you to leave her alone!" Emily screamed and Mike tightened his grip around her arm as she pulled slightly. He knew she was still upset about everything that had happened recently. She had only just been able to open up and talk about her mother leaving. It wouldn't surprise him if she wanted to get back at Dekker for getting her sister pregnant and ruining her family.

Kevin turned to look at Mia, remembering what she had told him about Dayu's memory and how Dekker and Dayu were married. Serena had been clear it wasn't their place to tell Dekker, but Kevin was starting to think that if they did then Dekker would have somewhere else to go. He wouldn't be so focused on Serena if he knew there was a past between him and Dayu.

Mia shook her head, "Not our place."

"But…"

Dekker took a cautious step forward, trying to get closer to the Rangers but knowing he risked angering them.

"I wanted to keep my promise to Serena," he said. "I will stay away from her, but I cannot sit around while Master Xandred sends in Nighlok after Nighlok…"

"Leave us alone!" Emily screamed just before the Rangers felt themselves being blasted from behind by a powerful attack, sending them soaring through the air, powering them right out of their Ranger suits before they hit the ground. Dekker could do nothing but watch while the Rangers rolled around in pain and he held up his sword, turning to see who had attacked them.

"Dayu?" he asked as she stepped out from the smoke, an angry look in her eyes and it was directed at him.

"She does not want you!" Dayu drew a sword from her Shamisen and pointed it at Dekker. "They have made it clear! Serena does not want you and yet you still go after her?"

Mike saw Emily pushing herself up when Dayu walked onto the battle site and remembering his promise to Serena he jumped up and pinned her down. He still had the bruise from the warning he had received from the older sister. He did not want to know how bad the beating was going to be if Dayu did anything to hurt Emily.

Dekker leveled his sword at Dayu, "Why do you waste your time with me?" he asked. "I'm sure there are hundreds of other Nighlok in the river you could give yourself too."

"Don't you get it, Dekker? Serena was never right for you! She does not love you, but I do!"

"You do not understand love," Dekker snapped. "You are selfish and greedy. You care for no one but yourself. You will never know what it's like to watch the person you love suffer eternally for something you have done!"

Dayu froze up, her sword nearly falling out of her hand as she stared at Dekker with pain-filled eyes. She was helpless as he charged forward and swung at her.

"Dammit," Mia muttered, pushing herself to her feet. She wanted to see Dayu destroyed but not like this. Not by Dekker. She knew Dekker's words were not true. Dayu have given up everything for him and had been tricked. She had to live with herself for centuries knowing the deal she made with the Nighlok freed the man she loved from death, but also imprisoned him forever in the life of the living with no memories of the life he once had.

"Mia!" Kevin cried as he, Jayden and Antonio jumped up to help. Mike stayed on the ground, holding Emily in his arms, terrified of what would happen if she got just a little too close to Dayu or Dekker. Emily squirmed, wanting to help.

Mia reached Dayu just in time and summoned her sword, blocking Dekker's attack. She was backed up immediately by the boys who struck Dekker across the back, sending him to his knees and they held their swords over him, keeping him down and settled. Mia, meanwhile, had learned her lesson from the last time. Just because she wanted to help Dayu didn't mean that Dayu would be appreciative. She spun around, sword at the ready and was relieved to see she had defended herself just in time. Dayu's sword met hers but Mia hadn't been caught by surprise this time and swiped at Dayu, sending her to the ground.

Dayu clutched her stomach and glared up at Mia, "This is none of your business, pink Ranger."

"I'll take that as thanks," Mia rolled her eyes.

From the ground, Dekker glared over at Dayu, "This ends now!" he shouted and Dayu looked to him in horror. She knew he would have attacked again had the Rangers not been standing in the way.

"Dekker…"

"Tomorrow at sunset," Dekker growled, "we end this miserable conflict with a duel. If you win, I will give myself to you."

"Dekker, no…"

"If I win, I'll make sure you are no longer a problem for me or Serena," Dekker swiped aside the Rangers' blades and got to his feet.

Emily continued to struggle in Mike's arms and he noticed she fought harder when Serena's name was mentioned. Mike couldn't let her go, but he knew how she was feeling. Every time Dekker mentioned Serena's name he wanted to duel the Nighlok himself and end it all. Serena no longer wanted Dekker and he had no right to make deals on her behalf, even if it was for her safety. Dekker needed to move on.

"Let me go," Emily whimpered to Mike. He looked back down at her and shook his head. He leaned into her ear

"Do you want to get killed?" he whispered. "Dayu's pissed and Serena's going to be too if she hears I let you go."

"I don't care…"

"Em, think about the baby," Mike lowered his voice even more so Dekker wouldn't hear, but the Nighlok's hearing was sharper than a human's. Dekker turned to Mike and Emily as they spoke. "Junior already doesn't have a father; do you want it to lose its aunt too?"

Dekker's eyes turned to Dayu with nothing but hate. Now she had truly robbed him of everything. He had heard the green Ranger loud and clear. Serena was pregnant with his child. His firstborn child. Had she not interfered he would have been there for his child and Serena. Instead, he had been completely in the dark, clueless about the fact that a new life, belonging to him, was slowly making its way into this world.

"One way or another, Dayu, we will end it!" he shouted.

"No," Dayu shook her head, "I will not."

"If you do not show up then I will come find you. It does not matter how long it takes. I will search for you until I find you!"

Dayu picked up her sword and placed it back inside her Shamisen. She nodded her head at Dekker.

"I will be there," she got to her feet, turned around and disappeared into a portal.

Dekker watched her go before turning back around to Emily and Mike, "If any Samurai interfere in our duel I will take you out with Dayu, I swear it."

"Dekker…"

"I will not be lied to!" he shouted before he stormed off. The Rangers all exchanged looks as they regrouped.

"Next time, I vote we ignore the Gap Sensor," Antonio said.

"We keep our eye on the duel," Jayden announced, helping Mike and Emily to their feet. The team gasped and turned to him.

"Jayden, Dekker threatened to kill us if…" Kevin started but was quickly interrupted.

"We need to stay one step ahead of Master Xandred. We need to know the outcome of the duel. If Dayu were to win Dekker would join her. He would live up to his promise. He always has."

"Jayden's right," Mia nodded. "Dayu works for Xandred and if Dekker gives himself to her, Master Xandred could use that."

"Yeah, but that's assuming Dekker loses," Mike shook his head. "You guys have met Dekker, right? Kinda unstoppable."

"If Dekker wins he'll still a problem for Serena," Antonio whispered, his eyes falling on Emily as she nodded.

"He can't keep himself away," she added. "And if he finds out about the…"

"Don't say it," Mike stopped her. "He might still be around to hear it."

"We have to know what happens tomorrow," Jayden said and this time the team nodded.


	18. To Watch or Not To Watch

Serena shook her head wildly as the Rangers filled her in on what had happened in the battle. She had been watching from the map and noticed Dekker and Dayu had both shown up to the fight. The Rangers had barely gotten a foot in the door before she began to question them. They had led her to the common room to take a seat and told her everything. From Dekker destroying Rhinosnorus and asking about her, to Dekker challenging Dayu to a duel that would end the feud going on between the three of them. They also didn't fail to mention how it was important they turn up to watch the duel.

Serena disagreed on this point, which was the reason she was shaking her head. There was no way she was going to let her friends go anywhere near her psychotic ex and his even more crazy ex.

"You're all dreaming if you think you're going to go watch that duel," she huffed. "You heard Dekker! If he thinks you're interfering he'll kill you! That's not something he'd lie about!"

"We need to know who won the duel," Jayden stated, hoping his reasoning for watching the duel would work for Serena like it did on the Rangers. "Regardless of who wins, we'll still have something to worry about."

"I don't care…"

"What are you going to do?" Antonio asked the older Samurai, "Ground us? We're all adults. We can do what we want."

"We should go find out who won the duel, Serena," Mia kept her voice soft and calm, sensing Serena was tense. If Dekker loses he's working for Dayu and Master Xandred, which means we have him as an enemy again. If he wins we've still got to keep an eye out for him. The last time he couldn't see you he murdered a man. We can't let that happen again."

"You can't go!" Serena screamed and then pointed down the halls to the bedrooms, "Just… get lost! All of you!"

"You can't tell us…"

"Bed! Now!" Serena's eyes screamed murder and the Rangers scrambled to get to their feet and race to their rooms before they suffered the wrath of the angry pregnant Samurai.

"I feel so sorry for Junior," Antonio muttered to Jayden as he closed the door to his bedroom and locked it. As he turned around he saw Jayden making his way to the window. The red Ranger slid it open and began slipping his way out. Antonio's jaw dropped and his eyes popped out of his head, "Jay, you're going to anger her!"

"One of us has to figure out what happens in that duel tomorrow," Jayden's feet hit the ground on the other side of the window. He peeked back at Antonio, "Just cover for me, okay?"

"Cover for you; as in _lie_ to angry-hormonal Samurai woman out there?"

"It's for the best, Antonio."

"You so owe me everything you own and more."

"I'll give you my firstborn," Jayden chuckled. "You know someone has to do this."

"I don't like this."

"I'll be back tomorrow night. I'll tell you about the duel," Jayden promised. "Just please cover for me with Serena and everyone. She'll suspect something's up if everyone knows we're gone."

"I'll tell them you're sick.

"Whatever."

"With diarrhea."

Jayden glared at his best friend hatefully. Antonio shrugged his shoulders.

"They won't ask to check up on you if they think you're… you know," Antonio explained. "It's that or a really humiliating rash that starts here and…"

"Go with the poop story," Jayden interrupted as he watched Antonio's hand lower down his body. "Please."

"You still owe me," Antonio called as Jayden rushed away from the house before he was seen by anyone.

-Samurai-

Serena couldn't sleep that night. She was sick to her stomach, but it wasn't the baby that was making her feel ill. It was the duel. She knew the Rangers wanted to go watch so they could see who won, but there was no way she was letting them near the fight. They were going to get hurt, whether they interfered or not. She couldn't let that happen.

She was also worried about the outcome of the duel. If Dekker won, things wouldn't change much, but if he lost he promised to give himself over to Dayu for eternity, swearing allegiance to her. Serena didn't want a relationship with Dekker, but a part of her loved the idea that he was still available to her. If he lost this duel, she would lose him for good. The odds were in his favour, but Serena had been on the opposite end of Dayu's attack and she knew the Nighlok was powerful in her own right. There was a chance Dayu could win and Serena couldn't let that happen.

Because she hadn't been able to sleep she hadn't gone to bed yet and was pacing back and forth between Mike and Emily's room and Mia and Kevin's. Every time she reached Mia and Kevin's room she came to a decision about leaving and taking care of things between Dekker and Dayu herself, but every time she approached Mike and Emily's room to say goodbye to her sleeping sister she couldn't leave. She had promised Emily she would never leave her and she wanted to keep that promise.

She made up her mind; she changed her mind. She made up her mind; she changed her mind. Back and forth; back and forth until she was finally dizzy and she leaned against the wall and slid down onto her butt. She placed her hands on her stomach and rubbed gently.

"We should just forget about him," she spoke to the baby. "He's not coming back. It's going to be you, me, Aunt Emy and Uncle Mike and the other Samurai. We shouldn't worry about daddy… Dekker."

Serena's hand flew to her mouth when she realised her mistake. She never wanted to be associated with Dekker again, even if she was carrying his child, but she had still called him her child's father, building that bridge and strengthening the connection between them. A tear dripped down her cheek as she realised her child would be born without a father, regardless of what happened in the duel, because Serena didn't want Dekker near. But with her mother gone, Serena knew how much it hurt to be abandoned by a parent, no matter the reason they had. One day her child would realise it didn't have a father, and it would be up to her to crush her child's heart.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, holding her hand on her stomach. "Mommy's really screwed up life for you. Grandma's gone, daddy's gone, mommy's an emotional wreck and you might struggle with a Nighlok life and I have no idea how to help you with that. But I love you, and everything I do, even if I screw up, I do for you."

Serena got to her feet and walked back inside Mike and Emily's bedroom. Her sister and Mike were in Mike's bed, so tonight she had Emily's bed all to herself. She got in, pulled the blankets over herself and laid down into the pillow. Just as she closed her eyes, Mike's loud snore ripped through the room, waking Emily and causing Serena to groan loudly. Emily sat up and gently slapped Mike in the chest.

"You're doing it again," she whispered as he grumbled. Mike rolled over, ignoring her. He was not happy when he was woken up. Emily laid down in bed and turned away from him, trying to fall back asleep before he did.

Serena chuckled and rubbed her stomach, "Don't worry, baby, Mike's not actually related to us. You can ignore him."

There was another snore and Serena buried her head under her pillow.

"Well, hopefully you can."

-Samurai-

Like Serena, neither Mia nor Kevin could get much sleep as they worried about the duel to come. They both knew that, no matter the outcome, they were in for trouble. They had no idea what went on in Dekker's head, and if he was fighting for Serena there was a chance he thought that after this duel they could be together. If Serena didn't want that, which she didn't, it would cause the eldest Samurai a lot of problems if Dekker insisted on getting back together with Serena once Dayu was out of the way.

But if Dayu won that basically meant Master Xandred won and he had a new ally. A very powerful ally, and even if Dekker couldn't bring himself to hurt Serena, the rest of the Samurai were still in trouble.

"I know what Serena said," Kevin whispered as he laid in bed and held Mia in his arms, "but we can't just not know, you know."

"Yeah," Mia nodded her head, "but Serena's pretty serious about this and I guess I don't blame her. Dekker did threaten us, and after everything that happened, I guess the last thing she wants is for one of us to get hurt."

"I know," Kevin breathed. He let go of Mia and sat up. He ran his hands down along his face, "What are we going to do?"

"We can talk to her tomorrow," Mia suggested, sitting up beside Kevin and placing her hand on his back. She rubbed circled and leaned into him, "Maybe we'll come up with something then."

"Hopefully. I'll be up all night thinking."

Mia kissed his cheek, "Why don't you write that letter for your dad? Maybe that'll help you take your mind off things."

"My dad would know what to do," Kevin nodded. "Maybe I can imagine what he would say if I told him."

Kevin reached over to his night table and opened up the drawer. He always kept paper and a pen handy in case he couldn't sleep at night so he could practice his symbols. He leaned back against the headboard and pulled his knees up. He rested the pad of paper on his thighs and tapped the pen against the paper as he thought about what to write.

Mia laid down next to him and stared at the blank paper, "You don't have to start with your problem," she yawned, trying to keep her eyes open. "Besides, by the time this gets mailed the duel will have already happened." Kevin looked down at her.

"You're right."

"Tell him about what you've been up to," Mia suggested and Kevin nodded. His eyes strayed to the ring on her finger as a smile found its way to his lips and he began to write.


	19. Deadly Choices

The following day wore on without much speaking between the Rangers. Kevin had tried to bring up the matter of the duel to Serena, but she didn't want to hear about it. She refused to listen to any reasoning the Rangers had for why it was best they go to watch. He tried to promise her they would stay out of sight and neither Dekker nor Dayu would notice they were around but still Serena refused.

Dinner had been especially awkward. The days were so much shorter now that it was the fall which meant it was just about sunset and the duel was nearing its beginning. All the Rangers were anxious to get out of the house but Serena wouldn't let them leave.

Serena looked around the table and knew something felt off as everyone started getting up to clear their dishes. Something had felt a little off all day. She focused on each of the Rangers until she turned to Antonio.

"Where the hell is Jayden?"

Antonio froze up for a second and clutched his plate tighter in his hand. He knew this wasn't going to be easy. Serena was going to have her doubts when he lied to her, but he needed to do this. The Rangers needed answered about the duel between Dekker and Dayu and Jayden was going to get them. If any Ranger could obtain them safely it was him.

"He's sick."

"Bullshit."

"Exactly. Diarrhea."

The others all winced and looked at Antonio in disgust, letting him know he had shared way too much information. Serena simply glared at the gold Ranger and crossed her arms over her chest.

"He was fine last night."

Antonio gulped, "Food poisoning can take a little while to sink in, but when it does…"

"What did he eat? Why is he the only one who's…?"

"There was an old sandwich in our room and I dared him to take a bite."

Serena looked at Antonio suspiciously and approached him slowly. She noticed his eyes were darting around the room and beads of sweat dripped down his forehead. His hands were trembling slightly and his answers were coming a little too quickly, as if he had been rehearsing them all day in his head. She hadn't see Jayden all day, and he was conveniently sick and hiding out in his bedroom on the day of the duel. Serena knew a lie when she heard it.

Suddenly, before anyone could do anything to stop her, she took off, racing out of the house. Jayden was going to get himself killed and she was not going to lose a teammate to Dekker or Dayu.

She slammed the door behind her as she ran. It wouldn't stop the Rangers, but it would definitely slow them down, hopefully enough so she could get far enough ahead of them.

-Samurai-

Jayden had been walking around the city all day, looking for any sign of where Dayu and Dekker's duel would be. As the sun began to set, his had his eyes peeled until he found a street where all the people had cleared out. He could hear swords clashing and in the distance he saw Dayu and Dekker were already locked in a fierce battle. Ducking behind cars and keeping to the shadows, he slowly approached and watched the duel.

Dekker screamed wildly with every swing of his sword. He had his reasons for giving this fight all he had. Dayu had torn him away from Serena and now his child. It was because of her he had lost the only woman he could ever remember loving and he would likely never see the birth of his child. This was a battle he needed to win to insure his freedom and the safety of the only family he had ever known.

Dayu hadn't come to fight Dekker but she knew she had to. He had threatened to come after her and kill her if she didn't show up. She could only hope she would win and then Dekker would honour his agreement and give himself up to her. If all went according to her plan, she would then be able to get him and Master Xandred on the same side and maybe then she could tell him of their past and he would believe and hopefully remember her. It was a risk worth taking, because if she couldn't have Dekker she would want to die. There was nothing for her to lose.

Jayden could see both Nighloks were giving this duel their all and he wanted to butt in and stop the duel before they tore the whole neighbourhood down but he had to keep himself safe. The street seemed to be completely evacuated, so it was likely that only he was in any danger. That's the way he wanted it to be. No one else needed to risk getting hurt.

Jayden watched as Dayu knocked Dekker into a small shop. He barely had time to see which shop before it was completely brought down by the force of Dekker's impact. It crumbled to pieces and Dekker pulled himself from the wreckage. He was hurt but he was going to keep fighting. Everything he ever loved was on the side of victory and there was no way he would let himself lose and turn himself over to Dayu.

"Please, Dekker!" Dayu cried, "There must be another way. We can work this out!"

"Never!" Dekker shouted. He picked up his sword from the side of the street and charged towards Dayu.

Jayden gulped as the two Nighlok continued their battle, with neither proving to have the advantage. Dekker had centuries of training and he was a fine warrior as a result, but he was taken by surprise by Dayu's skills with a sword, having never thought of her as much of a warrior.

Then, in the corner of his eye, Jayden saw something that made him sick. Stepping out from an alleyway was Serena. She too was keeping to the shadows but if Jayden could see her then surely Dayu and Dekker could see her. He wasn't too worried about Dekker attacking Serena, but Dayu was sure to strike the minute she noticed Serena and found an opening.

To make matters worse, it seemed Serena was completely unarmed. There was only one yellow Ranger Samuraizer and it belonged to Emily. Unless Serena had stolen it from her little sister, she didn't have any way to call up a sword or morph into the yellow Ranger. If Dayu did attack, Serena was completely vulnerable.

Sticking to the shadows and moving only when both Dekker and Dayu had their backs turned to him, Jayden crossed the street and made it over to Serena. He grabbed her from behind, placing his hand over her mouth so she couldn't scream and draw attention to herself, and he pulled her back into the alleyway. Serena struggled in his arms and managed to elbow him hard in the ribs. When he let her go she turned around to finish her attack but stopped when she saw it was Jayden doubled over in pain and not some sick and twisted mugger. Still, she punched him in the shoulder when he rose to stand up straight. Jayden grabbed his arm in pain.

"Ow," he kept his voice low in case Dayu and Dekker could hear them.

"You idiot!" Serena shouted but kept her voice down as well, "You could have gotten killed."

"We need to know what happens," Jayden stated and over Serena's shoulder he saw the other Rangers coming up behind her. He groaned loudly, "besides, at least I would have only gotten myself killed."

Serena furrowed her brow questioningly before she turned around and was suddenly beat repeatedly in the chest by her little sister's fists. She grabbed Emily's wrists, holding them away so Emily didn't beat her breathless.

"Don't you ever run off like that again!" Emily shouted. She didn't bother lowering her voice. "What if Dayu saw you? You promised you wouldn't leave me!"

"Sorry, Emy," Serena said and wrapped her arms around her sister.

Kevin ran his hand through his hair before he let out a deep sigh. Now that he knew everyone was safe he could breathe again. He turned his attention to Serena.

"We're all here anyways," he said. "Can we just hide out here and wait for the duel to end?"

"No," Serena shook her head. "We should go before anyone here gets hurt."

"But…"

"No!" Serena shouted. "It's too dangerous, it's…"

A piercing scream filled the air as Dayu's body landed suddenly in the alleyway, right in the middle of the circle of Rangers. As she struggled to get to her feet she noticed she was surrounded but the Samurai. With one last burst of energy she jumped up with her sword in hand and lunged for Serena. Before anyone knew it, Dayu had her arm wrapped tightly around Serena's neck and her sword held just over Serena's stomach.

The Rangers were frozen stiff, terrified of what Dayu would do to Serena if they made any sudden movements. Dekker raced into the alleyway with the intention of finishing off his opponent but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Dayu holding Serena. He transformed back into his human self.

"Dayu," he breathed while lowering his sword, "do not do this."

"Give up, Dekker," Dayu told him. "Give up the fight and come with me peacefully or I'll have you watch her die slowly."

Serena struggled. With one hand she tried to pry Dayu's arm away from around her neck and with the other she tried to swat Dayu's sword away from her stomach. The Nighlok had no idea, but she was threatening two lives and Serena was sure it would only satisfy Dayu more to know she had the life of Dekker and Serena's child at her mercy.

Dekker had nothing to fight with. If he made any movements that would threaten Dayu she was going to kill Serena and his child.

The Rangers felt the same way. Dayu had all the power. It was her choice whether Serena and the baby lived or died. Time felt like it was standing still.

"Well?" Dayu was getting impatient with Dekker as he hesitated to answer. If he didn't answer soon, she would take that as him refusing to give up and she would kill Serena. She tightened her grip around her sword and around Serena's neck.

Dekker looked down at Serena's stomach and then up into her eyes, silently promising her safety. Serena screwed her eyes shut, waiting for something to happen. She could no longer breathe and she could feel herself getting weaker with every second that passed. She was at Dayu's mercy, reduced to begging for her life by trying pathetically to free herself from the monster's hold.

"Tick tock, Dekker," Dayu tapped the edge of the blade on Serena's stomach. It didn't cut her but the Rangers and Dekker flinched and Dayu could feel Serena's hold momentarily strengthening as the cool blade touched her.

"Don't do this, Dayu," Dekker begged. "Please, don't…"

"I'm not doing anything," Dayu said. "It's your choice whether she lives or dies. I personally hope I get the chance to kill her, but the choice is yours."

"Let her go," Emily begged. "She doesn't want Dekker!"

"Did you hear that, Dekker?" Dayu smirked to the warrior Nighlok, "All this and Serena doesn't even want you back."

"I don't care…"

"What would you of done if you had beat me?" Dayu asked. "You wouldn't have been able to run back to her if she doesn't want you."

Serena was starting to see spots as her vision began to fade, but just before she blacked out Dayu loosened her hold slightly, letting her breathe again, keeping her alive and awake. Tears spilled from Serena's eyes as she realised her torment would continue.

"Just give up, Dekker!" Mike tried to persuade the warrior. Dekker shook his head.

"I cannot. If I give up, I lose her."

Dayu smirked. If she couldn't have Dekker that was exactly what she wanted to hear as she prepared herself to slice Serena's stomach open, but just as she was about to press the blade into Serena's skin she felt her hand burning up quickly, to the point where it felt as if it were on fire. She dropped the sword and let go of Serena as she stumbled backwards. She held her burning hand and cried out in pain.

Jayden had seen this coming when Dekker refused to give up and knew there was only one thing he could do. He couldn't risk attacking Dayu, but his symbol power could pass unnoticed because Dayu was so wrapped up in what Dekker was going to do. He cast his fire symbol onto Dayu's hand and watched as it caught fire, burning her badly and forcing her to drop her sword before she could leave a mark on Serena.

The eldest Samurai dropped to the ground, her body having lost all its strength only moment before Dayu had let her go. She felt her sister wrap her arms around her and was not ashamed to bury herself into Emily's embrace and cry. Antonio knelt down beside her as well, placing his hand on her back and rubbing circles while telling her everything would be okay.

The fire on Dayu's hand calmed after she had dropped the sword and while it left a bad burn and was agonizingly painful, nothing could overcome her rage as she picked up her sword and tried again to murder Serena. This time, instead of a fire, another sword stopped her and Dayu found herself face to face with Mia. She scowled in disgust, redirecting her anger to the pink Ranger who always somehow found a way to foil Dayu's plans.

Meanwhile, Dekker wasn't getting off lightly. His choice hadn't gone unnoticed by Mike who had seen Dekker's true colours for the last time. By selfishly choosing not to give himself over to Dayu for Serena's sake, Dekker had practically screamed what Serena truly meant to him. If Mike had been in Dekker's position, and Emily in Serena's, he would have turned himself over the minute Dayu put her sword anywhere near Emily. A lifetime of misery serving the Nighlok was nothing compared to the pain of knowing he was responsible for Emily's death. A quick glance at Emily trying to comfort her older sister sent Mike over the edge and in a moment he was morphed, sword in hand. He lunged for Dekker, and drew blood as he caught the man by surprise with a slash to the chest.

"I knew you were a monster!" he shouted, lunging for Dekker again. Dekker transformed back into his Nighlok self and pulled up his sword, stopping the attack.

"Mike, stop it!" Jayden ordered but the green Ranger refused.

"I've had it!" he shouted.

Dayu wasn't an idiot. For a moment she turned her attention to Dekker and saw he was being attacked by the green Ranger. She knew that the green Ranger wouldn't stop fighting until he won and Dekker was out of the picture. Dayu couldn't let that happen. If Dekker was gone, he was gone from everyone's lives, her included and she did not sacrifice herself centuries ago to watch him die because of some other woman who didn't even love him in return. She knocked the pink Ranger down and tried to run to help Dekker but the blue Ranger jumped in her way and was soon joined by Pink.

"I need to stop this!" she shouted.

Kevin and Mia weren't stupid either. They knew what she meant by 'stop this'. She was going to try and kill Mike. They could afford to lose Dekker, but not a teammate.

"You started this, Dayu," Mia told her, pointing her sword at her neck. Dayu stopped and held her breath. If she took a step forward she was sure to be impaled.

"Mike!" Jayden shouted to the green Ranger, "You can't do this!"

Mike swiped again at Dekker, slicing his arm. Dekker tried to fight back but he couldn't read Mike at all through the rage, making it hard to predict what the green Ranger was going to do next and he couldn't find an opening to launch his own attack.

"He's a Nighlok, Jay," Mike growled before finally seeing his opportunity and plunging his sword into Dekker's stomach. He pulled it out swiftly. Dekker returned to his human form and fell to his knees. He held his stomach with his hand. Mike dropped his sword and took a step back, powering down. He turned to Jayden, "We destroy all Nighlok."

Dekker inspected his wound, seeing the blood seeping through his fingers. He turned his head up to Mike.

"You defeated me…"

"You deserved it."

"Dekker!" Dayu shouted as she swatted Mia's sword away and ran for Dekker. She tried to help him but he brushed her off and struggled to his feet, pressing his hand into his stomach. He took several steps before falling over. Again, Dayu tried to run to him but he pushed her away. He rolled over onto his back and looked up at the sky.

"It's over," he said before a cloud of dark smoke surrounded him. The Rangers and Dayu watched as Dekker disappeared into the smoke and once it was clear, he was gone.

"Dekker…" Dayu whimpered.

Mia powered down and took a step forward but Kevin's hand on her shoulder stopped her from moving any closer to Dayu. She turned to him and he simply gestured over to Emily.

"Do you remember what happened last time you tried to help her?"

Mia looked at Emily's arm. The bandage and the stitching were long gone and the scar was now barely visible, but Mia knew it was still there. Another glance and she saw Serena and remembered the torture Dayu had put her through.

"Dayu got what she asked for," Kevin squeezed Mia's shoulder gently. "If she hadn't of done what she did, this never would have happened. If she truly loved Dekker, and if there truly was some humanity left in her, she would have wanted him to be happy."

Mia nodded her head and left Dayu to her misery while she walked over to Emily, Antonio and Serena. Kevin powered down and followed her.

Mike continued to stare at the spot where Dekker had been before he disappeared. He barely responded as Jayden walked up next to him.

"Odds are that you killed him," Jayden said, a slight tone of disappointment and anger in his voice. Mike didn't care about that.

"If I did kill him, he was a Nighlok when it happened. I have no regrets."

"I hope not," Jayden let out a long sigh. He looked over to Dayu and tensed up slightly as she got to her feet, but she turned her back to the Rangers and disappeared without a word. Jayden relaxed and looked over at the rest of his team. He nudged Mike, drawing his attention to the other Rangers. Mike walked to Emily and knelt down beside her. Emily felt his hand on her back and turned to him.

"She's scared," she told him about Serena.

"She doesn't have to be," Mike said. "Dekker's gone."

"What happened?" Emily asked. She had been too busy trying to comfort her sister to pay attention to anything that had happened and trusted her friends would keep her and Serena safe from Dekker and Dayu. Mike hesitated on how to answer while realising there was no good way to explain it.

"Em… I…"

"Dekker won't be coming back," Jayden interrupted, exchanging a quick look with Mike. "That's all you need to know."

Emily nodded her head and looked down at her sister, "Can you guys help her up? We should probably head home."

"Yeah, Em," Mike nodded his head as the guilt finally hit him. He gently reached out to Serena and helped her get to her feet. Once up, Jayden took over for Mike and let the green Ranger walk with Emily.

Kevin pulled Antonio up to his feet and the gold Ranger glanced over at Mike and Jayden before turning back to Mia and Kevin.

"What actually happened?" he asked. "There's no way Dekker could have just…"

He trailed off as Mia whispered into his ear. A smile appeared on his lips for a moment before it was replaced with a frown. He looked at the two Rangers.

"It was fair, though, right?" he asked. "Dekker was a Nighlok… that's what we do."

Kevin nodded, "If that's how you see it."

"How do you see it?" Antonio asked. Kevin and Mia shrugged their shoulders and followed the group as they started making their way home. Antonio frowned, "Guys! How do you see it? Hello? I'm not speaking Spanish, am I?"

He glanced over his shoulder and saw the stain of Dekker's blood on the ground. He turned back to his team, now silent as ever as he followed them home.


	20. A Family That Stays Together

Mia set some tea down in front of Serena as they waited for her to react to the news that Dekker was dead. Like Emily and Antonio, she hadn't seen the fight and could only trust what her friends were telling her. She could remember hearing screaming, swords clinking together and groans of pain, which all made sense with what her friends had told her had happened, but it all still felt very surreal.

"Are you okay?" Mia asked after a few moments of silence from Serena. The older Samurai looked up and nodded her head slowly.

"I just… it needs to really sink in," Serena answered. "I feel…"

"Numb?" Jayden asked and again Serena nodded.

"I don't know how to feel. I… I want to be happy he's gone, but…" she touched her stomach with her hand and sighed, "I guess a part of me kind of wished he would win the duel and he would change."

"He was never going to change for you," Mike scoffed. "He was a monster, through and through. I did the right thing."

"So you keep reminding yourself," Kevin looked over to Mike skeptically, "You said you didn't feel any guilt about what you did."

"He was a Nighlok," Mike defended himself. "We kill Nighlok. It's cruel, but it's what we do, it's…"

Silence came over him as Emily finally joined the group in the room. She was the only one who hadn't been told Dekker was dead. Jayden had simply explained to her that he wasn't coming back, making it seem like he had finally been scared off for good, choosing to live a life of solitude and finally respecting Serena's wishes of being left alone.

Mike felt like he had done the right thing. Dekker was half-Nighlok, and that was one half too much. But for some reason he couldn't bring himself to tell Emily he had been the one who killed Dekker with a stab to the stomach and that the Nighlok had passed away in his human form. If it had been any other powerful Nighlok, he would have told this story until the cows came home; he wouldn't have cared if his friends told him he was bragging. He would have been proud of himself. But there was something about telling Emily the truth that made him feel like somehow he had still been wrong.

"It needed to be done," Serena said to Mike as she took her sister's hand and had her sit. "I guess, since I found out I was pregnant, I always knew it was going to be a bit of a messy family. But I just hoped for something a little more normal. After mom walked away… I don't want Junior to have to know what that's like."

"But he'll never know Dekker," Emily said with a small smile. "The baby's not going to know what it's like to have a dad so there will be nothing to compare it to. And it's not like there won't be guys around."

"We're not leaving the baby," Kevin nodded his head. "There's still your father, Mentor Ji and us four uncles."

"Yeah, we'll play daddy if you need us," Antonio beamed brightly.

Emily pulled her sister in closer for a hug, "It's for the best that Dekker's gone. He's leaving you alone. You're finally safe and the baby's going to be safe. And maybe now Dayu's going to stop hunting you down."

Serena nodded into her little sister's shoulder, "Yeah, Emy, he left… maybe it is for the best."

Mike heard her say this and it felt like he had been punched in the stomach. If Serena wasn't even telling Emily the truth that could only mean she was trying to protect Emily. Protecting Emily meant that there was something wrong about what happened. He swallowed hard and tried to convince himself again that he only destroyed a Nighlok who needed to be taken down. But as he looked over at Serena and Emily, his eyes strayed to Serena's stomach. Dekker may have been a Nighlok, but he was also a father.

Emily rose up from the stool, holding her sister's hand, "C'mon. It's late. You'll probably feel better in the morning."

Serena nodded and looked to the other Rangers, "Goodnight, guys."

"Night," the Rangers answered back and were then silent until the two sisters were gone. When they turned the corner Mike let out a long sigh and ran his hands through his hair. Mia placed her hand on his back.

"The story won't be as hard to tell in daylight," she said. "Tomorrow morning you should tell her the truth."

"Do I have to?" Mike asked, turning to Mia. The pink Ranger nodded her head.

"She's the only one who doesn't know. And it's like you keep saying, Dekker was a Nighlok. It's what we do."

Mike lowered his head, feeling the guilt washing over him again. He couldn't explain why he was feeling this way over the death of Dekker. He had been a Nighlok, or so he kept telling himself.

But after he blinked he saw his hands were covered in blood and he knew it was Dekker's blood. Dekker had been the only Nighlok ever who had bled while he died, and he had been the only Nighlok who died in human form. Mike blinked again and shook his head slightly. When he looked back at his hands, the blood was gone. He breathed a sigh of relief.

Mia leaned in closer to Mike after the hesitation, "This isn't bothering you, is it, Mike?"

Mike looked up at Mia, "Can't something just go right for her for a change?" he asked and lowered his gaze again. "Dekker's gone. She doesn't need to know the details."

Mia furrowed her brow. She knew what Mike was trying to say, but she wasn't going to let him lie to Emily. Not about something that should have been so simple. If Mike really wasn't feeling any guilt or regret for what he had done, he would have been able to tell Emily the truth from the start.

"She doesn't need to know the details, or you're just scared you're going to lose her?" Mia asked and Mike's head shot up in shock. Somehow she had been able to hit the nail right on the head. He was scared of how Emily would react when he told her the exact details of why Dekker was gone. He knew there was a chance that, like the others, she would support him and understand that Dekker was a monster, but he was also terrified that this would change her opinion of him forever. He would always be the man who kill the father of her sister's baby; the baby she intended raising like her own to help out the sister she loved dearly. "Maybe you're not that different from Dekker," he heard Mia whisper and again he felt like he had just been punched in the stomach. He looked over to Mia and nodded his head.

"You're right," he said, "I can't protect myself because I don't want to lose her. It's what I hated about Dekker. It should be her choice."

"You should be able to share everything with her," Kevin said and Mike saw him touch his ring finger. He knew Kevin knew about the engagement. Mike had told him and Kevin had promised to keep it a secret, which was why he was subtly bringing up the fact that by promising to marry Emily, he had also promised to be honest to her. He couldn't ask Emily to love him forever if she didn't know who she was in love with. This wasn't a secret he could hide from her.

"When the sun's out," Mike said. "When it's not so dark and… when it's not still so fresh."

"But soon," Mia insisted.

-Samurai-

After the day he had had, Kevin needed some time to unwind and decided to finish up his letter to his father before going to bed.

It felt good to be able to share all this new information with his father, even if it was only in a letter. Kevin had always thought of his father as a very wise man and one of the things he missed the most about his dad was that he always had a piece of advice to share and he could always fix any problem, no matter how big it seemed.

He set his pen down and let out a sigh of contentment as he folded the letter. Mia walked into the bedroom from the bathroom and saw he was finally done.

"I take it we're going on a walk tomorrow and that's going to accidentally fall into the mailbox," she said as she walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Kevin looked at the letter one last time before taking it in his hand and reached for the drawer of his desk. He set it down inside before putting it away.

"I know my dad's not going to leave me," he said. "He would tell me I was being stupid and that writing this letter would only put him and mom in more danger."

"So, all that and you're not going to mail it?" Mia asked curiously.

Kevin shook his head, "Sometimes you've got to make sacrifices for the people you love. If a Nighlok discovers this letter and figures out where my parents live it could spell disaster for them. No offense to you or the girls, but I don't want to go home to a broken home. I like it the way it is and I'm not going to do anything to jeopardize that."

Mia smiled and kissed his neck, "I'm sure you had nothing to worry about from the start. You obviously love your father and he loves you. No matter what, he'll be waiting for you."

"And until then I have you," Kevin got up from the chair and wrapped his arms around Mia. "Besides, I want to see his face when I tell him I'm engaged to the most beautiful Ranger on the team."

"You talked about me in that letter?" Mia asked, her eyes straying to the drawer as a playful smirk appeared on her lips. Kevin nodded his head.

"Of course I did."

"What did you say about me?" she reached for the drawer but Kevin took her hand and smiled as he shook his head.

"Nothing you don't already know."

"Alright," Mia giggled, "then let me read it."

"No."

"No?"

"There's a lot of other stuff in there that's just for me and my dad."

"What happened to all that '_you should be able to share everything with her'_ thing you told Mike. Was that just bullshit?"

"No," Kevin shook his head and laughed.

"So, mister, share with me," Mia reached again for the drawer, opened it, and snatched the letter before Kevin could stop her. He tickled her sides and she giggled, jumping out of his reach and onto the bed. She looked down at the letter, trying to read it and keep Kevin from stealing it back. "Dearest father…"

"It doesn't say that," Kevin laughed. Mia bit her lower lip playfully and looked up, pulling the letter away as he reached for it again.

"I know, but that's what I picture in my head when you tell me you're writing your father a letter. I picture it being very formal and structured."

Kevin rolled his eyes and finally pulled the letter from Mia's hands. He folded it up and stuffed it in the night table before lunging for Mia, tickling her sides again. Mia squealed as she jumped away from Kevin, off the bed and ran across the room.

Suddenly, they heard someone clearing their throat and turned to the door, seeing both Jayden and Emily standing there.

"It's 2:00 AM," Emily groaned. "You two are so loud you're waking up the baby. Serena's not happy."

"So… this is what it feels like to walk in on mom and dad… you know," Jayden wrinkled his nose and looked down at Emily. She nodded her head, exchanging a look of disgust with the red Ranger.

"Go back to bed," Mia giggled, keeping one eye on Kevin to make sure he wasn't going to tickle her while her guard was down because of the other two Rangers in the room.

"We'll quiet down," Kevin promised. Emily and Jayden looked to each other nervously before stepping out of the room and closing the door behind them.

"Screw a room," Jayden chuckled to Emily, "Those two need to get a house."

Emily nodded her head, "I'm fine with them flirting… but…"

Jayden and Emily both shivered slightly before wishing each other a goodnight and going back to their rooms to tell their roommates the noise was going to settle down now.

Back inside Mia and Kevin's room, Kevin had grabbed Mia and took advantage of the fact that she could no longer scream when he tickled her without waking up the house. He tickled her sides until she collapsed to the ground in silent laughter. When she was on the floor he leaned forward and kissed her.

"Thanks for the letter idea," he smiled. "It really helped."

"Are you sure you don't want to mail it?" Mia asked. Kevin shook his head and scooped her up off the floor.

"Emily was always talking about how her family was so close," Kevin said as he set Mia down on the bed and he laid next to her, "I guess I just panicked for a minute because my family disagreed a lot when I was growing up. And if the worse can happen to such a close family… what did that mean for me? But sharing everything in that letter to my father reminded me that even though we do butt heads sometimes, we love each other. He cares for me and I care for him. No matter what I go home to, I know that's not going to change."

"It really bothered you, huh?"

"In a way, yeah."

"Divorce and broken homes is unfortunately pretty common now," Mia sighed, "but that doesn't mean all families are going to be broken apart. And the butting heads thing… it's good. I wish I had fought a little more with my parents instead of running away. Maybe we could have sorted out all our issues before they filed for divorce and things got messy. And if Serena and Emily's mother just… argued with Serena over the pregnancy instead of running away, maybe she would be here for her now."

"Dekker and Dayu…"

"That's something totally different," Mia chuckled. "But it doesn't matter anymore. Dekker's gone and Dayu's going to follow soon."

"You hate her guts?"

"She confuses me," Mia nodded. "One minute she looks like she can and wants to be saved, and the next she's trying to kill one of us. It's hard to figure out where to draw the line. But you were right; as long as she keeps acting like a Nighlok I've got to fight against her. Even if I could save her and give her a happily ever after, it's not worth losing any of you or putting myself in danger."

Mia leaned over and kissed Kevin, "We're all family. We work together and as long as don't let ourselves fall apart and break away, nothing's going to stop us."

Kevin smiled and wrapped his arms around Mia. They got comfortable under the blankets and he reached over to his night table. He grabbed the letter and handed it to his fiancée.

"Here," he said. "Of course I'll let you read it."

"Yes," Mia giggled, taking the letter in her hands as she cuddled up to Kevin. "Aw, you miss your daddy."

Kevin nudged her gently, "Duh."


	21. Mike and Emily's Talk

Emily was out for the morning with Serena, giving Mike a little time to prepare what he was going to tell Emily. He knew she would take Dekker's death one way or the other. Either she would be thrilled that his death insured that he would no longer come after Serena, or she would be angry and upset that Mike had gone so low as to murder the father of her niece or nephew.

It didn't help that Emily was out of the house with Serena to go to a doctor's appointment and Serena was scheduled for an ultrasound. She wanted to see that her baby was actually okay after all the stress she had been through and Emily wanted to see her niece or nephew for the very first time, having missed out on going to the first ultrasound. Mike knew that when Emily got home, she would be so focused on the baby and her reaction might stray more to anger for Mike for robbing the child of a father. At least if Dekker were still around, there was a chance the baby would one day meet its father.

He was pacing back and forth in the hallway, muttering what he wanted to say to Emily when the door opened. He turned and saw Serena stepping into the house first before guiding Emily through the door. Emily's eyes were fixed on the picture of the ultrasound in her hand and she wasn't paying attention to where she was going.

"How's the baby?" Mike asked. Serena looked away from Emily for a moment to smile at her future brother in-law.

"Perfectly healthy," she answered. "I just have to keep doing what I'm doing, minus the stress, and I should have nothing to worry about."

"Is that the picture?" Mike pointed to Emily's hands. Serena nodded.

"Good luck getting it from her," she chuckled, tapping her sister on the head, "Emily refuses to let it go."

"I'll find a way to get it."

Serena smiled and held up the keys to Jayden's car, "I'll just go give these back to Jay before he thinks I took off with them."

Serena hung up her coat and bag and left the hallway to go find Jayden, leaving Mike and Emily all alone. Mike approached Emily slowly and saw her eyes glimmering with joy as she stared at the ultrasound picture of her baby.

"Amazing, huh?" he said gently to her. Emily nodded her head and looked up at Mike.

"I saw it and heart the heartbeat. For real! It was actually happening. Right at the moment. And the baby… look!"

Emily flashed him the picture of the ultrasound and Mike held it in his hands as he looked at the little baby.

"It's not a blob anymore."

"It looks like a real baby. See, the head, the body, the arms, the legs…"

"I see it, Em. It's beautiful."

Emily took the picture back in her hands while being careful she didn't bend or break it as she stared at it again.

Mike smiled as he watched her beaming with pride and joy. She hadn't been excited about the baby when she first heard about it, but now that she had finally gotten used to the idea Mike could see she was in love with the child.

"It's a lucky baby, Em," Mike said to her before gesturing to the common room. Emily looked to him curiously.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because it's got the most amazing girl for an Aunt and he'll never know what it's like not to be loved by you," he walked her to her stool and sat her down. Emily smiled and stared at the picture until Mike pulled it out of her hand and set it on the table. He took a seat next to her and held both her hands in his while looking up at her. "There's something I need to tell you."

"Okay," Emily nodded, her eyes straying to the ultrasound.

"It's about Dekker," Mike said and now, finally, he had Emily's full attention. She turned her gaze back to him, her eyes now filled with worry and fear.

"But he's…"

"He's not just gone, Em. He's dead; that why we know he's not coming back."

"Did Dayu…?"

"I killed him, Em."

"You what…?"

Mike lowered his head and stared at Emily's hands as she pulled away from him slightly. Tears welled up in his eyes but he knew he had to do this. It wasn't right to keep secrets from her.

"I killed him. I fought him and won."

"W-wh-what? W-why? How?"

"I stabbed him… I just… I mean… he was a monster, Em. He was going to let your sister die because he didn't want to… he was selfish and… he didn't love her Em, not enough to deserve being loved by her. If he did care, even a little bit, he would have gone to Dayu without hesitation."

Emily was silent and it killed Mike. He squeezed her hands gently, "Em, please… I didn't… he was in his Nighlok form when I stabbed him, I swear. I don't like how human Dekker died too but… it needed to be done, Emily. He was dangerous to everyone."

Still, there wasn't a word from Emily and Mike was terrified her had shocked her back into silence. He grabbed her gently by the arms and looked into her eyes.

"I don't feel good about what happened, but I know it needed to be done. I hate myself for killing the baby's father but we're better off without him! I know you know that! Please, Em… just say something. Are you mad?"

Emily shook her head and threw herself into Mike's arms. She hugged him so tightly he was scared she would start choking him, but he wrapped his arms around her tightly and kissed the side of her head.

"You saved her," Emily whispered into his ear. "She doesn't have to worry anymore. She can move on. And the baby with the head, the body, the arms and the legs… the baby's going to be safe."

"There's still Dayu and Master Xandred…"

"But Dekker's gone," Emily smiled. "He scared me the most. Mia can handle Dayu and Jayden's going to master the sealing symbol, I know he will. But I thought Dekker was never going to leave us alone. Now I know he will. He's gone for good and it is for the best."

Emily pulled away from Mike and wiped the tears from his eyes. She smiled, "Thank you, Mike."

"But…"

"The way I see it, Dekker gave up his humanity a long time ago. He was a Nighlok who could never turn back."

Mike smiled, feeling so much better about what he had done now. He still hated what he had done to the father of the baby he and the others loved so much, but he knew it was all going to work out in the end.

Emily reached across to the table and picked up the picture of the ultrasound. She repositioned herself so she was sitting on Mike's lap and her back rested against his chest. As he wrapped his arms around her she stared at the picture of the ultrasound.

"You're right, this baby is pretty lucky. We don't know what kind of father Dekker would have been, and anyways, I don't think it would have been able to beat how good an uncle you'll be. This baby won't need a dad with Uncle Mike around."

"All the time," Mike promised, kissing the top of Emily's head.

"Serena wanted me to tell you she thinks you'll be the best out of all the uncles," Emily looked up at Mike. "She says she's happy that you're going to be part of the family and, if you wanted, you can be in the room when the baby's born."

"She…"

"I kind of told her," Emily smiled nervously and pointed to her ring finger. "Are you mad?"

"Em, I just admitted to killing the father of your niece or nephew…"

"Our."

"Our niece or nephew," Mike smiled at the correction, "and you're worried I'm going to be mad because you told your sister we were getting married? Your sister?"

"Are you mad?"

"Are you mad I told Kevin?"

"You…?" Emily crossed her arms and sighed, "We suck at keeping secrets."

"Mia, Jayden and Antonio don't know," Mike smirked. "How long do you think we can keep the secret from them?"

"Mia's going to kill me when she finds out she was one of the last to know…"

"Let's make this interesting…"

"Uh-oh."

"What?"

Emily sat up and turned around so she could look at Mike, "Mia actually did get mad at me last time you suggested we make things interesting. Remember the bet we made with her cooking?"

"Let's drop clues," Mike smirked. "I'll try to get Jayden or Antonio to figure out about the engagement and you work on Mia."

"Why do you get two?"

"Because Mia can sniff out weddings from miles away," Mike shrugged and Emily nodded her head. "The first person to get their Samurai to figure it out gets to choose the location of the wedding."

Emily smiled, "Deal. What are the rules?"

"No using the words wedding, ring, fiancé, fiancée, proposal or engaged."

"So telling Mia I'll have to choose between her and Serena for maid of honour at my wedding because my now-fiancé and I are engaged after a proposal at the park and I'm still waiting on my ring is totally out of the question?"

Mike chuckled and nodded, "Definitely. Oh, and no using the words best-man or maid of honour either."

"That makes it harder…"

"Once one of them figures it out, we ask them to keep quiet and let the others come around on their own. When all three of them figure it out…"

"You mean Jayden?" Emily giggled. "Face it; you're counting on Antonio to figure it out."

"Once all three of them have it figured out," Mike chuckled, "We'll make it official."

"With a ring?"

"With a ring."

Emily smiled and leaned into Mike, wrapping her arms around his waist, "You're so going to lose. Mia's going to find out first and we're going to have our wedding at my dad's farmhouse."

"On the beach," Mike shook his head with a smile as he cuddled his fiancée.

"Farmhouse."

"Beach."

"Farmhouse."

"Beach."

"What are you two fighting over?" Mia asked, stepping into the room. Emily smirked.

"Locations," she stuck her tongue out at Mike, "I can use that word."

"Locations for… baby!" Mia was quickly distracted when she saw the ultrasound picture in Emily's hand and snatched it from the yellow Ranger. Emily crossed her arms over her chest and huffed to Mike.

"If baby keeps getting in the way this could be difficult."


	22. Not Even Close

"Okay, I know the baby's extremely tiny, but even you have to admit, the little alien's go so much cute packed into such a tiny body," Antonio smiled as he sat at the dinner table with Jayden and looked at the picture of the ultrasound. When it wasn't in Emily's hands, it was out in the open where everyone could see it. The baby was Serena's child and Emily's niece or nephew, but all of the Samurai had adopted it as their own in a way. Even Jayden seemed to melt slightly whenever the baby came up in conversations.

"It is pretty cute," he nodded his head and looked over at Antonio, "I wonder what it's going to be."

"Hopefully, human," Antonio chuckled. "But even if it's not, this is one Nighlok I refuse to kill."

"I meant the gender," Jayden rolled his eyes. "I feel weird calling the baby an 'it'. When are we going to know the gender of the baby?"

"About twenty weeks along. Even then, with an ultrasound there's still a slight chance they could be wrong, and that's if Serena wants to know the gender of the baby. We have to respect her wishes. My biggest question isn't what the baby's going to be, though, it's who is it going to be?"

"What do you mean?" Jayden frowned. Antonio shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, somewhere down the road Emily's going to want to have a baby, right. I think everyone knows that. What I wonder is if she's going to give the Samuraizer to Serena's baby because it's the oldest, or will she give it to her own child?"

"It's her choice," Jayden said. "The Samuraizer belongs to her. If she wants to give it to her own child, she has that right to wait."

"But will she?"

Jayden rolled his eyes, "You think too much."

"Says you," Antonio chuckled. "When you're not talking, I know you're thinking. I can see it in your eyes."

"You're staring at my eyes?" Jayden teased playfully. Antonio nodded and batted his eyelashes flirtatiously.

"They're like two deep, dark mysterious oceans that I can't help but love getting lost in."

"Whoa… I walked in at the wrong moment," Mike said, breaking up the conversation between the two boys as he stood in the doorway with an empty bowl of ice-cream in his hands. He held the bowl in one hand and flicked his thumb over his shoulder, "If you two want a moment I can come back in five minutes…"

Jayden shoved Antonio, almost hard enough for the gold Ranger to fall out of his seat. "Antonio's just being Antonio," he said to Mike, "it's safe to come in."

Mike stepped in hesitantly and set the bowl in the sink to be washed and then took a seat at the table with the gold and red Rangers as they finished their meal. He crossed his arms on the table and looked back and forth between the boys.

"Can I ask your opinion on something?" he asked them, figuring he would take this time to try and win the contest he was having with Emily. Jayden and Antonio were alone, and Mia was out somewhere with Serena and Emily doing something baby related. There was no way she would accidentally overhear his conversation with the boys and figure out that he and Emily were engaged.

Jayden and Antonio nodded their heads, "Go for it."

"Okay, well… it's about something very personal…"

Now the boys were a little more hesitant but they still listened to Mike, "Go on…"

"What if I were to ask Emily something very important?" Mike glanced down and pulled a piece of paper from his pocket to make sure he wasn't breaking any of the rules he and Emily had set. Just to be sure the game was fair, they had written all the rules down and were both walking around with a set in their pockets which they could consult at any time but they weren't allowed to show anyone else in the house. He smirked when he saw he was in the clear and looked back across the table to Antonio and Jayden.

"Mike, what you and Emily do is none of our business," Jayden said. "As long as it doesn't interfere with your Samurai duties, you're free to do whatever you want with Emily."

"With her consent," Antonio quickly added, shooting Mike a look, "that's kind of important."

"With her…" Mike furrowed his brow and thought for a moment, trying to figure out what meaning they had taken from his words before it hit and he shook his head, "What? No, not that! How do you get that from…?"

"You and Emily, something very important," Antonio shrugged and exchanged a look with Jayden who nodded, "Aren't you talking about the next step."

"Yes, but not… we both agreed to wait."

"Then what are you talking about?" Jayden asked and suddenly Antonio snapped his fingers.

"Matching Halloween costumes!"

Jayden shot his best friend a strange look and Mike groaned loudly as he let his head fall and hit the table.

"You guys are killing me!"

Antonio shrank nervously in his seat, "What's wrong with that? It's coming up, you know and…"

Mike looked up and stared at Antonio and Jayden kept his eyes fixed on the gold Ranger. He shrugged his shoulders and picked up his fork, continuing his meal.

"Shutting up now."

Mike turned to Jayden, "Please tell me you get what I'm saying."

"Maybe you should talk to Kevin about this," Jayden said. He grabbed his plate and got up to walk to the sink. "In case you haven't noticed, neither Antonio nor I have girlfriends. I don't see how we'll be able to help you with your problem."

"It's not a problem."

"Whatever it is, you're better off talking to Kevin," Jayden turned to the doorway as the man in question walked in, "Speak of the devil. Antonio, come on, you promised me another hour of training in the dojo."

"Aye, captain," Antonio nodded and put his dishes away before he and Jayden left Mike and Kevin alone. Mike groaned loudly and again hit his head against the table. Kevin chuckled.

"Careful, your future bride's not going to like walking all the way down that aisle only to come face to face with her Zombie groom, especially given how your first date ended."

Mike glared at Kevin, "I hate you."

"What did I do?"

"You figured it out without any clues."

Kevin took a seat at the table, "I'm listening."

"Emily and I have a contest going," Mike explained. "We're trying to get the others to figure out we're engaged. I'm working on Jayden and Antonio and she's working on Mia."

"Only you two," Kevin chuckled and shook his head. "Why don't you just tell them?"

"Where's the fun in that?" Mike asked with a smirk. "Anyways, if I can get either Jayden or Antonio to figure out about the engagement before she can get Mia, I'll get to choose the location for the wedding. Once all three of them figure it out, we're going to make it official."

"This could be fun to watch," Kevin smiled. "So where do you want the wedding to be?"

"All I want is Emily standing next to me," Mike said. "It's not about the location for me. She thinks I want a beach wedding, though."

Kevin looked at Mike with a smile. It was something he admired in the green Ranger. When he had first met Mike, he saw the forest Samurai as nothing more than an immature teenage boy who needed to do a lot of growing up before he was ready to assume any kind of responsibility, especially saving the world and keeping up a long term-relationship with someone like Emily. But Mike had grown into his role rather quickly and learned from his mistakes. He knew keeping the world safe was important and never intentionally did anything that would jeopardize the fate of the world, and whenever it came to Emily, Mike seemed to know exactly what he needed to do to care for and love Emily properly. He was always putting her dreams and needs first and a smile always lit up his face whenever Emily was smiling. It was true love.

"If you win the contest, where are you going to choose to have the wedding, then?" he asked Mike. "If you don't care…"

"Emily wants to have the wedding on her farm," Mike smiled. "It means a lot to her and I'm sure we can make it work."

"Do you want me to tip off Mia, then?" Kevin suggested. Mike shook his head.

"That's cheating. Besides, she'll get the farmhouse whether she wins or not."

"Then why are you…?"

"Because this is fun," Mike smirked, "Well, frustrating, but fun. I just wish the guys weren't such morons with romance."

"Do you want me to tip them off? You'll probably need it."

"Let them guess," Mike smiled. Kevin nodded and drummed his fingers against the table before suddenly pushing himself up and looking at Mike.

"Go tell the boys that you and I are going shopping for something for Emily. It's not cheating to say that, is it?"

Mike quickly checked the rules before his shook his head, "No, but where are we going?"

"When you make it official, I assume you mean you're going to propose to Emily, right? Well, you've got to be prepared for when that happens. Trust me, there's nothing sweeter than the look on her face when you surprise her with a ring. Even when she knows it's coming, you can still surprise her."

-Samurai-

Serena was finding her clothes were starting to feel a little tight now that her pregnancy was advancing. It was still difficult to see she was actually pregnant, but the bump was starting to form and Serena knew she didn't have long before she needed to start wearing maternity clothing.

So she had decided to make this a girl day. Emily and Mia were tagging along, helping her to pick out clothes she could wear throughout the pregnancy.

"Look!" Emily stretched the elastic on a pair of pants, "How big do they expect you to get?"

"Mom was huge when she was pregnant with you," Serena chuckled as the elastic slipped from her sister's hand and snapped back into place, startling Emily. "I remember we were all shocked when you came out and you were so tiny."

"Not much has changed," Mia chuckled, picking up a shirt from the rack and showing it to Serena. The eldest Samurai shrugged her shoulders and took the shirt. She knew this would be easier if she had her mother here with her, but that was no longer possible. Serena was on her own as she tried to figure out what would be comfortable, what she would like, and what she needed.

Suddenly, she heard another elastic snapping and a squeak from her sister. She exchanged a look with Mia and rolled her eyes.

"Emy, come help us out. When you get pregnant I'll be passing all these down to you. You might as well pick out something you like."

"Hand-me-downs again?" Emily muttered, dragging her feet as she joined her older sister. "I thought I outgrew that."

"Emily, you haven't outgrown anything since the seventh grade," Serena ruffled her sister's hair. "Besides, you're borrowing my sweater."

Emily looked down at the big, comfy sweater she was wearing and giggled nervously.

"It's comfortable. Besides, you're getting a lot of new clothes today!"

"Keep it, Emy," Serena smiled. "It's big on you, but it's not going to fit me soon."

"Hand-me-down," Mia coughed and Serena tried to suppress a giggle. Emily pouted.

"You guys are mean."

"C'mon, Emy, why don't we go see if there's another shirt Serena can wear in case there's a formal occasion," Mia suggested as she led Emily over to another rack. Emily smirked to herself as she walked with Mia.

"Formal like a celebration dinner, right?" she asked and checked the note in her pocket to make sure she wasn't breaking the rules of her contest with Mike.

Mia nodded, "Yeah."

"And we could be celebrating anything. Like if someone were to make a big announcement about something life changing?"

"I guess," Mia nodded her head and began searching through the clothes. She pulled out a black shirt, "What about this? Do you think it would work?"

Emily shook her head and pulled out a green and yellow shirt, "I was thinking something more along the lines of this," she gestured to the two colours. "See how they come together? Two colours to make one shirt?"

"I'm not blind, Emy," Mia chuckled. "That's not really formal, though."

Emily sighed and shook her head as she placed the shirt back on the rack. Mia continued looking for clothes, completely clueless.

"Now you really suck," she muttered to herself and crossed her arms over her chest. Mia turned to her.

"Don't stand like that; it makes you look like a brat."

Emily huffed, "At least I'm not clueless."


	23. Almost Got It

Mike felt completely out of his element as he stood at the jewellery store with Kevin and stared at all the rings they had on display. He had no idea what he was looking for, what Emily would like, what would look good… The list went on and on. Mike had moments in his life where he felt like an idiot, but this was the worse.

"You don't have to get anything today," Kevin tapped the green Ranger's shoulders. Mike turned to him.

"You nailed it your first shot."

"Doesn't mean you have to. We've been here for an hour, Mike, and you haven't even asked to look at a single ring. Now that you've seen them, why don't we just head back home and you can think about it."

"But…"

"If Jayden and Antonio are as clueless as you think they are then you'll have plenty of time to find the perfect ring," Kevin assured his best friend before looking at the jeweller and thanking him for his help. He led Mike outside the shop. "Baby steps. You'll find the perfect ring. It might just take a little longer than you expected."

-Samurai-

Emily was still determined to win the contest after she got home from shopping with Serena and Mia. So, while Serena was putting her new clothes away and Antonio and Jayden were out in the yard, Emily approached Mia with a big grin on her face. She held her hands behind her back and rocked back and forth on her feet.

"Guess what," she had checked the rules and letting Mia know there was something to guess wasn't against the rules. Mia looked up from her book.

"What?"

"I have a secret."

"Don't we all?"

"Don't you want to know my secret?"

Mia sighed and put down her book, "Alright, Emy, what's your secret?"

"I can't tell you," Emily smirked. She saw Mia furrowing her brow slightly and knew the pink Ranger was now slightly intrigued.

"Why would you…? What's going on, Emy? Did I forget something? It's not your birthday again, is it?"

"Nope."

"Serena's?"

"Nope."

"Mike's?"

"Nope. No birthdays."

"Then…"

"Remember that shirt I pointed out in the store;" Emily said, "the green and yellow shirt?"

"If you wanted to buy it you just had to say something."

"It's got something to do with my secret."

Mia stared at the yellow Ranger curiously for a moment before deciding she wasn't going to waste her brain power on silly guessing games. She rolled her eyes, picked up her book and opened it to the page where she had left off.

"You're a dork, Emy."

"You're not going to guess?" Emily pouted when she saw Mia was no longer trying to guess. She crossed her arms over her chest and huffed loudly before hearing the front door open. She turned and saw Mike and Kevin walking in from the front hallway. "Mike, I hate my team."

Mike chuckled when he saw Emily was with Mia and assumed Emily's comment had something to do with the contest they were having. As Emily stomped off to find something else to do, Mike traded looks with Kevin and sat down opposite to Mia.

"You're going to give her grey hairs if you keep this up," he chuckled. Mia put her book down again and sighed.

"Go entertain her. I think she's bored."

"Maybe you should go talk to her, Mia," Kevin suggested as he took a seat next to his fiancé. He knew Mike didn't care who won the contest and that it was just fun for him to play, but the sooner Mia found out the better for Kevin. He knew it technically wasn't lying but he didn't like keeping secrets from Mia. Not when he knew the secret would make her happy.

"Maybe you should go talk to her, Kevin," Mia frowned. "Why am I always the one talking to Emily?"

"I suck at guessing games," Kevin shrugged. Mia turned to him curiously.

"How did you know it was a guessing game?" Mia asked. "I just said she was bored. I never said she was trying to get me to guess…" Mia turned her focus to Mike and then back to Kevin. She could read them just as easily as the book in her hands. They knew something. They had a secret too. She swatted Kevin in the shoulder, "You know!"

"Ow," Kevin rubbed his arm, "That hurt!"

"You know what she's talking about," Mia frowned. "Tell me."

"Sworn to secrecy," Kevin held up his hands in the air and shot an amused glance at Mike. "You're going to have to find out."

Mia turned to Mike, "Will you…?"

"Only Emily can tell you," Mike shook his head.

Mia got up from her seat and grumbled inaudibly. Kevin and Mike chuckled as she left.

"This is entertaining," Kevin said and Mike nodded his head.

"I'm going to go see if I can clue Jayden or Antonio in."

"I'm so coming to watch this one," Kevin smirked as he followed Mike out to the yard.

The green Ranger stepped outside with Kevin keeping his distance so he could remain a spectator. He loved knowing about the contest but not having to play a role in it. It was fun watching his friends squirm as they tried to get the others to guess, or guess the secret. He wished Mia would figure it out soon, but it was still very entertaining.

Mike saw Antonio was heading out to the forest with his fishing cart while Jayden carried the training katanas back to the side of the house. Mike walked up to the red Ranger.

"Where's Antonio going?"

"Fishing," Jayden answered. "He hasn't been out for a while and if he wants to keep his business going he's going to have to start catching fish again."

"He sure is _committed _to fishing," Mike smirked and when Jayden wasn't looking his check his list of rules. _Yes, legal! _He grinned inwardly.

"He loves to fish," Jayden shrugged. "It's easy to be committed to something when you love doing it."

"I know what it's like," Mike said and leaned against the side of the house. "There's something I love and I'm totally committing myself to it."

"We all know about your obsession with video games," Jayden chuckled and gave Mike a pat on the shoulder.

"It's something I love more than video games," Mike said. "Someone I love more than video games."

"Who?" Jayden asked. Mike took a deep breath and wondered how the great red Ranger could be so clueless.

"_She's_ the most amazing person in my life."

"Emily?" Jayden shot Mike a strange look, "Mike, if you have something to say, just say it."

"I want to commit myself to someone I love," Mike reiterated, hoping Jayden would catch on. In the background he could hear Kevin snickering.

"You already share a dog. That's a pretty big commitment for people your age."

Kevin's snickering grew a little louder. Mike sighed and shook his head.

"Jayden, when you finally get a girlfriend, you better find one who's smart. If not, I fear for your children."

"Or, you can skip all this mystery crap and just tell me what you're trying to tell me."

"I want to commit myself to someone I love! It's bright as day and you're still not getting it!"

"There are some thick people living in this house," Kevin chuckled in the background.

"Is this the same conversation from before?" Jayden asked. Mike nodded his head.

"Yes. Do you remember what we talked about then?"

"You wanted to ask Emily something very important," Jayden nodded. "Then you mentioned something about taking the next step…"

"Go on," Mike knew Jayden finally had all the pieces of the puzzle. He just needed to fit them all together.

"You want to… are you…" Jayden hesitated, giving Mike butterflies. Was the red Ranger really going to be the first of the three to figure it all out? "Are you going to… but you said…"

"C'mon, Jay…"

"I thought you said you were going to wait."

Mike's excitement deflated. He clenched his fists as Jayden shot him a slightly disturbed look.

"Mike, I don't care what goes on between you and Em. You don't have to announce when you're going to have..."

"You're a moron, Jayden," Mike shook his head. Meanwhile, on the steps, Kevin was laughing hysterically. Jayden would have been offended by Mike's comment but he was starting to think the green Ranger was right. He was obviously missing something. The green Ranger let out a sigh of disappointed and turned to walk away. As he passed Kevin he muttered, "I hate my team too."

"This is too good," Kevin wiped the tears from his eyes as he followed Mike inside.


	24. The Contest Continues

Jayden laid in his bed, his back resting against the headboard as he drummed his fingers against his thigh and sighed loudly. He was deep in thought. It was the middle of the night and he couldn't sleep. Not when there was one big question running through his mind.

What was Mike hiding?

It was a secret, but the kind of secret the keeper wanted everyone to know. But Mike was being stubborn. He wasn't coming out and saying what the secret was. Jayden knew he was close, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He had all the clues he just had to put them all together to find the answer.

"Just go to sleep," Antonio grumbled from his side of the room and he pulled the blankets up over his head to block out the light from Jayden's lamp. "It's past midnight; lights out. Worry about whatever it is tomorrow."

"I can't sleep. Mike's trying to tell us something but he won't come out and say it. He wants us to figure this out."

Antonio pulled his head out from under the blankets and sat up in bed. He looked across the room at Jayden, "I can help you figure it out. I know you're not going to give up until you get this."

"Mike said he had an important question to ask Emily," Jayden started by telling Antonio everything he knew. "Then he said something about taking the next step…"

"In his relationship with her?" Antonio asked. Jayden nodded.

"I guess so. There aren't too many stairs in this house and what other steps could he be talking about?"

"Point taken. So, important question and taking next step in the relationship.

"Then, when you were out fishing, Mike came up to me and told me he wanted to commit himself to someone he loved."

"Some_one_ or some_thing_?" Antonio asked. "He's been pretty into his latest video game."

"Someone. Emily, I think."

"He wants to commit himself to Emily? I thought they were already…" Antonio's eyes widened and a smile appeared on his face, "No way!"

"What?"

Antonio chuckled and jumped out of his bed. He raced across the room and bounced onto Jayden's bed.

"You idiot!" he cried happily, grabbing the red Ranger by the arms and shaking him, "How could you not figure this out?"

"Will someone tell me what's going on?" Jayden asked.

"Jay! It's hitting you in the face and you don't even know it! Important question! Next step! Commitment! He wants to ask her to marry him!"

Jayden shook his head, "That can't be it," he said, "They're too young! They aren't even twenty, there is no way…"

"They aren't ordinary kids, Jay," Antonio smirked. "They've been through a lot. They've grown up quite a bit. Maybe they feel they're ready to take this step."

"You don't think they're already engaged, do you?" Jayden asked as he slowly came around to the idea that maybe Antonio was right. "Could Mike be testing us?"

"Kevin seems to know what's going on," Antonio shrugged his shoulders. "That means Mike must have told him."

"Or he figured it out."

"Maybe that's where they went today," Jayden looked to Antonio. "Mike said he and Kevin were going shopping for something special for Emily. But if Mike doesn't have the ring yet..."

"He could be asking our advice before asking Emily," Antonio nodded.

Jayden nodded along as well until he thought about it for a moment and he began to shake his head.

"No… Mike wouldn't mess around with this. He loves Emily too much to play with something this big. If he was going to ask us our advice, he would have just done it instead of playing these games."

"He's messing with us then," Antonio said. Jayden smirked and nodded his head.

"Definitely."

"I so can't wait to see the look on his face when he figures out we know," Antonio said as he got out of Jayden's bed and started making his way back to his room.

-Samurai-

"Please!"

"You're cute when you beg," Kevin chuckled and gently pushed Mia off his chest so he could fall asleep. Mia was persistent though. Now that she knew Emily had a secret and that Kevin knew what it was she wouldn't give up on figuring it out for herself.

"Why won't you tell me? You're supposed to be loyal to me!" Mia shoved Kevin as he closed his eyes to sleep. The blue Ranger smirked but didn't open his eyes.

"I am loyal to you."

"Then tell me!"

"I'm also loyal to Emily. She wants you to figure this out on your own, so I will respect her wishes."

"You're a shitty fiancé," Mia huffed and rolled over in bed, turning her back to Kevin. The swimmer felt the bed bouncing slightly as Mia turned away from him and he chuckled. He sat up and leaned over, kissing her cheek.

"I love you too."

"I'm not going to sleep until I figure it out."

"I'm rooting for you, Mia, really. You don't know how badly I want you to figure this out."

"Then tell me," Mia turned back to Kevin and looked into his eyes. He smiled and shook his head.

"I'm sorry. I'm sworn to secrecy."

"What if I were dying and my final wish was to know Emily's secret?"

"You're not dying, Mia," Kevin chuckled. Mia clutched her hands to her throat.

"Kevin…" she gasped for breath, "I only… have a moment… please… what's the secret?"

"I love you," Kevin leaned over Mia and cradled her head in his hand as he leaned in for a final kiss. Mia slapped him in the chest and pouted when he pulled away.

"You're still a shitty fiancé."

"You're cute when you're desperate."

"I can be cute when I'm knowledgeable too! Try it out! Tell me the secret! I'll still be cute!"

"You want to know the secret?" Kevin asked with a grin. Mia nodded her head excitedly so Kevin whispered into her ear: "The secret is: Emily's secret."

A frown quickly replaced the smile on Mia's face and the pink Ranger glared at her fiancé. She hated not knowing what was going on around the house. She knew her friends and Kevin were just having a little fun playing with their secret and that when it finally did come out she was probably going to forget all about the waiting and not knowing, but for now it was a pain in the ass.

"You suck!" she crossed her arms over her chest and turned her back to Kevin. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his chest.

"I promise you'll love it once you figure it out. Just think about the clues Emily's been trying to give you."

"She just keeps bringing up a stupid shirt from the maternity store. It's green and yellow and she keeps mentioning how they come together to make… one…"

Mia's eyes widened and she rolled around in Kevin's arms, "She's pregnant!"

"NO!" Kevin couldn't deny that response any faster and shook his head to make sure the message was clear. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no!"

"Then what is it?"

"Anything but that," Kevin squeezed his eyes shut. "Way to go, Mia, I think I'm having a heart attack. Emily's definitely not pregnant! Not even a little bit. There's no way I'm letting Mike do that to her."

Mia glared at her fiancé, "Tell me!"

"You're frustrated," Kevin opened his eyes and smiled. Mia was pouting. To him she still looked adorable and it made this contest between Mike and Emily even more fun than he initially thought.

"Yes, I am."

"Then tell you what," Kevin smirked. "I'll talk with Mike and Emily and we'll see if we can put a time limit on the contest. That way you're not waiting forever. But that's the best I can do for you."

"You're a shitty fiancé," again Mia turned away from Kevin but still let him hold her in his arms. Kevin kissed the back of her head.

"I love you too."

-Samurai-

"So, let me get this straight," Serena couldn't contain her laughter as Mike and Emily explained to her the contest they were having while the three of them got ready for bed, "You two aren't telling Jayden, Antonio and Mia that you're practically engaged. Instead, you're waiting for them to guess based on obscure clues."

"Winner gets to pick the location for the wedding," Emily nodded her head excitedly while Mike cuddled her with a smile.

"You two would do something like this," Serena shook her head and grinned. "So when are you actually getting engaged?"

"Once they all find out," Mike answered. "Though that might be a while. Jayden and Antonio keep thinking I'm hinting at sex."

"At least they know something's going on. Mia's completely clueless! I thought she would be so much easier than this!" Emily muttered. Mike hugged her and then gestured to the bathroom.

"You can use it first. I'll get the bed ready," he told her. Emily nodded and made her way to the bathroom while Mike and her sister headed to the beds. While Mike started pulling the blankets down and arranging the pillows, Serena eyed him curiously. She was happy for her sister. Finally things were getting back on track for Emily, but she couldn't help but hand out one final warning to the man who held her baby sister's heart in his hands.

"Just to let you know, Mike, I have absolutely no problem with murdering anyone who breaks Emily's heart."

"I have no intention of…"

"I don't care if your intentions are pure and selfless. If she sheds one tear because of you I will slit your throat with your own sword. Do we understand each other?"

"Perfectly," Mike didn't even flinch when the threat was made and Serena took that as a sign that he truly never wanted to cause Emily any pain. She smiled at him and sat down on the end of her sister's bed (though she could now call it her own because Emily was always sleeping with Mike).

"So," she said, "where do you want the wedding?"

"Emily thinks I want the beach," Mike smiled.

"Where do you really want?"

"Em wants your farm."

"But where do you…?"

"The farm."

A smile lit up Serena's face as Mike looked her in the eye. She nodded her head and crawled up into her bed.

"Goodnight, bro," she whispered before turning off her lamp and placing her head in her pillow. "Welcome to the family."


	25. Out Of Body Experience

The atmosphere around the breakfast table was tense. Mike and Emily decided to give the hints a little rest so the other Rangers could focus on the clues they had already been given. They had no idea Antonio and Jayden had figured them out and were planning on toying with them a little bit before revealing they knew about the engagement.

Mia was still in the dark, but she knew there was something she needed to figure out. She just couldn't put her finger on it. Kevin still refused to clue her in, even the tiniest clue, and Mike and Emily weren't going to help.

Serena and Kevin were trying to hold in their laughter as they watched the eyes dart around the room suspiciously. This contest entertained them the most. They knew the secret so they got to watch as Mike and Emily struggled to give subtle clues, and the others struggled to pick up on the clues.

Meanwhile, Mentor Ji was completely clueless. He had no idea there was a secret that needed to be discovered. He was just sitting and eating his fruit salad like every other morning.

"So," Antonio smirked, breaking the silence in the room as he leaned forward to look at Mike, "you'll never guess who I ran into yesterday while I was out fishing."

Antonio quickly looked over at Jayden and winked. The red Ranger nodded his head slightly. If Mike was going to mess with the two of them, they were going to mess with him.

"Who?" Mike asked, slightly curious as to who Antonio could possibly run into while out fishing. Most of the time Antonio was alone and if he wasn't it was usually a fisherman. Mike didn't know any fisherman so he had to wonder who Antonio could have possibly seen that would interest Mike.

"This really good friend of yours from… High School… I think. Damn, what was his name? It started with a…"

"Matthew or Reese?" Mike shook his head. "Those were my only two… how could you run into them, though? They hate the outdoors."

"Reese, that's it," Antonio snapped his fingers with a smile. "Yes, I think he said his name was Reese."

"What was he doing out?" Mike asked. "He never ventures outside unless he's on his way to the arcade."

"I didn't think to ask," Antonio was lying through his teeth about the meeting with Reese and he couldn't come up with an excuse for why one of Mike's gamer friends would be so far out into the forest. He thought it best not to push the lies and stick to his story. "Anyways, we ran into each other by the river and he mentioned you. I didn't tell him I knew you, secret identities and all, but I'm pretty sure he was talking about you."

"What did he say?" Mike was intrigued. He hadn't seen his friends in nearly a year and the last time he had seen them they had been attacked by a Nighlok. He had to leave them without a proper goodbye or an explanation on why he was gone.

"He had some pretty interesting things to say about you," Antonio smirked knowingly and winked at Mike. He saw the green Ranger shift uncomfortably in his seat. "Things I think Emily would also find very, very interesting."

Emily's full focus was now on the conversation between Antonio and Mike when she heard this and she turned to Mike to see what his reaction to Antonio's words were going to be. She saw he looked rather nervous and furrowed her brow.

"Mike…"

"L-like what?" there was a slight stutter in Mike's voice that went unnoticed by most but Emily picked up on it and Serena also seemed a little curious about his behaviour. Antonio shrugged his shoulders, "He says you've got a secret."

"A secret?"

"Yep, and Jayden and I both know what it is."

"You… you do…?"

Antonio nodded to Jayden and the red Ranger pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and slid it across the table to Mike. The green Ranger picked it up nervously and opened it slowly, trying to keep prying eyes, especially Emily's, from seeing before he had the chance to look for himself.

He sighed in relief and chuckled loudly when he read the secret note and passed it over to Emily. She read it and smiled. The note read: _Congratulations on the engagement._

"Dude, you had me there for a minute," Mike reached across the table to give Jayden and Antonio fists bumps. "But you've finally figured it out. Both of you."

"Figured it out?" Mia frowned and looked around the table as everyone, except Mentor Ji, began to giggle and Emily passed the note to her sister to read. She glared at each of them, "Wait a minute… am I the last to know."

"Mia doesn't know?" Antonio asked. He and Jayden and written the note because they weren't sure how many people at the table knew the secret and if Mike was toying with them they assumed there were other people he was trying to fool as well. They didn't want to ruin whatever game they were playing so they remained as subtle as possible.

"No," Emily grumbled, resting her head in her hand as she played with her oatmeal. She was happy the boys had figured it out. That meant she and Mike were two steps closer to getting engaged officially, but that also meant she lost the contest and Mike would get to choose the location for the wedding. She turned to Mia and glared.

"What's going on?" Mentor Ji asked, finding himself completely lost as well. No one had told him about the contest and he had no clue he needed to figure something out. Serena looked to Emily and Mike and they both nodded. She then leaned over and whispered the secret into Mentor's ear and explained everything to him quickly. A smile appeared on his face and he nodded his head.

Mia glared at the people around the table, "I hate all of you."

"I'm not very fond of you, either," Emily pouted. "You have to figure out my clues."

"You keep blabbing on about a t-shirt. Green and yellow! Green and yellow! I'm not colourblind, I know it's… oh," she trailed off as she noticed the shirts Mike and Emily were wearing. As per Ranger tradition, they were both dressed in their respective colours: yellow and green. A smirk appeared on her face, "It's a secret about you _and_ Mike."

"Finally!" Emily threw her hands up in the air. Serena chuckled.

"Wow; that took you long enough. I thought this baby was going to be born before you figured that out."

"So, what is it?" Mia asked. Emily shook her head.

"You still have to figure it out," she said. "I already gave you your second clue. The two colours come together to make one shirt."

"You're starting a shirt company together?" Mia suggested, knowing it was ridiculous but she had to try. Emily groaned and let her head fall onto the table.

"I don't know why I'm friends with you."

"Because you love me," Mia grinned. Emily's head shot up.

"Another clue!"

"You love me?"

"No. I love Mike!" Emily smiled.

"So, you love Mike and… making shirts…"

"Stop thinking about the shirt! It's the colours! What are they doing?"

"I don't know about the green, but yellow's being a real pain in the ass," Mia muttered. Right beside her, Kevin was chuckling.

"I know I said I wanted you to figure this out, Mia, but I really wouldn't mind if this dragged on for a few extra days,"

"Just tell me!" Mia begged, taking Emily's hands. "Please! Everyone else knows!"

"I can't tell you. It's against the rules," Emily shook her head. "Just think about the colours and what they're doing. You can get this, Mia, I know you…"

Emily was interrupted as the Gap Sensor blared, signalling a Nighlok attack in the city. Forgetting the secret, they jumped out of their seats and raced off, leaving Mentor and Serena to take care of the dishes.

-Samurai-

When the Rangers entered the city they were shocked by what they had found. The street was littered with people who were lying on the floor, seemingly lifeless. There was no Nighlok in sight, but they could only assume this was his doing. The red Ranger knelt down beside a little boy and checked his pulse.

"He's dead," he choked on his words and got back to his feet. He couldn't see the faces of his teammates but he knew they were just as hurt as he was.

"How?" Mike asked, inspecting the young boy and looking at the others who had fallen. "It doesn't look like they were attacked at all."

"It's like they just…" Kevin was suddenly struck in the back as the monster appeared, seemingly from nowhere. While the Rangers had been distracted by the victims of his attack he had snuck up behind them and went in for a surprise attack.

Kevin fell forward, crying out in pain even though his Ranger suit had taken most of the damage. Mia was by his side in a second, kneeling next to him and helping him get back to his feet while the others stood in front of him protectively.

Jayden held out his sword, "What did you do to all these people?"

The Nighlok, a rather large, humanoid creature with what appeared to be bones covering his body and a scythe in his hand, chuckled and bounced with excitement.

"Wouldn't you like to know," he said. "How about, instead of telling you, I show you!"

The Nighlok dashed forward and slashed at Jayden, forcing him back and away from the rest of the team while the Moogers appeared from the cracks and crevasses and kept the other five distracted. Jayden held off the Nighlok as best as he could, but the creature found an opening and took advantage. He slashed Jayden again, striking him in the chest. Jayden felt like the attack had left a rather sever wound, especially considering it had been strong enough to power him out of his Ranger suit. But when he checked for blood, he saw there was nothing there, not even a tear in his shirt. He looked at the Nighlok curiously.

"What…?" spots suddenly started appearing in his vision, slowly blinding him. What he could see began to dance around and he felt himself losing his balance as he swayed side to side. Finally, with his vision totally gone, he hit the ground hard, falling face down and everything stopped.

"Jayden!" Antonio shouted, seeing his best friend falling him battle. He finished off the Mooger he was currently facing and left the rest to the others while he went to check up on Jayden. He knelt down beside the red Ranger and tried to wake him. "Jay? Jay, can you hear me?"

Nothing. There was nothing from the red Ranger. Antonio powered down and glanced along the street at the bodies that were lying exactly like Jayden's. With a shaky hand he checked for a pulse from Jayden.

"An easy second," seeing the gold Ranger was distracted by his friend, the Nighlok tried again to attack, raising his scythe in the air. Antonio barely noticed anything around him as he searched Jayden's neck and wrist frantically for a pulse. Mia, who was the closest to Antonio and Jayden, dropped out of her battle with the Moogers to help him out. If the Nighlok had taken out a fully powered Jayden, Antonio didn't stand a chance without his suit. She blocked the Nighlok's attack as his scythe came down and stood before Antonio and Jayden. She barely felt it, but as the Nighlok pulled his weapon away to prepare himself for a battle against the pink Ranger, his weapon grazed her arm lightly. He didn't even know he had touched her.

The other Rangers finished off the Moogers and quickly came to Mia's aid. They wouldn't let her fight the Nighlok alone after what he had done to Jayden. They backed him away from the red and gold Rangers, blocking every strike until finally he stepped out of the fight and lowered his weapon. The Rangers stood and watched, using this moment to catch their breath.

"Shoot!" the Nighlok looked to his stomach where he was starting to dry up, "And I thought I would get more than one Ranger before I needed to go back."

"What did you do to Jayden?" Emily asked the Nighlok as he searched for a way out.

"You'll all find out eventually. But for now, I need to head back to the spirit world," finding a crack in the ground, the Nighlok jumped and disappeared into a portal. Kevin screamed, throwing his Spin Sword to the ground as he paced back and forth in frustration and powered down like the others.

"They always leave," he growled. "Right when we have them, they vanish! They…"

"Mia!" Emily shouted.

Mia turned to the yellow Ranger curiously. The danger was passed and yet Emily sounded panicked. She watched as Emily rushed over to her and caught her body. Kevin rushed to her side as Emily fell to her knees, holding Mia's body in her arms.

Mia furrowed her brows as she watched this. There was no way this could have been happening. She was watching her friends tend to her fallen body, and yet here she was, standing upright feeling as good as ever.

"Mia! Can you hear me?" Kevin asked, tapping her cheek. Mia stood over him and watched as he tried to wake her, or rather, her body.

"Guys," she called to her friends. "I… what's happening."

"Mia! C'mon, Mia, wake up!" Kevin said, taking Mia from Emily and holding her. Mia shook her head. This couldn't have been happening. She was standing over him. There was no way this was possible. The thing, or person, or whatever he was holding wasn't her.

She walked around and knelt down in front of him. She tried to touch his arm to let him know she was there but he didn't respond. She grabbed his shoulders and tried to shake him.

"Kevin. I'm right here!"

"We should go home," she heard Mike say from behind her. "Mentor will probably know what to do."

Mia watched as Kevin nodded his head and got to his feet, still holding her body in his arms, though Mia was still convinced it wasn't possible. She stood up in front of him but he didn't see her as he walked right through her. She gasped and turned around, watching as he walked away with her body, Emily right on his tail.

"You're going to be okay, Mia," Emily promised her body. "We'll fix this."

Mia shook her head and turned to see where Mike had gone to but jumped when she found herself face to face with Jayden. She smiled when he looked her in the eyes and jumped into his arms.

"You're okay."

Jayden held her for a moment before letting go. He took her by the arms and shook his head.

"I don't think we are," he gestured to where Mike was helping Antonio carry his body. Mia gasped again. It wasn't possible. She was standing right next to Jayden. He was holding her. She could feel him. And yet she was watching him from a distance. "We should follow them home."

Mia nodded but before walking off she glanced over her shoulder and down the street. Her eyes widened as she saw what appeared to be the spirits of the dead bodies that had covered the streets. The people they thought the Nighlok had killed. She grabbed Jayden's hand and stopped him from leaving.

He turned and saw what she was looking at. He nodded his head and sighed.

"They don't know what's going on," he told her. "They can see us, though, just like we can see them, so we have to go before we're spotted and they figure out who we are."

"What happened?" Mia asked.

"We'll figure it out. That Nighlok did something, I know that much."

Jayden took her hand and tried to pull her along. He was terrified and assumed she felt the same way. He hated that this had to happen to one of his teammates, but he was sort of thankful he wasn't alone.

But as he tried to get Mia to follow the others home he felt her pull on his arm again. He turned around and noticed she was still looking down the street.

"All these people," she whispered. "They were dead when we got here. Now they're…"

"Ghosts?" Jayden tried. He wasn't sure himself.

Mia looked up to him, "Does that mean we're…"

"I hope not," Jayden sighed. "We really should get home. We'll figure it out there."


	26. A Team Reshuffled

Mia and Jayden sat on their respective stools with Mike, Serena, and Emily while Mentor Ji, Antonio and Kevin tended to their bodies in the bedrooms. It was strange for them to sit in the same room as their friends and know that they couldn't be seen or heard. Mia wanted to badly to go to her bedroom and tell Kevin she was okay but she couldn't bring herself to look at her own body and see how upset her condition was making Kevin. She didn't want to see him hurting, not when she had no way of comforting him. Anything she did would be futile and she couldn't stand that.

Jayden felt the same way. Antonio and Mentor cared for him deeply and were very upset over the fact that Jayden, like Mia, wasn't breathing and had no pulse. Given the amount of time that had passed since his body had stopped breathing and his heart had stopped they could only assume he was dead. Jayden, like Mia, wanted to comfort them but knew it was impossible.

Serena was searching through the book of Nighlok, trying to find the Nighlok that had attacked the city so they could know what happened to Mia and Jayden. It was clear they were dead, but Serena was holding onto hope that just like with every other Nighlok, once he was defeated, his victims would return back to normal.

"That one," she heard Mike say and the green Ranger pointed to the picture of the Nighlok. Serena read over his information.

"Interfector?" Emily asked as she read his name.

"It's Latin," Serena explained, "It means killer. According to this, this Nighlok was actually made to kill his victims."

"As opposed to all the other Nighlok?" Mike frowned. "You know the ones I'm talking about; the Nighlok that create rainbows and hand out puppies to young children."

"All the other Nighloks cause suffering," Serena said. "Their victims suffer and eventually die. This Nighlok kills on the spot."

"Is there any way to save Mia and Jayden?" Emily asked. "Does it say anything?"

Serena sighed loudly and shook her head, "No. He's never been destroyed before… obviously. But that doesn't mean we can't stop him."

"But if Mia and Jayden are dead…" Emily's eyes strayed to the hallway and she sighed loudly. She leaned into Mike and he wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

"We'll figure this out," he promised her. "There's got to be a way to save him."

"There has to be," Emily looked down at her left hand, "Mia still hasn't guessed yet. We won't get officially engaged until she can figure it out."

Mia's eyes widened and she turned to Jayden. He looked over at her sadly and nodded his head.

"Surprise…"

"They're engaged? That's what…" Mia fell silent and lowered her head sadly. It was hard enough hearing she was dead but now, on top of that, she had figured out Emily's secret and she couldn't share in Emily's excitement.

She pushed back the tears in her eyes and then saw Kevin, Antonio and Mentor making their way into the common room. Mentor and Antonio were visibly upset, but Kevin seemed to be in pieces, at least to Mia. She had never seen him so hurt.

The three took a seat on their stools. Mentor was as silent as ever and didn't make eye contact with the Rangers, nor did he bother to look at the open book of Nighlok for any answers on what happened to Jayden. Everything was still processing for him.

Antonio pulled his knees against his chest. He wrapped his arms around his legs and rested his chin on his knees. There was a distant look on his eyes, almost like he was about ready to join Mia and Jayden in their out of body experience. He was so lost within himself and stricken with grief that he wasn't really sitting in the room with the others. He felt so alone without Jayden.

Kevin, on the other hand, was angry. His muscles were tense; he was tapping his foot against the ground and playing with his hands to contain his rage.

"He can't do this," he muttered, shaking his head. "It's a cheap shot. He can't just kill them. They can't just die like that."

Mia got up from her stool and sat down next to Kevin. She placed a hand on his back while the other took his hand. She felt him relaxing slightly and for a moment she hoped he could feel her but the truth was that he couldn't. Tears started to flood his eyes and when Mia tried to wipe them away she found she couldn't. She began to cry herself as she leaned into Kevin and wrapped her arms around him.

Jayden stood before Mentor Ji, trying in vain to communicate with the man who had raised him but he wasn't being heard. He tried to reach out and touch Mentor, but the older man didn't respond. He called his name and then shouted but still there was no answer. Jayden turned to Antonio and knelt before his best friend.

"Please, Antonio… I'm okay. I'm still here. You have to know that!"

"Jayden," Mia called his name as she pulled away from Kevin. She had never felt so cold before, especially near Kevin. She placed her hand on Jayden's shoulder, "It's not going to do anything."

"He's got to hear me, or sense me, or something!"

"Jayden," Mia grabbed his arm and tried to pull him up. Jayden pulled back and reached out to touch Antonia but there was still no response. Frustrated, he jumped back up to his feet.

"We couldn't have just died like we were supposed to?" he asked, kicking his stool. It didn't move at all, but he felt the impact with his foot. "This is torture!"

"Jayden, we should feel lucky we're still hanging on. This might mean we have a chance at coming back."

"They don't know that," Jayden shouted, pointing to the Samurai in the room. "Now, not only do we have to deal with being dead and invisible, but we have to watch them suffer!"

"Jayden…"

"The Sanzu River's probably rising as we speak!"

"Jayden…"

"We can't do anything to stop it! We're useless! We're stuck here. We can't help them. We can't even tell them we're not gone. We're…"

Jayden stopped when he heard a low, menacing growl and looked down to see Scruffy was growling at him and Mia. He furrowed his brow and signalled to Mia but as he moved his hand Scruffy began to bark loudly. He seemed ready to attack.

"You stupid dog," Jayden sighed, rolling his eyes. He grabbed Mia's arm and tried to walk her away from Scruffy but the dog followed them both, seemingly becoming more and more ready to attack the more they moved. Mia pulled away from Jayden and knelt down in front of Scruffy.

"Jay," she breathed and held out her hand in front of Scruffy's face. The golden retriever lunged to bite and would have caught Mia's hand had she actually been standing in front of him. He barked loudly when he failed to grab her hand and then growled, bearing his teeth. Mia had never seen Scruffy so threatening. If she didn't know she couldn't be harmed by the real world, she would have been terrified by the dog. Hell, she would be lying if she admitted she wasn't a little scared. "I think… I think he knows we're here."

Jayden shook his head, "How can he…"

"People think that animals can see ghosts," Mia said. "Maybe he sees us, or smells us or senses us."

Scruffy continued to bark and finally Emily got up to take care of him. She grabbed him by the collar and started pulling him away but Scruffy pulled back and tried again to lunge for Mia.

"Scruffy, stop it!" Emily scolded the dog. "What's wrong with you?" She looked to where Scruffy seemed to be focused and looked Mia right in the eye. Emily had no idea, but Mia knew they were making eye contact.

"Emy…"

Emily stared at Mia for a few more seconds before she looked back down at Scruffy and pulled harder on his collar with one hand while the other pressed down on his butt. She got him to sit and then forced him to lie down. Scruffy started to whine as he realized he was being punished, but there was still an undertone of growling as he focused on Mia and Jayden.

"No," Emily grabbed Scruffy's snout, silencing him almost completely. While she did that, Mia turned to Jayden.

"Scruffy knows we're here."

"That's great," Jayden shook his head and muttered sarcastically. "He won't be able to tell them what he sees."

"But still," Mia whispered. "It's something. We are still in their world… somehow. We're not gone."

"I'm going for a walk," Kevin said suddenly as he got up and stormed out, not bothering to wait for a reply from the others. Mia jumped up and followed him out of the house. She knew he didn't know she was coming with him, but she wouldn't leave him alone.

Jayden let her go. It wasn't like she could get hurt. She was already dead. Instead, he stayed with the others and watched as, one by one, they started to leave the room in silence.

Mentor was first to leave as he headed to his room to be alone. Antonio was close behind. Emily left with Scruffy a few minutes later to take him outside to cool off.

Mike and Serena were alone in the room and Jayden sat on the stool and watched them. They didn't say or do much. Mike was lost in his own mind, trying to get everything to process and Jayden was unable to read Serena. Her eyes kept straying to the book of Nighlok, as if there was going to be an answer, but she had already read the page over and over again and came up with nothing.

"We have to figure this out…"

"They're dead," Mike shook his head and got to his feet. "Dead, Serena. You cheated death but we can't all be the immortal Samurai you are."

"Mike…"

"There is no bringing them back! If the Nighlok didn't kill them, their hearts not beating and the lack of oxygen will have," Mike pulled his Samuraizer out of his pocket and dropped it on the table. "Master Xandred's won."

"Mike!" Serena was on her feet, "You can't say that…"

"Jayden's the man! He's the only one who can create the sealing symbol. Without him, we can never seal Master Xandred away. The fight's hopeless now! We lost!"

"Don't you dare give up," Serena growled as Mike walked away. He stopped in his tracks and looked to his sister in-law. She glared at him. "You are not allowed to give up."

"Why not?" Mike shouted. "Why can't I? It's all over."

"Mia and Jayden are dead. Fine!" Serena got toe-to-toe with Mike, "Kevin, Antonio and Mentor are in no state to fight or be a part of this team. They're hurting more than you and I are. It's up to us to keep things going. You, me and Emily."

"But it's…"

"Not over," Serena interrupted and shook her head. "You're still alive! You can still fight and you have to keep fighting. Jayden's not the only Samurai who can stop Xandred."

"Yes he is…"

"No he's not!" Serena shouted and then took a deep breath to cool herself down before she lost control and said something she shouldn't. She looked at Mike. "I want you to fight until you're dead."

"Thanks, Serena. Glad to know I mean that much to you…"

"I don't give a damn about you, Mike," Serena said. "If you give up now and let the Nighlok win, everyone here is going to die. You, me, Mentor, Antonio, Kevin, Emily!"

"Don't you dare…" Mike warned the older Samurai as he realised where she was going.

"Do you think she's going to give up?" Serena asked. "If mom, dad and I taught her anything it was to keep going, no matter what. If you don't go out there with her…"

"She'll die anyways," Mike shrugged his shoulder.

"And you'll let it happen," Serena picked up his Samuraizer and held it out for him to take, "Unless you give this your all, you'll be letting her, me, your team and the entire planet die."

Mike glared at his sister in-law before snatching the Samuraizer and shoving it back into his pocket.

"We're the most pathetic team on the planet; I hope you know that," he said, "Only two functioning Rangers and a pregnant mentor."

"Then you better fight hard, because until further notice, you're in charge."

Jayden watched Serena bump Mike as she walked out of the room, leaving him alone. Mike groaned and kicked the table.

"When I said I wanted to be like you, Jayden, I did not mean like this," he muttered to himself, unaware that Jayden could hear him. "You fucking suck for dying, dude. Some red Ranger you are."

"Just don't give up," Jayden whispered.


	27. Holding On To Hope

His pain hurt her the most.

Mia had followed Kevin out to the forest until he collapsed from exhaustions and sat on his knees in the dirt, breathing heavily. Tears flooded his eyes and ran down his cheeks but he refused to cry out. Mia knelt down in front of him and held his arms as he placed his head in his hands.

"Kevin, please," she was crying as well. She didn't like to see him hurting. It felt a little good to know he loved her so much that her death killed him, but it wasn't what Mia wanted. She wanted him happy, no matter where she was. She squeezed his arms gently, hoping he would maybe feel it, but he didn't respond at all. She wanted to comfort him and hold him. She wanted to tell him she was okay and that he needed to be strong for the team, but he couldn't hear her. She wiped her eyes with the back of her wrist as she looked at him. "I'm right here… please don't cry."

She wrapped her arms around him in a desperate attempt to make him feel her but he didn't react. She held on tighter.

"I love you," she whispered into his ear. She thought maybe he would hear it. Maybe those words would cross over and defy death so he could know she was near, but he didn't hear them. Another sob escaped her lips and she buried her face in his shoulder. She sat there with him, praying that things would get better, until she thought she felt a raindrop pass through her. She pulled away from him and looked up at the sky as more droplets fell.

She got an idea as she pulled out her Samuraizer. She still had it in her pocket and she hoped this would work. Fortunately it did. She traced her symbol for wind and created a warm breeze which she used to envelope Kevin. It was the only thing she could do for him that would be close to a hug. She fell back into his chest and held him tight as the wind hugged him.

"Mia," she heard him say her name and smiled. She pulled away and hoped he could see her. He looked into her eyes but was staring right through her. Still, Mia thought this was better than nothing and smiled.

"Yeah, Kevin," she whispered even though she knew he couldn't hear her.

"I love you too."

He pulled himself up from the ground and brushed the dirt off the bottom of his pants before turning and leaving Mia alone in the forest while he headed back home. Mia smiled and picked herself up off the ground to follow him. She caught up to him and placed her hand in his.

"I'm right here," she told him. "Please don't give up."

They made it to the house and Mia let go of Kevin's hand as they walked by the common room. She saw Jayden was still sitting on his stool but now he was alone. She watched Kevin walk to their bedroom and then approached Jayden.

"How are the others?" she asked him.

"Hanging on," Jayden shrugged his shoulders. "Mentor and Antonio are a mess, but Mike, Serena, and Emily are keeping strong. No one's done anything stupid yet."

He took a deep breath and looked down the hall, "How is Kevin?"

"He's hurting," Mia shrugged, "but I guess no more than the others, really."

"I don't like this," Jayden shook his head. "I hate this. They shouldn't be worried or sad. They should be fighting."

"Jayden, they think we're dead," Mia told him. "Obviously they care about us. It's going to take them some time."

"We're Rangers. They had to know this would eventually happen. If they think we're dead they should just move on. They won't be able to defend themselves if the Nighlok comes back and they're crying like babies."

"They aren't made of stone, Jay," Mia frowned. "They bounce back, but you have to give them time. Everyone on this team cares about you and they're hurt that you're gone. I don't like seeing them upset either, but it's normal."

"They'll get hurt."

"They'll figure this out," Mia sat down next to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. Jayden looked over at her and sighed. He didn't want his friends getting hurt, but Mia was right. They needed this time to grieve. He knew he wasn't dead and he knew Mia wasn't dead, but the others didn't know any better.

Jayden let out a deep breath and decided to change the subject, "So, you know the secret now, huh."

"Secret?" Mia asked.

"Emily and Mike."

"Oh," Mia smiled slightly but lowered her head, "yeah. Congrats to them."

"While you were out I heard them talking," Jayden said. "They don't have a ring yet, but they were planning on making it all official once we all found out."

"They don't know that I know," Mia sighed. Jayden took her hand and squeezed it.

"We'll figure this out," he promised her and sat with her in silence until Mentor Ji walked into the room with a phone in his hand. Jayden looked to Mia and her eyes widened. She noticed that in his hand was a piece of paper. She got up to see what it was and saw a list of phone numbers. His thumb rested right next to her grandmother's number.

"No, no," Mia shook her head. "Mentor, don't do this. I'm not dead! You'll upset her!"

"Mia…"

"No, Jayden!" Mia shouted. "He can't tell her! It'll break her heart!"

Remembering her Samuraizer still worked, Mia created wind, blowing the paper right out of Mentor Ji's hand as he began to dial the number. Fortunately for Mia he didn't have it memorized and couldn't continue unless he was reading the number.

He tried to snatch the paper from the ground as it settled, but Mia blew it away again. Mentor chased after it but stopped long before he could reach it. He remembered he was inside the house and the windows were closed. There was no way the wind could have been blowing the paper away.

"Mia, what are you doing?" Jayden snapped as he snatched her Samuraizer from her hand. Mia smiled at him and pointed to Mentor as the older man picked up the paper and stuffed it, as well as the phone, away.

"We can let them know we're still around," Mia smiled. Jayden looked at her for a moment before racing off to the dojo. Antonio had gone there after leaving the common room. Mia's and Jayden's bodies were resting in Antonio and Jayden's room and the gold Ranger couldn't bear to be in the same room as his best friend's dead body, so he opted to sleep in the dojo until he and the others figured out what to do with the bodies.

Mia followed Jayden as he raced through the house and found Antonio sitting alone in the dojo. He dropped down in front of his best friend.

"Antonio, c'mon I know you know I'm still here. I don't give up this easily, remember?"

"He can't hear you," Mia reminded Jayden. "Use your symbol power."

Jayden nodded and reached for his Samuraizer while he looked around the room for something he could light on fire. He smiled to himself, seeing a dummy standing in the corner. Keeping the flames under control so the house didn't burn down, Jayden set fire to the dummy and watched it burn.

Antonio realised there was a fire rather quickly and jumped to put it out, but he stopped and looked around. There was no way the dummy could have caught fire.

"How did you…" he approached the flames cautiously and held out his hand. Jayden had to put a little effort into his symbol when he realised Antonio was going to be stupid enough to try and touch the flame. He didn't want to burn his friend.

"Dumbass," he muttered as the flames wrapped around Antonio's hand without burning him. "Now don't go thinking you can do this with everything that catches fire."

He heard Mia chuckling slightly behind him.

"You know, he's going to try," she said.

Jayden shook his head and sighed.

Antonio touched the flame and when she saw he wasn't being burned, he knew there was only one reason for this.

"Jayden," he looked around the room. "Jay, are you here?"

"Right here," Jayden nodded. Antonio couldn't hear him but he seemed to know what Jayden wanted.

"We'll keep fighting, I promise. If there's a chance we can save you and Mia, we'll do it."

Jayden smiled and stared right to Antonio for a moment as their eyes met. Then it was all over as Antonio looked around the rest of the room, searching for any other sign that Jayden was near.

The red Ranger sighed and shook his head before turning to Mia.

"Kevin…"

"I already got through to him," Mia smiled. "He knows I'm still with him."

"Where to next, then?" Jayden asked. Mia took his hand and led him to the bedrooms. There was only Mike, Serena, and Emily left and they were usually all together.

They walked through the door just in time to catch Emily as she stomped off, away from a clearly frustrated Mike and hurt Serena.

"Emily!" Mike called her name before she left the room. Emily turned around to look at him and shook her head.

"Not until Mia figures it out!" she shouted.

"Be reasonable, Em," Mike said. "She's dead. It's been too long. We…

"No!" Emily screamed and slammed the door behind her as she walked off. Mike groaned loudly, grabbing his hair in his hands as he turned to Serena.

"Sometimes…"

"She'll come around," Serena promised Mike. "She's just in denial. It took her months before she believed the doctor when he told her my illness was going to kill me."

Mike sat down on his bed and groaned loudly. He let himself fall back into the mattress and the room was suddenly plunged into silence.

Mia let go of Jayden's hand and walked over to Serena as the earth Samurai placed her hands on her stomach and looked down at her growing child. Mia took a seat next to Serena and pointed her Samuraizer to the top of the bed, where the baby's blanket was lying next to Serena's pillow. With a gentle breeze, Mia blew the blanket towards Serena and draped it over her shoulders before wrapping her arms around the older Samurai.

Serena touched the blanket as it wrapped itself around her. She glanced behind her to see who could have done that but there was nothing and no one there.

"Mike…" she called, turning back to her brother in-law. He lifted his head up.

"What?"

Suddenly, in the middle of the room, the floor began to catch fire. Serena and Mike jumped to their feet to put it out but stopped when they saw the floor burned in a strange way. They waited as the flames continued to stretch and twist until there was a symbol on the floor. Mike couldn't read it but Serena could.

"Hope."

"What?" Mike looked up at Serena. "Dude, these are the freakiest flames I have ever…"

"Jayden?" Serena wasn't listening to Mike. Her eyes scanned the room. By now she realised that this fire was no ordinary fire and had to assume Jayden was somewhere nearby. She hoped he was, and that if he was near, so was Mia.

"You're insane, Serena," Mike shook his head. "There is no way Jayden could be doing this. He's dead."

The flames grew suddenly as Jayden frowned. How dare Mike still believe he was dead. Mike jumped back in shock, eyes wide.

"Dude, did you see that."

"Jayden," Serena nodded.

It was Mia's turn to pout, "I'm here too!" she held out her Samuraizer again and created strong winds knocking the two Samurai back into their beds. Jayden killed his flames and chuckled. This was actually entertaining to him.

"They're still here," Serena smiled as she sat up and looked to Mike. He smiled back at her and nodded his head.

Mia and Jayden high-fived. Finally their friends knew they were still around. There was only Emily left, but from what they had seen it seemed like Emily was already holding onto a little hope.

"The Nighlok's not going to know what hit him next time he comes back," Mia smiled.

Jayden nodded, "Let's just hope they can do this before the Nighlok gets them too."


	28. Sight For Sore Eyes

The day wore on slowly but surely. After reaching out to the other Rangers, Mia and Jayden noticed that spirits had been lifted slightly and the team was coming together again. The pain, though, wasn't gone. It was barely even dulled, but the Rangers were going to be ready when Interfector attacked again, and hopefully they were going to win.

"Maybe we should call it a night," Mike suggested to the Rangers. It was still rather early, but the day had been so long that it felt like they had all been awake for weeks. He was starting to see the team was getting exhausted and as temporary leader he knew it was his responsibility to make sure they were all okay.

Antonio, Mentor and Kevin were hurt the most by the latest's Nighlok's attacks, and while they were ready to fight again, Serena doubted they would be level headed enough to lead or guide the team to victory. Therefore, she had stepped up as mentor to the Rangers, giving Ji some time to mourn Jayden's loss. As temporary mentor, she had elected Mike as leader. She knew that Kevin was probably a better choice for second-in-command on most days, but with him still grieving for Mia, Serena didn't want to risk him putting the team in danger just so he could get revenge on the monster. Mike was more than ready to take care of the Samurai and make sure no one else came home dead.

Kevin was the first to get up out of his seat and head to his room. Mia looked over to Jayden, wishing him a goodnight before she followed Kevin to their bedroom. He would have no idea she would be sleeping with him and her presence would offer him no comfort, but it would help Mia and just by being near him she felt like she was doing something to ease his pain.

Mentor was the next to get up and leave the room. He could barely manage a goodnight as he walked to his room and disappeared for the night.

Antonio looked over at the other three Rangers as he prepared to go to bed. He remembered seeing the dummy on fire in the dojo and he knew Jayden was still around, but he didn't know what to make of it.

"We can do something to help them, right?" he asked, looking to Mike and Serena especially.

"We'll do everything we can," Serena nodded her head. "This can't be how it ends. Not for them."

"I know they're not gone," Antonio whispered. "Not yet. We can still save them."

"Let's hope," Mike said. Antonio said goodnight and walked off to the dojo to sleep. Serena got up shortly after he left and starting making her way to the bedroom so she could get ready for bed.

Mike looked at Emily. The yellow Ranger didn't move. He knew she was mad at him. Only a few hours after they had brought home Jayden's and Mia's dead bodies he had tried to talk to her about their engagement and what was going to happen. He hadn't meant to discuss it as if they were going to get engaged as soon as possible now that Mia's was dead and would no longer be able to play in the contest, but he had tried to use the engagement to lighten up the mood slightly.

Emily pulled away as Mike touched her arm, "I'm not talking to you."

"Em, you know I didn't mean it like that."

"Shut up, please," Emily buried her face in her hands. "I don't want to talk to you."

Mike knelt down in front of her, "We're going to fix this, Emily. When that Nighlok comes back…"

"That's not what you said earlier," Emily whispered. "You were talking about them like they were dead. They had only just died and all you could think about was the stupid engagement."

"Stupid?" now Mike was hurt. Emily glared at him.

"I don't care about the ring, Mike. I don't need a ring to remind me I want to marry you! I know it. I know I'm engaged. I don't need the ring or a big proposal, especially when Mia and Jayden just died!"

"We'll fix this."

"That's not what you said before," Emily walked away from Mike but to Mike and Jayden's surprise she didn't go to her bedroom. Mike sighed loudly and ran his hand through his hair as he watched her leave. He knew she needed some time to calm down and maybe in the morning she would be feeling a little better and more open to talking.

"Goodnight, then," he whispered as he walked to his room.

Jayden sat alone in the room, wondering who to follow or where to go. He could have gone with Mentor or Antonio and stayed with them during the night, or he could camp out here in the common room.

But part of him wanted to know where Emily had gone. If she wasn't going to seek comfort with her sister or Mike, she had to go somewhere where she would be at peace.

He followed her footsteps down the hall and stopped when he walked by his and Antonio's bedroom door. He couldn't go in, knowing his and Mia's bodies were resting inside, but something told him Emily was in there. If she was feeling scared or hurt and she couldn't go to Mike or Serena he knew she would run to Mia.

He stepped through the door and looked around the room. He heard a growling and saw Scruffy was at his feet and ready to attack.

"Stupid dog," he rolled his eyes even though, secretly, it felt good to be noticed by someone other than Mia. He stepped past Scruffy but the dog continued to growl and bark.

Emily, who was sitting at the foot of Mia's bed, scolded her dog, "Stop it, Scruffy," but he didn't listen. He barked and lunged for Jayden. Emily got off the bed and grabbed his collar again. "Stop it! Sit!" she forced his butt onto the ground and Scruffy whined. He kept his eyes fixed on Jayden, though and his teeth bare.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked her dog as she looked up to see what he was staring at. Jayden quickly pulled out his Samuraizer while Emily was staring right at him and created a small flame.

"C'mon, Em," he muttered as Emily spotted the floating flame and gasped. She backed away, pulling Scruffy with her. Jayden could tell she was scared, and he admitted it was probably slightly terrifying to see a ball of fire floating in the middle of the room, but this was the only way to communicate with his friends and now that Scruffy had given him Emily's attention, he wanted to make sure she knew he and Mia were still here."

"Mia!" he called as loudly as he could. The others wouldn't hear him, but Mia could. He heard her footsteps racing across the house and she found him in his room. She saw he was using his symbol power to create a flame in front of Emily and the yellow Ranger seemed fearful. She pulled out her own Samuraizer and blew out the flame with a gust of wind.

"You're scaring her!" she shouted.

Scruffy began to growl again as his eyes moved back and forth between Mia and Jayden.

"Mia, we can tell her we're here. Scruffy sees us," Jayden pointed to the dog. "She'll know something's up."

"Jay…"

"She sees the fire, she can… I got it!" Jayden traced another symbol in the air before his body caught fire. His own powers didn't burn him and he wanted to make sure he wouldn't accidentally burn Emily or Scruffy.

For Emily, a man of fire appeared out of the blue and stood over her and Scruffy. Scruffy was immediately on the defensive as he growled and barked angrily, trying to protect his mistress. Emily trembled in fear.

"Jayden," Mia shouted, "she's scared! Stop this!"

"She'll know it's me," Jayden insisted and he reached to grab Emily's arms. In a panic, Emily whipped out her Samuraizer and summoned a pile of rocks which she then tried to throw to the fire monster but they shot right through him. Jayden was dead; he couldn't be touched so the rocks didn't hurt him. He reached for Emily's arms again and this time he grabbed her. Emily couldn't feel his touch or the sting of the flames, but she could see he was grabbing her and she screamed and raced for the door, trying to get away.

"Emily!" Mia called after her little sister before turning to Jayden and punching him in the chest. "Way to go! You've just traumatized her!"

"They'll all be coming now," there was a smile on Jayden's face. "They'll see me and…"

"What are they going to think, Jayden?" Mia asked but Jayden didn't answer, he raced out of the room and followed Emily into the common room. Mia was right behind him, trying to grab his arm to get him to stop before he terrified the rest of the house. She raced into the kitchen just in time to see Emily running into the arms of Mike with tears streaming down her face as she cried loudly. Mike hugged her and held her protectively while Kevin, Serena, Antonio and Mentor Ji looked to see what had scared her.

They gasped when they saw a flaming creature standing near the doorway. Kevin didn't hesitate to reach for his Samuraizer and trace his water symbol. He had no idea what the fire monster was or if it was here to help or not, it wasn't welcome.

"No!" Jayden shouted before he was drenched in water and his flames were put out. He tried to ignite himself again but it was no use. He was soaking wet.

Scruffy continued to bark at him and Mia and the Samurai clued in that their visitor wasn't gone yet, and it made sense. They had only put out his flames, rendering him invisible.

Serena knew what to do as she took her sister's Samuraizer and whipped up a sandstorm. Jayden was blinded by the sand as it travelled through his body and eyes, but Mia thought quickly and used her wind powers to keep the sand off her body. She smiled to herself when she saw her trick had been successful and her smile widened when she saw the others seemed to notice she was around.

"C'mon…" she closed her eyes and focused her energy. Unfortunately wind was invisible, so she couldn't cover herself in her element like Jayden and make herself visible to the living, but with this sandstorm she could. Using her wind, she molded the sand around her body, making sure she looked as much like herself as she could. It seemed to work for when she looked at Kevin she saw he had noticed her.

"Mia?" he was shielding his eyes from the sandstorm but he could just barely make her out. Antonio grabbed Serena's arm as soon as he recognised Mia and the sandstorm ceased but Mia kept her powers up, keeping the sand around her body.

"No way…" Serena breathed while Kevin stepped forward. Mia threw herself into his arms and Kevin stood completely still for a moment before finally wrapping his arms around her. He couldn't feel her, but the sand guided him. He knew where her body started and how to hold her.

"Yeah," Jayden rolled his eyes, "I'm the big, bad monster and you're the angel of hope."

"Shut up," Mia whispered to Jayden as she buried her face in Kevin's neck and whispered she loved him. He couldn't hear her but she needed to say it. She was more than happy when she heard he said it to her as well.

"But… if that's Mia then…" Antonio's gaze shifted to where Kevin had put out the flaming monster. If Mia's spirit was still walking the earth there was no reason not to believe Jayden was still here as well. "That was Jayden!"

A smiled crossed Jayden's lips as he looked to his best friend. Antonio began to bounce with glee. He grabbed Mentor's arm in his excitement, "It was Jayden! He really is still here! He's right here!"

"Those were actual signs," Serena said softly and looked over to Mike as she remembered the flaming hope symbol they had seen in their room. "That was actually Jayden trying to…"

She was interrupted by the Gap Sensor. No one needed to run to the map to see who it was. Interfector was back for round two and this time the Rangers were going to make sure they finished him.

Mike looked down at Emily, "Are you okay to come?" he asked, feeling her still trembling even though she knew the fire monster was Jayden. Emily nodded her head so Mike smiled and kissed her. "I'm sorry for earlier. I didn't mean it like that."

"Let's just get them back," Emily whispered and took his hand. Mike smiled and led her and Antonio out of the house.

Kevin stayed behind for a moment as he parted from Mia. He held her face gently in his hand and looked her in the eyes.

"I'll save you," he promised her.

"What about me?" Jayden asked, tapping his foot. Mia looked at him and smacked him in the chest. This was hers and Kevin's moment.

Kevin saw Mia's arm shooting out to the side and hitting something and could only assume it was Jayden. He chuckled and looked in that direction, though he wasn't sure where exactly Jayden was standing.

"We'll save you too," he promised. He leaned forward and kissed Mia. It was extremely sandy and not at all what he was used to, but considering she was just a ghost he would take this kiss over none at all.

"Go, go, go!" Serena grabbed Kevin's arm and pulled him away from Mia, "Unless you want a ghost bride I suggest you go save her ass!"

Kevin nodded and looked back at Mia one final time before racing out the door to catch up with the other Rangers.

When Kevin was gone, Mia fell to her knees. Symbol power was still draining, even when she was dead and she didn't know how long she could keep it up for.

"We know you're here," Mentor assured her when he saw her fall. "Don't overdo it, Mia."

Mia nodded her head and let go of her symbol power. The sand fell around her and she was back to being invisible. Now, with nothing to look at, Scruffy was back to growling.

"We know, Scruffy," Serena said to the dog. "Settle, boy. It's just Mia and Jayden!"


	29. A Second Shot At Life

The Nighlok was back in the city again on a murderous street as dozens of bodies laid dead, but the Rangers knew better. They weren't gone, not yet and that meant there had to be a way to get them back. Destroying the Nighlok would be a start.

As soon as Kevin saw the Nighlok he set out to attack but Mike grabbed hold of his arm and pulled him back.

"Dude, if you rush in without think you're going to make a mistake," Mike reminded Kevin. "The last thing Mia needs is you dying as well."

"Then how do we do this?" Kevin asked.

"Don't let him get you," Mike said and he turned to Emily. She nodded to Mike and summoned her earth slicer. She threw it to the Nighlok, attacking him from afar, alerting him of their presence and successfully weakening him, even if only slightly, before they got the chance to truly attack.

Interfector rolled around on the ground in pain after being knocked down by Emily's attack.

"No fair!" he whined, "No one told me you would be back."

"You made us believe you killed out friends," Antonio shouted. "Did you think we would take that lying down?"

"Now can I go?" Kevin turned to Mike and asked impatiently. Mike nodded and shrugged his shoulders.

"Sure, go for it."

Kevin whipped out his Spin Sword and glared hatefully through his helmet at the monster who had taken Mia's life.

"Time to end this," he shouted.

-Samurai-

At the Shiba House, Jayden, Mia, Mentor Ji and Serena kept their eyes on the map. As long as the dots that symbolised the Rangers kept glowing, they knew the Rangers were in battle.

"C'mon, Rangers," Jayden muttered and Mia looked up at him, worried. She tried to be brave, though.

"They'll make it."

-Samurai-

Kevin was impressive, but it wasn't enough. He was trying too hard to destroy the monster and just like Mike predicted, he wasn't thinking straight. Interfector managed to knock him down and while he was on the ground, Interfector swung his scythe. One blow was all he needed to kill Kevin.

"Don't even think about it!" Mike shouted, jumping to Kevin's aid, blocking the attack before slashing at the monster, sending him a few feet back. Kevin got to his feet and thanked the green Ranger. "No problem. Just finish him off, Kev."

Kevin nodded and summoned his hydro bow. An accurate shot would have enough power to take out the Nighlok once and for all. He prepared his shot as Mike, Emily and Antonio distracted the Nighlok, keeping him away from Kevin so the blue Ranger could destroy him.

He finally felt the power of the bow coursing through him and he knew he needed to make the shot, but the others were in his way and they were moving around so much he was scared he would hit them instead of the Nighlok.

"Guys! Out of the way!" he shouted.

"Just take the shot!" Mike called back. "We'll be fine."

"I…"

"Kevin, take the shot!" Mike ordered. "If we don't kill him you'll never see Mia again."

Kevin growled. He didn't need any more convincing as he held up his bow and fired the shot, praying he had hit the Nighlok and not one of him friends. There was a big explosion, and a lot of smoke covered the street. Kevin couldn't tell who he had hit.

-Samurai-

"No!" Serena shouted as the spots on the map that showed Mike, Antonio, and Emily's location disappeared. Mentor took her hand, keeping her calm.

"It simply means they have powered down," he said. "The Nighlok is gone as well."

Serena nodded and looked at the map, her stomach flipping around as she waited to see what would happen. If her friends and sister had survived, the map would soon pick up on their Samuraizer signals. She bit her lip and waited. Every second felt like an hour and she tapped her foot.

"C'mon, c'mon…"

Three new signals appeared on the map and Serena was relieved to see they were all her friends. The Nighlok's symbol was gone.

"There is still Mega mode," Ji reminded Serena.

Mia looked to Jayden, worried, "How are they going to fight the Nighlok without us?"

"Antonio's got his own Zord," Jayden said. "It's his turn for a golden moment."

Mia glared at Jayden as the red Ranger smirked, "If we weren't already dead, Jayden, I'd kill you for that one."

"What? The moment called for it," Jayden shrugged his shoulders. "Besides, it's kind of fun. I get why Antonio does it."

"Of all the Rangers I could have died with…" Mia huffed and sat down on her stool.

-Samurai-

"This is what you get when you kill my friends!" Antonio shouted as the Clawzord struck the monster over and over again without having to worry about the monster fighting back. He could only strike the Megazord, but because the Megazord wasn't a living being, he couldn't kill it, rendering his attack useless.

From the ground, Mike pumped his fist in the air as he watched Antonio beating the Nighlok.

"Go Antonio!" he cried happily, "Show that Nighlok what you're made of!"

"Just hurry up and beat him," Kevin tapped his foot impatiently on the floor as he watched Antonio fight. It seemed to him as though Antonio was enjoying the battle a little too much. He just wanted to get it over with so he could be with Mia again. It had only been a day, but he missed her terribly.

The Nighlok received a painful slash to the chest and staggered backwards until he fell into a building. Emily watched and winced, hiding her face.

"I've never loved secret identities more than I do now."

"That building was scheduled for demolition anyways," Mike told her. Emily looked to him.

"Really?"

"I hope so," Mike looked up, "Antonio, we get it, you're pissed Jayden's dead, but be careful!"

"Just one final finisher!" Antonio said just as the Nighlok was blown to pieces and the Megazord stood in his victory stance.

-Samurai-

"Yes!" Jayden cheered as the Nighlok's signal disappeared for good and he looked to Mia, "They did it!"

Mia smiled at Jayden and turned to Serena and Mentor, who waste no time running to Jayden and Antonio's room to check on their bodies. She looked to Jayden and waited for something to happen. If the Nighlok was defeated everything should have been returned back to normal.

But nothing happened. She felt the same way as a few minutes ago. They didn't seem to be coming back to life at all.

"Jay…"

"Give it a moment, Mia," Jayden said, though he was also starting to have his doubts. They waited, and waited but nothing happened.

The Rangers came home from their battle to an empty common room. Kevin searched the room for Mia before deciding she was somewhere else. He tapped Antonio on the arm and the blue and gold Rangers raced off to the bedroom, hoping to see their fiancée and best friend being welcomed back by Mentor and Serena.

Emily wanted to follow but Mike grabbed her arm and pointed to the corner of the room, where a flame was lit. Emily saw the flame floating in midair and looked to Mike.

"It's Jayden?"

"It didn't work," Mike sighed, falling in his seat and holding his head in his hands. "We must have waited too long. Maybe they can't come back."

In the bedroom, Antonio and Mentor had given up on trying to wake Jayden up, but Kevin wasn't as easily convinced. He held onto Mia's body and whispered softly for her to open her eyes. She didn't move, her body was still cold and she still felt dead.

"C'mon, Mia," he said, "You're stronger than this. We did it! We beat the Nighlok! You have to be alive! You have to."

"Kevin…" Serena called his name gently when she knew he wasn't doing any good. He would only be working himself up for nothing if Mia wasn't coming back, and it didn't look like she was.

Still as spirits, Mia and Jayden walked into the bedroom, unnoticed by the others. They leaned against the wall and watched. Jayden seemed furious and frustrated, he couldn't be dead. He was the red Ranger. It was his job to lead the team against Master Xandred. If he was dead he would have let everyone down.

Mia was upset as she slipped down to the ground and hugged her knees to her chest. She didn't want to be dead, but what upset her more was how much this was hurting Kevin. She didn't want him to be upset or miserable. She wanted to see him happy.

"There has to be a way," Jayden whispered as he looked down at Mia, "We can't just go out like this."

"Face it, Jay, we're done," Mia pushed herself up to her feet and walked out of the room. She couldn't be in here while Kevin was crying. All she wanted to do was comfort him, but in her state she couldn't even do that. She stormed out of the room and walked back to the common room, where Mike and Emily were sitting.

Mike held Emily in his arms. They were both visibly upset but Emily a little more. She was closer to Mia and considered the pink Ranger to be her sister, just like Serena. Knowing that she and Jayden were still dead was a hard blow to take.

"Everything's going to be fine," Mike told her while Mia took a seat and watched.

"It's going to be fine?" Emily looked up at Mike, "They're dead!"

"Em…"

"Dead!"

"Emily..."

Emily buried her face in Mike's chest, "She didn't even guess…"

Mike kissed the top of her head and hugged her tight, "We'll figure it out, Em."

"She has to guess…"

Mia looked down. She knew what Emily meant when she said she had to guess. She knew Mike and Emily were engaged and the secret Emily wanted her to figure out was their engagement. Now that she knew, she could share in Emily's excitement, but the only thing keeping that from happening was the fact that she was dead.

"I know, Emy," she whispered.

Mike cupped Emily's face in his hands and looked her in the eyes, "Mia's probably here with us right now," he said. "If she is dead, she'll be watching over us. She knows."

"But she has to guess!" Emily punched Mike in the chest. He grunted and knew he should have seen that one coming. Emily had never been able to cope with death and loss. He continued to hold her, though, keeping her safe and comforting her.

Mia felt terrible and couldn't stay with Mike or Emily any longer. It hurt too much to see her friends trying and failing to come to terms with her death. She hated it when people fussed over her, especially when there was no need to fuss. It wasn't like she was suffering, not any more than they were. Her death hurt all of them more. She was hurting them. She couldn't take it.

But as she got up from her stool to walk away she saw Jayden walking into the room. It was nothing new to her, but a gasp alerted her that there was something different this time.

"Jayden!" Emily cried, letting go of Mike and jumping into her leader's arms. Jayden chuckled as he caught Emily and kept him balance, but he was suddenly knocked over when Mike joined in, so relieved to see his red Ranger.

"Jayden?" Mia asked but he didn't respond to her, it was as if he didn't even hear her. Mia looked around and saw the happy faces of Antonio, Mentor, and Serena as they walked into the room. "What's going on?"

Jayden was welcomed back by all of his friends, receiving more hugs in the span of these few minutes that he had ever received in his entire life. Mia was floored and tried asking Jayden for an explanation, but he never answered her.

Finally, Jayden got Antonio to let him go and as the gold Ranger stepped away Jayden looked around the room.

"Mia?" he called her name and Mia perked up. Finally he was going to answer her.

"Jayden?"

"Mia, are you still here?"

"No shit, you moron," Mia answered but Jayden was still looking around. She groaned loudly and pulled out her Samuraizer. She blew a gust of wind, knocking the red Ranger into the wall. Jayden rubbed the back of his head as the wind settled and moved away from the wall.

"Follow me, Mia. You can fix this."

Mia did as she was told and followed Jayden and the others back to the bedroom. While the others opened the door and stepped into the room, Mia took a shortcut through the wall; the only good thing about being dead. She saw Kevin sitting with her body, still trying to wake her up. She glared at Jayden.

"You better know how to fix this," she said even though she knew no one could hear her. "You know I don't want to…"

"Body and soul," Jayden said, his eyes falling on different spots in the room because he had no idea where Mia was standing. "How can you expect your body to live if you're just standing around out here?"

Mia looked to her body, understanding Jayden's point, but she was too scared to get close. She didn't like looking at her dead body, but if there was a chance she could end this she was going to take it. She stepped closer to herself and touched her own hand. Suddenly, she felt herself being pulled into the darkness. Everything was cold. She felt cold and stiff. She couldn't see, she couldn't hear, she could barely think.

Finally, she felt something warm was wrapped around her. She could actually feel something in her environment for the first time in a day and nestled in closer, enjoying the warmth.

"Mia," she heard her name being called, "C'mon, Mia, please wake up."

It was a whisper; a calm but desperate call for her to come alive. It took her a few moments before she realised it was Kevin calling her, and the source of warmth around her was him. He was holding her body. He was holding her.

Her eyes fluttered open for a second before she threw her arms around him, hugging him tight and nearly knocking him right off the bed. She felt him hug her back and squeeze her and she never wanted to let go.

"Don't you ever…" Kevin started but the tears overwhelmed him. He buried his face in her shoulder, taking every part of her in as she was finally returned to him.

While Kevin welcomed Mia back, Jayden got another round of welcoming hugs from his teammates, who were happy to see him alive, Mentor and Antonio most of all.

"I knew you couldn't be dead," Antonio smiled brightly as he pulled Jayden into another strong hug. "I knew that flaming dummy was you! I knew it! You were here!"

"Yeah, we were here," Jayden nodded as he tried to pry Antonio away. It felt good to be able to touch another human being and to feel alive again, but he was starting to feel a little overwhelmed.

"Let him breathe, Antonio," Serena laughed, pulling the gold Ranger away, "You don't want to kill him again for real, do you?"

Finally deciding it was time to let the others welcome Mia back, Kevin unwrapped his arms from around her and gave her one final kiss before letting everyone else get their turn to say hello. Warm hugs were shared between Mia, the boys and Serena until Mia looked at Emily with a harsh glare.

"I have a bone to pick with you, first," she said and Emily stepped away from her.

"What did I do?" she asked.

"You're engaged and you didn't tell me?"

Emily smiled, "You figured it out!"

"How could you not tell me?"

"Are you mad?"

"You have ten seconds," Mia said and Emily didn't need to be told twice as she took off running, forgetting all about her welcome back hug for Mia. The pink Ranger smirked and nestled back into Kevin's arms. She looked up at him, "We have ten extra seconds."

Kevin kissed her and hugged her until his time was up. He didn't want to let her go, but Mia had to leave.

"Before she gets too far," Mia whispered and Kevin let her get up. As Mia followed Emily out of the room, Kevin looked to Mike.

"Looks like you're going to have to make a decision fast. We've all figured it out."

Mike sighed loudly. Kevin was talking about Emily's ring and he still had no idea what to get her. He turned to look at Jayden.

"You couldn't have been dead for a little longer?" he asked. "Now the pressure's on."

"For what?" Serena asked.

"The ring," Mike said. "I don't know what to get her. I don't know what she'll like or…"

Serena smirked, "You leave that to me," she said. "Kevin, you help Mike figure out what he's going to do."

Antonio tugged on Jayden's arm, "Yeah, and we'll go fishing for a celebration dinner!"

"We will?" Jayden asked. Antonio nodded his head.

"Yes, we will."

"I'll go with you, boys," Mentor said. He knew Antonio was just trying to spent time with Jayden now that the red Ranger was back, but he had also been upset by Jayden's death and now that he was alive again, he didn't want to let his son out of his sight for a moment.

Suddenly, Emily raced back into the room, followed closely by Mia. Emily took cover behind Mike, using him as a shield to keep Mia from getting to her.

"It was his idea," she pointed to her fiancé and laughed. "Mike was the one who said we should keep you two guessing."

"Hey, no throwing me under the bus," Mike said and steppe away from Emily, opening her up to an attack from Mia. Emily gasped and tried to run, but it was too late. Mia grabbed her and pushed her into Antonio's bed.

"You better tell me when you're getting married," she said, pushing Emily again as the yellow Ranger sat up.

Emily giggled, "I promise. Can I hug you now?"

"No," Mia teased and crossed her arms over her chest as she went to sit with Kevin. He hugged her and Emily knew it was going to be a long time before she got a chance to finally welcome Mia back to the land of the living.

"Let's let them have their moment, huh?" Serena suggested, pulling Mike and Emily from the room so Mia and Jayden could get some time with the ones they loved.

Antonio grabbed Jayden's hand and pulled him out of the room for their fishing, trip, Mentor right behind them.

Mia wrapped her arms around Kevin. She just wanted to be held by him. She hadn't been dead for long and had never left her friends, Kevin especially, but she had missed him the most.


	30. Setting Up The Engagement

_Author's Note: Sorry for the mix up. I promise I'll get this right soon. Not used to having two stories to update at once._

* * *

><p>"Kevin!" Mia squealed after trying to get out of bed but her attempt was unsuccessful as Kevin pulled her back down, wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. After what had happened the day before and believing he had lost her for good, he didn't want to let her out of his sight. They had already slept in way beyond the morning just so they could get a little extra time in each other's arms, but now Mia was itching to get up and see the others. She had missed Kevin the most, but she couldn't deny how it had hurt being separated from the rest of her team as well.<p>

"Five more minutes," Kevin muttered as he nestled his face into her neck and kissed her softly. Mia smiled but she had to push him away.

"You said that three hours ago. We have to get up."

"But…"

"Kevin, I love you too," Mia chuckled. "Now let me go."

"Never."

"You're such a pain in the ass," Mia rolled her eyes as she pried Kevin's arms apart and quickly escaped his hold before he could pull her back in. When she looked down at Kevin, still lying in bed, she chuckled and pat his cheek, "I'm not going to die again for a hundred years, I promise."

"That's still too soon," Kevin mumbled.

"You'll probably die first anyways," Mia shrugged her shoulder, "so it doesn't really matter."

"Die with me, then," Kevin sat up and took her hand, "it'll be like Romeo and Juliet! We'll live in the afterlife together."

Mia pretended to think about it for a moment before shaking her head, "No. I've had enough of the afterlife."

She pulled away from Kevin and tossed him his clothes, "You promised to help Mike set up the proposal for Emily. He's probably waiting on you. You don't want to let him down, do you?"

"What are you going to do?" Kevin asked as he got changed. "I'm helping Mike plan the proposal, Serena's getting the ring, Antonio, Jayden and Mentor are making a celebration dinner."

"Apparently it'll be up to me to keep Emy distracted."

"Hold something shiny in her face," Kevin chuckled. "Better yet, show her the ultrasound of her baby. We can plan with her in the room and she won't realise a thing."

"I'll think of something a little less… simple," Mia said as she got to work on her hair. "I don't think you noticed, but she was pretty upset when Jayden and I were dead. Probably about as upset as you."

"No way," Kevin shook his head. Mia nodded.

"She came to visit my body a lot more than you did."

"I couldn't bear to see you dead."

"She couldn't bear to let me go," Mia smirked. "It's sweet, Kevin, and I just thought I would use that to our advantage. When I ask her if she wants to go out today, she's going to say yes and I'll easily be able to keep her out of the house while you get everything set up."

"We're doing it today."

"ASAP," Mia nodded her head. "Mike told me last night that he wanted to do it soon so he could surprise Emily. Serena's getting the ring and by the time she's back…"

"What kind of ring is she getting?" Kevin asked. "I'm finding that part a little weird. The sister of the bride is the one buying the ring?"

"Who cares about the ring? It's the proposal that counts."

"Who cares about the…?" Kevin frowned and held out his hand, "Well, if it doesn't matter, I'll return that and get my money back."

"Over my dead body," Mia shook her head. "Besides, I think it's sweet. If Serena can find a ring Emily loves and if that gives Mike extra time to make the proposal special, who cares who found the ring?"

"I guess you have a point," Kevin said. "So, considering you're the wedding expert and I've already had to think about my one proposal, got any ideas for what Mike could do for Emily?"

"Plenty," Mia nodded, "but Mike's going to have to come up with his own."

"Thought so," Kevin sighed. "This might be hard."

"Just remember the kind of person Emily is. Make the proposal for the girl."

"That doesn't confuse me at all," Kevin rolled his eyes. Suddenly there was a knock at their door. He quickly threw on a shirt as Mia went to answer it.

"Got you!" Emily cried, jumping into Mia's arms for the first time since Mia had come back to life. As payback for not being told about the engagement, Mia had refused to let Emily welcome her back to life. But Emily, being Emily, had turned it into a game and had tried for the rest of the day, into the night, to give Mia a hug. Finally, the following morning, she had succeeded.

"Damn," Mia muttered as she squeezed her sister, "I thought I could make it longer."

"Mike said you wanted to go bowling," Emily was bouncing up and down with excitement. It was clear someone had given her the sugary cereal for breakfast. Mia furrowed her brow before realising Mike was probably trying to get Emily out of the house.

"Uh, yeah. I haven't been in ages."

"Neither have I," she took Mia's hand, "Come on! I've been waiting all morning!"

"Hold on, Emy," Mia chuckled, "I just need to grab something."

"Oh," Emily stopped pulling on Mia's hand and looked to Kevin, "Do you want to come?"

"That's fine, Emily," Kevin smiled, waving her off, "I've got things to do here."

"That's what Serena, Antonio, Jayden, Mentor and Mike all said," Emily crossed her arms over her chest. "No one else wants to go bowling?"

"I do," Mia reminded the yellow Ranger as she picked up a sweater, "C'mon, Emy, let's go."

-Samurai-

While Mia was keeping Emily distracted and the boys were all setting out the house for the proposal, Serena was searching for the perfect ring for Mike to give her little sister.

It was something she wanted to do. Something she felt she had to do. She knew that if pressured, Mike would be able to come out on top; he had proven it when he had led the remaining Rangers into battle the day before and won, but it would take him a while before he found the perfect ring and Serena already had one in mind.

She also wanted to do this as a present, not only for Emily, but for Mike as well. For years Serena had to watch as every boy who walked into Emily's life stepped on her heart, and not just in the romantic way. Emily had been bullied in school by nearly everyone. Even a few teachers got a good laugh when Emily slipped and hurt herself. Other kids who were being bullied would also pick on Emily, just because she was usually too small to defend herself.

But Mike was different. From what she heard from Emily, Mike had never behaved in such a way and had always treated her with respect. He had been looking out for her since the day they met and promised to do so until the day they died. He was the only person Serena had ever met outside of her small family who put Emily's happiness before his own, and would go to extreme lengths to see her smile. Her sister was young, and Mike was young, but Serena knew this was going to last.

She knew exactly where to get the perfect ring for Emily. A long time ago, only days after Emily was born, Serena was given a ring by her grandmother. It had been the ring her grandfather and proposed with and her grandmother had passed it down to her as a 'congratulations on the little sister' gift. Her grandmother had asked that Serena take good care of her little sister and then explained that the ring was special and that now that Serena was a big sister, she had an important role to play in her little sister's life. Her grandmother made her promise to only give up the ring to a man she trusted to take care of her family. Because she was the oldest, it was up to her to make sure that her family was safe. That her parents would be well taken care of as they got older, and that her little sister would always be protected. Inviting a man into her family was a bit of a risk. He could easily shake things up and tear her home apart. Serena understood that now more than ever as her hand strayed down to her stomach.

But this special ring would only go to the man who would keep her and her family safe. Serena always envisioned it being a gift for her husband, but now things had changed. Mike was that man. He would always keep Emily safe and was looking out for her and her family. He was being the best brother in-law he could be by helping Serena with her pregnancy and was already shaping up to be an excellent uncle and father-figure to her unborn child, and it wasn't even his. Aside from his duties as an uncle, he had no connection to her child and yet he loved it like it was his own.

She would give the ring to Mike, and he would give it to Emily to wear. Serena couldn't imagine anything better or anyone more deserving of such a special gift.

-Samurai-

"It's like her birthday all over again," Jayden commented to Kevin as the boys and Mentor watched Mike pace the room to try and figure out what he was going to do for the proposal. He wanted something special, something Emily would remember forever, but he couldn't think of anything that was good enough for Emily.

"Just take her out to dinner," Kevin groaned. "Mia loved it."

"But Emily's not Mia," Mike tapped his knuckles to his forehead and Kevin noted the resemblance to Winnie the Pooh, especially when he turned and saw Mike's bear Zord was imitating Mike.

"Think, think, think," Antonio teased the green Ranger. Apparently he had noticed the resemblance too. He looked over to Kevin and the two exchanged smirks.

"You guys are in my thinking space," Mike said.

"You might want to think fast," Jayden looked to the clock. "The girls are due back soon."

"But Serena's not back yet."

"Hold your horses," Serena's voice called as she walked into the kitchen and presented Mike with a ring. "Here."

One look at the ring and Mike's eyes nearly shot out of his head, "Serena! How the hell am I going to afford this?"

Serena looked at the ring, "It's not that expensive. Besides, it's a family treasure. You don't owe me anything."

"Emily's going to love it," Antonio commented as he peeked at the ring over Mike's shoulder.

"So, what do you have planned for the proposal?" Serena asked Mike as she looked around the house. Mike looked at her sadly.

"Nothing…"

"Nothing?" Serena gasped. She checked the time, "Mike! You had an entire day to…"

"I know, I know… I just… nothing seemed good enough."

"What are you going to do, then?" Serena asked. "Mia called me on my way home and said she could only keep Emily distracted for one more stop."

"I… I… I…"

"Just like when he was looking for her birthday present," Kevin chuckled and shook his head. "He's so clueless it's funny."

Suddenly, Mike's eyes lit up as Mia's words from Emil's birthday came to mind.

"_Just get her something meaningful; something special. As long as you put a lot of thought into it, I'm sure she'll love it."_

"Mia, you're a genius!" Mike called before racing out of the kitchen leaving a trail of confused Samurai in his wake.

"Mia?" Antonio frowned. "How is she a genius? She's not even here."


	31. Will You Marry Me?

"Mike, where the hell are you taking us?" Serena asked as they crossed an open meadow. Mike had insisted she and the rest of the team follow him, but he hadn't specified why. Everyone was starting to worry. Mia and Emily were due back, but they would come home to an empty house and they would likely start to worry, at least, Serena feared. Kevin was on top of it.

"I just texted Mia," he said, showing his phone to Serena. "She says she can keep Emily distracted for little while longer."

It seemed Mike finally found the perfect spot and he turned to face his friends, a big smile on his face.

"Right here," he said. "I'm going to ask her right here."

"One problem," Antonio looked around, "She's not here. She's back at home, probably wondering where you are."

Kevin looked down at his phone and began texting to Mia: '_Find something shiny. We could be here for a while.'_

Jayden read the message over his shoulder and nudged him. Kevin tucked his phone away and shrugged.

"What? Mike's obviously cracking under the pressure."

"Serena," Mike called and Serena looked to him, "Do you have the ring?"

Serena pulled the ring from her pocket and handed it to Mike, "I thought the best man was supposed to be in charge of the rings."

Mike held the ring tightly for safe keeping and looked around the meadow with a big grin, "The night Emily and I decided to get engaged we were at the park," he said. "We left the park chased each other through the field. Kinda like this one."

"There's no park," Jayden looked around. "There's just a wide open field with plants and…"

"Emily's easy," Mike shrugged. Serena frowned.

"Watch it…"

"I mean simple," Mike chuckled. "She likes simple things. Friends, family, and love, that's all she wants, that's what this is."

Mike pointed to Kevin and signalled for him to take out his phone, "Tell Mia to bring Emily here."

"What do we do?" Jayden asked.

"Just follow my lead."

-Samurai-

Thanks to the messages from Kevin, Mia knew why the house was empty and she could laugh as Emily walked around, calling for her friends. She even had Scruffy helping her out and her quest (which had been going on for about half an hour) had forced her to search the strangest places.

"I doubt they're hiding between the sofa cushions, Emy," Mia chuckled as she checked her phone again for a message from Kevin, hoping she could lead Emily to the big surprise.

"If they went bowling without us I'm going to be mad at them," Emily huffed, taking a seat on the couch.

"I'm sure they have a good reason for leaving," Mia said before her phone vibrated and she checked the message from Kevin.

_Bring Emily to the field. You can find us using my Samuraizer._

Mia furrowed her brow and reread the message just to be sure she got it right. _The field, _she thought to herself_, how the hell am I supposed to get Emily to follow me into a field at… 9:00 at night?_

"Mia," Emily whined, "why won't you help me look? Aren't you wondering where Kevin went?"

"Actually," Mia smirked, "I just got a message from him. He's with the others."

"Where?" Emily bounced up from the couch to read Mia's message. She had to delete it quickly so Emily didn't ruin the surprise for herself.

"Do you trust me?"

"Are you keeping secrets?"

Mia took Emily's hand, "Come with me."

-Samurai-

"I don't get it," Jayden paced back and forth, "Aren't proposals supposed to be romantic? I mean, you've got the stars, the beautiful scenery, and the solitude."

"Except for us," Antonio gestured to himself and the other Samurai. "Seriously, do you want us to hide or…"

"Shh, look!" Mike pointed to the distance, where two figures could be seen walking through the field. "It's them!"

"What do we do?" Kevin asked.

"Follow my lead," Mike stated again.

The boys and Serena exchanged confused looks, but shrugged. This was Mike's big moment, and if he wanted them to remain clueless, they were going to remain clueless. Mia and Emily finally got close enough and Mike smirked.

"What took you so long?" he asked.

"It's not a short walk," Mia glared, knowing this was all Mike's idea.

"Why are we out here?" Emily asked him.

Mike pointed to Jayden, "We were training while you girls were bowling," he said. Jayden heard his name but he had no idea what Mike was talking about. He knew he had to wing it.

"Uh, yeah," he nodded, "There's no one around so we thought we would practice symbol power?"

"Without us?" Emily asked, a pout forming on her lips. Serena quickly jumped in.

"While you were out, the boys started talking about how it would be cool if they had an all-male Ranger team," she said. "I brought them out here to show them it's not the men that make the team."

"We summoned up fake Moogers and tried to kick their asses," Antonio added.

"And you lost?" Mia could tell where this lie was going, and it wasn't making the boys look good. Emily chuckled.

"You lost to a bunch of Moogers?"

Mike nodded his head, "Hey, your sister was the one directing them! She doesn't go easy."

"Like the real Moogers would," Serena rolled her eyes.

Emily looked around the field. She believed the story she was being told, but there was still something odd about it. She turned back to Mike.

"Wait, if you guys were training, why did you have Mia and I walk all the way here? Couldn't you have just walked home and met us there?"

"Look up," Mike smiled and Emily did as she was told. Because they were away from the city, there was no smog or lights to block the night sky and she could see all the stars. It reminded her of home, where every night was this beautiful. Mike took her hand, "You didn't want to miss this, did you? We thought we could turn this into a date night."

"Date night?" Emily immediately turned to Antonio, Jayden and Serena. Something wasn't right about that match up.

Serena noticed she same thing her sister noticed and looked at both Jayden and Antonio. She wrapped her arms around their shoulders and smirked.

"Hey, junior's got to have a partner too, right?"

"I don't even want to think about that," Emily frowned. Mike smiled at her and then tickled her sides.

"A group date night," he laughed. "We're all out here, there's no Nighlok terrorizing the city, Jayden and Mia aren't dead. Why wouldn't we all want to just hang out under the stars and be thankful for what we have?"

Kevin wrapped his arm around Mia and kissed the side of her head as he heard Mike say this. The green Ranger was right, and he was very thankful he had this night with Mia, and knowing what was going to happen, he was very happy he got to finally share this moment with her. Mia wasn't just crazy about weddings; she also loved her Ranger team. Kevin had known that about her from the start. She had been the first person he had bonded with, but Mia had formed friendships almost right off the bat with nearly everyone. She had practically adopted Emily as a little sister from the moment she realised Emily was the yellow Ranger, and while she didn't understand Mike, she had been a lot more tolerant of him than Kevin had. He held her lovingly, feeling her excitement as she, like everyone else, held their breathes for the moment.

Emily looked around at her friends and her sister, full of excitement, but she wasn't too sure why. She loved it when they were all together and getting along, and she loved quiet nights like these, where they didn't need to do much talking in order to bond as a group. The fact that she was outdoors, in a field that reminded her of her farm as a child, just made things all the better.

It was then she noticed Mike had pulled out his Samuraizer and, just like the night they agreed to get engaged, he had created a flower ring for her. He held it up to show her and Emily smiled.

"Remember this?" he asked her. "Remember what you told me the night I made this for you?"

"Forever," Emily nodded. She reached for the flower ring but Mike pulled it away. She pouted and looked up at him. "Hey…"

"Unfortunately, something like that isn't going to last forever," Mike told her as he dropped the flower to the ground and reached into his pockets. "If we're going to do forever, I was thinking of maybe giving you a ring that was a little more permanent."

Taking out the ring, Mike dropped to his knee, "Will you marry me?"

Tears filled Emily's eyes and flooded down her cheeks as she nodded her head. Mike slipped the ring onto her finger. Before he could let go, Emily jumped into his arms, knocking him into the grass in her excitement as she pulled him in for a kiss.


	32. Mike and Emily's Celebration

It was official. As they walked hand in hand back to the Shiba House, trailing behind the other Rangers by a long shot, Mike couldn't believe his night. Emily, his Emily, was going to be his from now until the day he died. The ring on her hand proved it. It proved that he had won the heart of the sweetest, kindest and most amazing girl on the face of the planet. He knew it wasn't something to take lightly. He knew that if he wanted to keep her forever he was going to have to work hard. But as long as she loved him, all the hard work to keep her happy would be worth it.

He wrapped his arms around her and slowed his pace even more. It was so late at night, he wasn't surprised she was getting tired and was having a hard time keeping up.

Emily snuggled into his chest, bringing him to a stop. She loved being where she was now, with Mike holding her safe and warm. She had never imagines she would be so lucky as to find someone like him, never mind have someone as special as Mike love and care for her. But she did, and she wore her new ring proudly and anytime someone would ask her about it, she wouldn't hesitate to tell them that the most caring, selfless, and special man had given it to her, promising his love.

"I love you," she whispered while she rested her head against his chest. She could hear his heart thumping and smiled.

"I love you too," he hugged her and looked ahead. The others were disappearing, they were so far ahead. Mike wanted to get home, but he also wanted to stay in the field with Emily. Together, they had already celebrated the engagement, but now he just wanted her to himself. He continued to hug Emily with one arm while the other reached for his phone so he could message Serena and let her know he and Emily were going to be late coming home. The last thing he needed was a protective and worried, pregnant sister in-law on his trail in search for her baby sister.

Far ahead, Serena was walking home with the rest of the team. She knew Mike and Emily were trailing behind and that they wanted their own privacy, so she didn't bother looking back until she felt her phone vibrating in her pocket. Wondering who it could be, she glanced over her shoulder and saw Mike and Emily were no longer in sight. She pulled out her phone and checked her messages.

"I don't think I want to know," she stuck out her tongue in disgust. Mia turned around to see what Serena was talking about. Serena showed her the message, "They'll be home late."

"They probably won't do it in a field," Mia chuckled. "Give them a little more credit than that."

"I don't even want to see Mike touching anything but Emily's hand," Serena shook her head. "I may approve of him, but that's still my baby sister. I don't want to think of him and Emily even making out in a field… it's…"

"Creepy?" Kevin suggested. Serena nodded.

"Very."

"I think you owe her the chance to creep you out, though," Antonio gestured to Serena's stomach, "Pretty soon, it's going to be hard to hide what you did with Dekker when she wasn't looking."

"Don't remind me," Serena sighed. She glanced over her shoulder again, "I guess I do owe them one night on their own. Even if it's not tonight… they probably are thinking about…"

"It?" Jayden said with a slight chuckle. Serena shuddered.

"Yes…"

"The problem is that you share a room with them," Mia said. "I doubt they'll go anywhere near romantic when you're in the room, and I don't really see Emily as the kind of girl who would ask you to leave the room because she wants to spend some time alone with Mike."

"And the odds of me leaving when I know he's going to touch her are slim to none," Serena said. "Like I said, I approve, but that's my baby sister."

"We can convert the old study into a bedroom for you," Jayden suggested. "You'll need your own space once the baby is born anyways. I doubt Mike and Emily are going to be happy to wake up every night to a screaming baby."

"The joys of parenting," Serena muttered and then flashed Jayden a smile, "Thanks, though. I'll take it."

-Samurai-

Mike never thought that doing nothing would be his idea of a perfect night. Once he and Emily had gotten away from the others, they sat in the field and looked up at the stars until they both fell asleep. It hadn't taken long for Emily to pass out. She had been tired before they settled down and when Mike held her in his arms she had been so warm and comfortable that she couldn't help but drift off slowly. Mike had taken a little longer to fall asleep, but eventually he had to take his eyes off Emily and close them so he could rest.

Now it was morning, they were still out in the field and Mike could feel Emily was still sleeping in his arms. He squeezed her gently as she too started to stir, the light of the sun waking her up.

The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was grass and she realised she and Mike had fallen asleep under the stars. She smiled and looked up at her fiancé.

"Why is it every time we get engaged we fall asleep in the dirt?"

"Are you complaining, earth girl?" Mike chuckled, kissing her forehead. Emily shook her head.

"No. I'm just noticing patterns. I…"

Over the sound of the birds chirping and the light breeze gently blowing through the field, Emily could hear faint footsteps crunching the grass. She was certain it wasn't her or Mike, which meant that someone else had to be in the field as well.

"What?" Mike asked when he noticed she had gotten distracted. He titled his head up, looking behind him where Emily had her eyes fixed, "Did you see a squirrel or something?"

"Or something," Emily whispered, lowering herself to the ground and then pointing with her finger to the source of her distraction. Mike rolled over onto his stomach and had a look.

"You're kidding me," he growled, spotting Dayu a little ways off. Because she wasn't doing anything, just walking through the field, he and Emily had no reason to attack her and if they could, they would simply run away. But because they were in a wide open field, they wouldn't be able to run away without drawing Dayu's attention, and there was no telling what she would do to them if she saw they were only a few yards from where she was standing. Emily was the little sister of the woman who stole her husband and, unbeknownst to Dayu, was also pregnant with his child, and Mike was the man who had killed Dekker, finally tearing the two half-Nighlok apart for good.

"Now what?" Emily asked Mike, turning to look at him as she realised the same thing he did. They were stuck.

"Pray she doesn't spot us," Mike whispered, taking Emily's hand as he watched Dayu roam around. He couldn't help but notice she seemed to be looking for something, and with every step she took she was getting closer and closer to him and Emily. Mike began to wonder if she knew they were there. He lowered himself closer to the ground and gestured for Emily to do the same. They held their breath as Dayu walked only a few yards away from where they were lying still.

Suddenly, she turned and looked Mike and Emily directly in the eyes, "You think I haven't been keeping my eyes on you Rangers?"

"Emily, run," Mike said as he pushed himself up. Dayu pulled her sword out of her still broken shamisen and pointed it at Mike.

"Go ahead, yellow Ranger," she taunted, "Run and let me chop up your little fiancé into pieces for what he did to Dekker."

"Don't worry about me, Emily. Run."

"Run home to your sisters, yellow," Dayu nodded. "Tell them I'll take care of them once I'm done with the green Ranger."

"Leave them out of this," Emily shook her head and Mike's heart jumped into his throat. He knew it would be hard enough convincing her to leave him behind, but now that Dayu was threatening Mia and Serena as well, Emily wasn't going to leave.

"Em…"

"Why should I?" Dayu asked the yellow Ranger. "Pink keeps meddling in my business, sticking her nose where it doesn't belong, and your real sister…"

"Doesn't love Dekker anymore," Emily said. "Leave her alone, please!"

"I saw what happened last night," Dayu said, a small smile crossing her lips. "I saw it all. I've been watching you all, planning for this moment."

"Now you just sound creepy," Mike scoffed, placing himself between Emily and Dayu. "Why can't you go cry in a corner like every other grieving wife?"

"Because then I wouldn't be able to get my revenge on the little brats who killed Dekker."

She pointed her sword again to Mike, "You killed him, pink annoys me and Serena's… well, we all know what Serena's hiding."

"Emily, go home," Mike told her again, his blood running cold as a wicked smirk appeared on Dayu's face. She was telling the truth about spying on them. She had called Mike Emily's fiancé, proving she had seen the engagement the night before. Surely, if she had seen that, she had likely heard some of the references Serena and the others made to the fact that Serena was pregnant. Given her anger now, Mike was positive she had figured it out.

Dayu's eyes shifted back to Emily, "And you, caught in the middle of all this."

"Emily, run."

"You're recently engaged to the man who killed my husband. The husband who was taken from me shortly after we had promised to spend the rest of our lives together."

"Emily, home," Mike reached for his Samuraizer.

"You and the annoying pink Ranger are obviously very close; given how passionate you were about protecting her the other day."

"Emily…"

"And Serena, your older sister Serena, who stole the one person I loved more than anything and toyed with him until she got what she wanted and then broke his heart. You mean a lot to her, don't you?"

"Hey, Dayu," Mike tried switching her attention back to him, "I'm the one who stabbed your precious Dekker. If you've got a problem, it's with me."

"Exactly," Dayu raised her sword and Mike morphed instantly, blocking her attack and then turning to Emily, telling her to run. This was enough of a distraction for Dayu to kick him in the stomach, winding him long enough for her to switch targets. She swung her sword at Emily, who hadn't yet morphed and had no way to defend herself. Fortunately, Emily was able to jump out of the way of the attack and run.

Mike struck Dayu in the back, turning her attention back to him so Emily could have enough time to run away. As he fought Dayu, though, he noticed in the corner of his eye that Emily had stopped running.

"Get out of here!" he yelled as Dayu sliced him in the chest, forcing him to power down and double over while falling to his knees. He pulled his hands away from his chest and check for signs of blood. Fortunately there was none. He picked up his Spin Sword and tried to attack Dayu, thinking she was still near, but while he had been down she gone after Emily. He looked up and he couldn't see Emily, only Dayu. The Nighlok was struggling to hold onto something, which Mike assumed was Emily and his blood boiled. As he jumped to his feet he heard a scream, louder than the rest, and it was enough to give him the strength he needed. He slashed Dayu across the arm, forcing her to let go of Emily and his fiancée fell straight to the ground. Mike continued his assault on Dayu, striking her across the chest and backing her as far away from Emily as he could.

Seeing the rage in the green Ranger's eyes, Dayu knew she was in over her head and turned away from Mike. As she began to retreat, Mike no longer saw her as a threat and stopped his attacks. He dropped his sword and raced back to Emily.

Dayu glared. Now that he was unarmed she could finish them both off, but the pain in her arm was too much. She grabbed it with her other hand and glared.

"Take this as a warning," she called out. "I will get revenge on all of you for what you did to Dekker."

"Then attack me!" Mike screamed, turning away from Emily to glare at Dayu.

Dayu shook her head, "Then you wouldn't suffer like I am."

"You bitch," Mike roared and was just about to jump up and attack again when he felt Emily go limp in his arms. He looked back down at her, holding her carefully in his arms. He wasn't sure what Dayu had done exactly, but Emily was hurt pretty badly. She had been cut and scratched by Dayu's sword and likely beaten by her fists. From what Mike had seen of Dayu, he knew she wouldn't hold back and he knew she was capable of killing a human with her fists.

Up until she lost consciousness, Emily had been clutching the side of her stomach and there was blood seeping through her fingers. With his hand, Mike took over for Emily, applying pressure so she didn't lose too much blood.

"I hope she doesn't die," Dayu said to Mike as she stepped towards a glowing portal, "not before her sister and the pink Ranger can see her at least."

"It's no wonder Dekker couldn't love you," Mike seethed as he lifted Emily. He glared at Dayu, "Even for a Nighlok, you're a monster."

Dayu eyed him angrily before stepping into the portal and disappearing. When she was gone, Mike wasted no time and ran as fast as he could for help.

-Samurai-

Serena inspected her new room with a tilt of the head. She knew she didn't have much, but the emptiness of her bedroom was rather depressing. There was Emily's old bed, which the Rangers assumed she would no longer need now that she and Mike were engaged, and a storage unit that Serena would be using a dresser.

"We'll, uh, go shopping for more stuff later today," Mia suggested, getting the same feeling of emptiness as Serena.

"Maybe when Emily gets back we can look for furniture for squirt," Serena rubbed her stomach. "I promised her I wouldn't go shopping without her."

"Hopefully they get home soon," Mia looked at the time. "They've been out since last night."

"What time is it?" Serena asked. They had been moving furniture with the boys and arranging her room all morning. She knew it was close to lunch time but wanted to know the exact time, finding it rather odd she hadn't heard from her sister at all since the night before.

"Ten after twelve," Mia said. She looked up at Serena, "Call her?"

Serena thought about saying yes but then shook her head no.

"They'll come home when they're done celebrating."


	33. Mike Comes Home Alone

It had been hours; long, painful hours. Emily was still in the hospital but she was out cold and the doctors wanted her to rest. Mike wished he could be by her side, but they wouldn't let him. They told him to come back in the morning, when she was feeling stronger and they had a better idea of what her recovery would look like.

He was headed home, choosing to walk instead of take the bus. His shirt was covered in her blood so he had to take it off, and the people on the bus wouldn't appreciate him walking around shirtless. Not in his condition.

He hadn't called the others yet to tell them. It didn't feel like a conversation he should have over the phone. He needed to sit them down and tell them in person, especially Serena and Mia, who were just as much to blame for Emily's situation as he was.

Walking into the house, he hung his head low. He kicked off his shoes and didn't bother to look where they had fallen. Scruffy rushed over to greet him and Mike pet him behind the ears before sending him off to play again. Kevin was next to greet Mike.

"Usually, this is the time of year were people start to add layers, not take them off," Kevin commented with a slight chuckle before he noticed Mike seemed depressed. It was a strong depression for any normal person, but considering the green Ranger should have been over the moon with happiness, Kevin knew there was something very, very wrong. "Mike…?"

"Yes, you're home!" Antonio raced into the hallway with a big smile on his face. He was excited to see the happy couple had made it home in time for their celebration dinner. He had made it especially for them and didn't want to see it go to waste. He glanced around the hallway for Emily, assuming she wasn't far from Mike. But when he didn't see her he looked back at Mike and that's when he saw the green Ranger looked upset.

"Finally," Mia smiled, spotting the green Ranger was home after staying out for almost the entire day. "Serena and I wanted to go out baby shopping with Emily today but all the stores are closing now. Where have you two been?"

"Where are Serena and Jayden?" Mike asked. There was no expression in his voice but a deep sadness in his eyes as he looked at Mia. She pointed down the hallway as Serena and Jayden were making their way over.

"They're… Mike, what happened?"

"Where's my sister?" Serena was the first to ask question as she looked around for Emily. She thought Emily would be with Mike, considering she wasn't showing off her ring to any of the other Rangers. Serena looked to Mike, then to his bare chest, and then the shirt in his hands. She spotted the dried blood stains and looked back at Mike, "Please tell me that's your blood."

"You guys might want to sit down," Mike started to move to the common room but Antonio stopped him, grabbed his arm, and pulled him back.

"Where's Emily?"

"I…"

"Where the hell is she, Mike?" Serena demanded to know and Mike couldn't blame her. He lifted his shirt slightly, showing the others the blood."

"Dayu…"

"I'll kill her," Serena growled and then her eyes fell angrily onto Mike, "I told you not to let her anywhere near Dayu! I told you this was going to happen!"

"She took us by surprise," Mike whispered. Normally he would have lost his temper with Serena and he would have defended himself to the very end. No one ever accused him of not doing his best to protect Emily. But he was too worried about his fiancée to care what kind of a beating he got from his friends.

"What happened?" Mia asked, gently placing her hand on Serena's arm to hold her back. She was just as worried about Emily, but attacking Mike wasn't going to help. Not in the slightest.

"Can we sit down?" Mike pointed to the common room and everyone nodded, following him to their seats. Serena was the only one who didn't sit down. She couldn't sit down. She had to move around if she wanted to contain her anger and panic.

"What happened?" Mia asked again now that they were all comfortable. Mike looked down at his shirt.

"I don't even know where she came from," he said. "Emily and I were just… we couldn't run… she saw us…"

"Full sentences, Mike," Kevin said. "We need full sentences."

"Dayu just showed up," Mike explained. "She said she had been watching us since last night. She knows. She knows everything."

"Knows what?" Serena asked, her hand falling to her stomach as Mike looked to her. "What does she know?"

"I think she knows about…" Mike pointed to her stomach. "She's not happy about it."

"I didn't think she would be," Serena growled. She looked at Mike, "This is exactly why I didn't want you to let Emily go near her!"

"I didn't," Mike shook his head. "I told her to run… Dayu didn't let her."

"Didn't let her as in…?" Jayden asked Mike to elaborate, though he was sure he wasn't going to like the answer.

"She had her sights set on Emily," Mike lowered his head. "She wanted to hurt Emily."

"Why?" Mia frowned. "Emily didn't do anything to her. If she wanted to go after anyone, it should have been…"

"One of us," Mike nodded, eyeing Mia and Serena. "If she wanted to hurt us, she should have gone after one of us. But that's exactly why she didn't."

"What do you mean?"

"You pissed her off, Mia," Mike said. "She's mad at you for meddling, so she's getting back at you. She's mad at Serena for stealing the person she loved the most, and she's angry with me for killing her husband."

"And Emily's…" Antonio looked to Mike, Mia and Serena.

"Emily's right in the middle," Mike sighed. "Mia's best friend, Serena's precious little sister and my fiancée."

"Where is Emily now?" Jayden asked. It was the only question he had that was unanswered.

"The hospital," Mike answered. "I… I would have brought her here but… it was just so bad and…"

"The hospital was probably best," Jayden placed his hand on Mike's shoulder comfortingly. "Mentor's good, but if Emily was in a really bad state the hospital is the best place for her."

"Which means she was in a really bad state," Antonio sighed loudly and looked to Mike. The green Ranger nodded.

"Last I heard she was stable… but she's still unconscious. I don't know…"

"What did Dayu do to her?" Serena asked, clearly unhappy with the story she was hearing. Mike shrugged his shoulders.

"I…"

"What did she do?" Serena got up in Mike's face and shouted. Antonio pulled the earth Samurai away from Mike slightly.

"Cuts, bruises…"

"Cuts and bruises don't send people to the hospital," Serena hissed.

"There's a wound…"

"Where?"

"Her side… it bled a lot… and with the other…"

"And you left her?" Serena screamed. She ripped herself away from Antonio and stormed out of the house. Mike dropped his head in his hands and began to sob. Jayden rubbed his back soothingly.

"You did the right thing, Mike," he assured the green Ranger. "She's just worried. That's all."

"Yeah, amigo," Antonio moved in closer to Mike, "She'll calm down and Emily will be fine."

While they were comforting Mike, Kevin turned to Mia, noticing his fiancée hadn't said a word since hearing that she was part of the reason Dayu had gone after Emily. He knew how much it must have hurt Mia to know that it was her fault. She had been devastated when Dayu had cut Emily on the arm when Emily protected her. To know Dayu had attacked the youngest Ranger again, this time getting far enough to send Emily to the hospital, and she was part of the reason, would kill Mia.

"Mia…?"

Mia didn't say anything as she got up and walked to their bedroom to be alone. Kevin followed her. He knocked on their door before walking in and finding Mia curled up on the bed, already in tears. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her onto his lap.

"She'll be fine."

"I… I…"

"Dayu's the one who hurt her," he said. "Not you. You are not responsible."

"But…"

"It's an excuse. Dayu wants you to hurt. She wants you to feel bad because she's feeling bad. If you hate yourself, you're giving her exactly what she wants."

Mia nestled into Kevin's arms and sighed loudly. Kevin kissed the top of her head.

"The best thing you can do right now is be strong," he told her. "Be strong for Emily. Don't let Dayu hurt you both."

Mia nodded and tried to be strong but she couldn't. Kevin didn't say another word about it though and just continued to hold her.

"It'll be okay," he whispered. "It'll be fine."

-Samurai-

Serena was no pushover. She didn't care what the doctors wanted. She got Emily's hospital room from the reception desk and snuck in. It was beyond visiting hours but that wasn't going to stop her. She knew her way around the hospital. She knew how to get to Emily's room without being seen. She was going to make it.

She pushed the door open while taking a careful look down the hallway just to be sure no one had seen her before stepping into the room. She gasped at what she saw. She remembered when Emily was younger and learning how to ride a bike. She had fallen and scraped her knee on the dirt. Serena hadn't liked seeing her sister hurt and crying back then, but now it was worse, much worse.

"I'll kill her, Emy," she promised her sister as she walked up to her, dragging a chair from the corner of the room. Emily had a few bruises on her face, neck and chest as well as a few cuts, likely from Dayu's sword. Serena couldn't even imagine what the wound on her side looked like and she tried to ignore all the machines keeping track of her sister's heart rate and breathing. She knew they were telling her Emily was still alive, but she wanted to be able to see it, not hear it.

She held her sister's hand in hers gently and stayed awake as long as possible.


	34. Emily Wakes Up

Every breath she took felt like she was breathing out fire as her mind slowly started coming out of the darkness. Emily hadn't opened her eyes just yet, but she felt dizzy and scared. Memories of Dayu's attack flashed through her mind and she could remember every terrifying moment where she believed she was going to be killed. She remembered Dayu's strong hold and painful blows, inflicting several bruises on her skin, as well as the feel of her sword as she was slashed at. Finally, she remembered the piercing pain as something dug into the side of her abdomen and the feel of the blood seeping through her fingers.

As she started to come to a little more (still without opening her eyes), she could feel something covering her mouth and nose and feared she had been gagged and couldn't breathe. She felt something on her hands and in one hand she was holding something… or it was holding her. She wasn't sure, but she didn't like it.

Reflexively, her body shook, testing its range of moment to make sure she wasn't tied and her eyes shot open so she could have a look around. She saw a white ceiling and white walls. These were things she didn't recognise. Her eyes started to water as her fear overwhelmed her and the pain in her body kept her from moving.

Serena had been fast asleep until Emily's sudden jolt pulled her out of her dreams and made her jump to her feet. She squeezed her sister's hand gently and leaned over her, brushing her hair away from her face.

"Shh, shh," Serena knew she likely wasn't the image of comfort. Tears were in her eyes and she had been so worried for her sister she hadn't slept well at all, meaning she likely looked like a wreck, but she needed Emily to know she was safe. "Emy, you're okay. It's okay. You're in the hospital but you're okay."

Emily began to struggle when she heard she was in the hospital, but Serena had to hold her still. She could the beeping in the room speeding up, meaning Emily's heart rate was increasing and she knew she had to calm her sister.

"Emily, I wouldn't lie to you," she whispered very calmly, "You're going to be fine. I promise. Please calm down."

Emily looked up at her sister, her tears were streaming down the side of her face but she began to relax, trusting Serena would take care of her. It was at that moment that the door to her room opened and a nurse walked in. Serena knew she was busted but she didn't take her eyes off Emily.

The nurse saw Emily had a visitor and remembering the doctor's orders knew it wasn't allowed.

"Miss, I'm afraid…"

"So is she," Serena interrupted, glancing at the nurse for a quick second. "You're not kicking me out."

"I'm afraid…"

"Did you not hear me?" Serena glared at the nurse while still holding Emily's hand softly, letting her know she wasn't about to leave. The nurse glanced at Serena questioningly before a small smile appeared on her lips.

"Serena?"

Serena frowned and wondered how this nurse knew her name. Finally, it dawned on her as the nurse showed her her badge. Only then did Serena recognise the nurse. In the time she had been ill, she had run into many nurses and doctors, but none had stuck by her as long as Mary and none had been as kind as Mary.

"You're kidding me," Serena gasped.

Mary nodded and looked down at her chart, "I thought the name was familiar. Is this your sister?"

Serena looked at Emily with a smile. Emily didn't seem comforted at all by the encounter with the nurse, but Serena was starting to feel a little better.

"Emy, you're in really good hands," Serena told her. "Nurse Mary was my very favourite when I was here. She's going to take really good care of you, okay."

Mary started to look over Emily, but kept an eye on Serena as she gathered her information for the doctor.

"Last I heard, you were terminally ill," she said. "What happened?"

"Miraculous recovery," Serena smiled. "I would really rather not go into the details."

"It's probably best you don't," Mary said. "You shouldn't be here anyways. If you want to sit in the waiting room…"

"You're kidding me, right?" Serena shook her head and took a seat next to Emily's bed. "No one can convince me to leave. I don't care about rules, I don't care about protocols."

"You never did," Mary sighed. "Have you seen the doctor?"

"For Emily?" Serena asked, "No. I'm not allowed to be here, remember?"

"Well, what I can tell you is that Emily should make a full recovery. She lost a lot of blood, so she's going to feel a little weak for a while."

"What about her side?" Serena asked. It had been the injury that seemed to worry Mike the most, so she had to ask about it.

"She'll have an impressive scar," the nurse said, "but unless you value looks over health, you'll probably want to know that nothing vital was touched."

"All in all, she's a lucky girl?"

"I wouldn't say lucky, but things could have been worse," Mary nodded her head. She looked down at Emily with a bright smile as she finished checking her over, "You're a strong fighter, just like your sister. You'll be fine."

Mary left the room with her notes, leaving the two sisters alone. Serena gently rubbed her hand up and down Emily's arm, trying to comfort her sister.

"You hear that, Emy? You're going to fine, just like I said."

Emily tried to say something but couldn't quite get it out just yet because of the mask on her face. Serena didn't need words to understand her sister, though. She leaned in closer to Emily.

"I can call Mike if you want."

Emily nodded her head and Serena pulled out her cell phone. It was early in the morning, but she doubted Mike would be sleeping. As it rang, she turned to Emily, "He would be here with you if he could. I'm just a lot sneakier than he is."

"Are you with her?" Mike asked on the other end of the line before Serena even realised he had picked up.

"She's right here. Wide awake and waiting for you," she said. "Doctor won't allow for visitors just yet."

"Then how are you seeing her?"

"Doctors don't boss me around. You should be able to get in soon, though. By the time you're here they might let you in. If not there's a window on the second floor that doesn't quite lock properly. If you can climb up, fiddle around with it until you can open it."

"Do I want to know how you know that?"

"Depends; would you rather here this story or visit Emily?"

"I'm on my way."

Serena smiled and turned to pass the message onto her sister before turning back to the phone, "She says she loves you."

"Tell her I love her too."

Serena nodded and hung up the phone. She smiled to her little sister.

"He says he loves you," she stroked Emily's cheek gently, "you found a good guy."

More tears flooded down Emily's cheeks as her eyes strayed to the oxygen mask. Serena noticed and reached to pull it off. Emily was breathing just find without its help, and the mask was stressing them both out.

"Dayu wants to hurt you," Emily said, her eyes turning to Serena. The elder sister shook her head.

"Don't worry about that," she whispered softly. "She's not going to get me."

"She knows…"

"It doesn't matter."

"She's mad at Mike…"

"And Mia," Serena nodded. "Don't worry, Emy."

"She hurt me to get back at you."

"I know. I'm sorry," Serena kissed Emily's forehead. "Don't think about that right now. You're safe and Mike, Mia and I aren't going to through ourselves into danger, I promise. Dayu's not getting any further than this."

Serena saw Emily's eyes were starting to close, and her little sister was having a hard time staying awake. She brushed Emily's hair gently and whispered, "Go to sleep. When you wake up, Mike's going to be right here."

"Don't leave," Emily said. "You promised you wouldn't."

"And I won't. Go to sleep."

"Mike…"

"Is coming," Serena hushed gently. "He'll be here."

Emily nodded and closed her eyes, letting her body take over and giving her the rest she needed for a proper recovery.

-Samurai-

Antonio was packing a few things in a bag after receiving word from Mike that Emily was okay. The green Ranger had raced off to see her and the others were slowly trailing behind. They were going to join to visit their little sister, but they were going to arrive later to give Mike and Serena some time with Emily.

Antonio knew how hard many of his teammates were taking the attack on Emily. Serena had been so angry she had stormed out of the house and Mia had obviously been upset. She had walked out of the room and hadn't been seen by anyone but Kevin since. Mike was distraught, but that went without saying.

The gold Ranger looked across the room to the red Ranger, who had his lion Zord in his hand, moving around, while he was deep in thought. Antonio knew a lot about Jayden, and he knew there was always something going on in the red Ranger's mind.

"I was thinking of bringing her stuffed dog," Antonio said. "You know, the one we got her for her birthday. She would like that, right?"

"Yeah, Antonio," was Jayden's reply. The gold Ranger furrowed his brow as he looked down at his bag and made sure there would be room for the dog. Jayden's short reply meant that whatever he was thinking about was serious.

"You okay, buddy?"

"I'm just thinking."

"I can tell."

"Dayu's twisted."

Antonio clapped his hands, "Wow. No wonder you're the red Ranger," he said sarcastically, "that's some brain power. I never thought of that."

"Antonio," Jayden shot him a look that told Antonio this was no joking matter. "That's exactly it. _I'm_ the _red_ Ranger. I'm the guy the Nighloks should be thinking of destroying. They shouldn't be bothering with the rest of you until I'm dead."

"You're asking for trouble?" Antonio asked. He held up a fist, "If you're jealous, amigo, I can beat you senseless and you and Emily can share a hospital room."

"That's not what I meant."

"Too bad."

"Antonio," Jayden shook his head, "If the Nighlok should be going after anyone, it's me. What do they have to gain by hurting Emily? She's not the red Ranger. She doesn't have the sealing power. She's just… hey!"

Jayden looked over as Antonio poked him repeatedly in the head. He glared at his best friend, "What are you doing?"

"Trying to pop your ego," Antonio answered. "Look, I get it, you're all high and mighty and the Nighlok should fear you, but you have to admit, Dayu's playing her cards pretty well. Choosing Emily hurts us personally and it hurts our team. Any time we're a Ranger down, it doesn't matter if it's red, yellow, blue, green, pink or gold, our team is weaker. We fight harder, but we're weaker. And because Dayu chose Emily, Mike and Mia and Serena are all vulnerable. If she was really smart, she would choose to attack now. All three of them would do something stupid and we would watch them all get hurt or die trying to avenge Emily."

"But Kevin, you and me," Jayden pointed out. "We're not…"

"Not what?" Antonio asked. Kevin's Emily's big brother. He's probably worried about her. And he's probably worried about Mia. I bet he didn't sleep well, or even at all, last night."

"Fine, but…"

"And she's my little sister. I didn't have siblings growing up, like the rest of you, but I always wanted one. Emily fits right in there. I don't know if you heard, but I got up so many times to clear my head last night. I think I walked a marathon around the house."

"Okay…"

"And aren't you worried?" Antonio asked. "I know, behind that big, tough, serious leader mask, you're a human just like the rest of us. This team is your family too. Emily's your sister too."

"I am worried."

"And that's how the Nighlok are hurting the red Ranger."

"I don't want my team getting hurt because of me, though."

"Neither do I," Antonio shrugged. "You're not alone. I want to take my own hits. I want to take everyone else's hits too. You don't realise it, Jay, but the way you feel is exactly the same way we all feel. You just have the extra burden of symbol power."

Jayden took a deep breath and lowered his head, "Yeah…"

There was a knock at the door as Mentor Ji stood waiting, "Kevin and Mia are ready to go. Are you boys coming?"

"I'll get the dog," Jayden looked to Antonio. The gold Ranger turned to Mentor and nodded.

"Of course we're coming."


	35. Another Night

Serena was standing outside Emily's hospital room when Mike and the others arrived. Emily was fast asleep and she didn't want them storming in and waking her up. She needed the rest.

She held out her arms, blocking the doorway as Mike tried to run in. He shot her a frustrated look as he tried to break through. If she didn't let him in soon, he had no problem breaking her arm.

"She's sleeping," Serena explained.

"I don't care…"

"Do you want to hear what the doctor said?" Serena asked Mike and then looked around at the others, certain they were going to want to know as well.

"Is she okay?" Antonio asked.

Serena nodded, "She'll be fine, but they want to keep her here another night."

"Why?" Jayden frowned. "If she's okay…"

"She runs the risk of getting an infection with the stitches. They want to keep her here to keep an eye on her for the first little while and they want to see how she's responding to the medication. They just want to be very sure she'll be fine before they let her go home."

"But Mentor can…"

"I asked them to do this," Serena said. She lowered her hand from the door when she felt Mike wasn't pushing against her anymore. He had turned to her, shooting her a very confused look.

"Why would you do that?" he asked her and she looked down. "You know she hates this place."

"Dayu can find her at home," Serena whispered. "It's harder in a hospital."

Antonio nodded in understanding and took Serena's hand in his, offering his support. Mike clenched his fists. He knew what Serena was trying to do, but he didn't want to leave her in the hospital for another night. Not by herself.

He pushed the door to her room open and walked inside. Antonio, Mentor and Jayden took Serena to the cafeteria, assuming she had been too busy taking care of Emily to take care of herself. But before they left, Antonio placed his bag in Kevin's hand.

Mia and Kevin stayed in the hallway. Kevin looked to the pink Ranger.

"Do you want to see her?" he asked. She shook her head.

"Mike…"

"Will probably be staying the night," Kevin told her. "He'll have plenty of time alone with her."

Mia nodded and Kevin led her into the room. He stuck by her, assuming she didn't want to come in alone. She felt extremely guilty for what happened to her little sister, and the way Mike had phrased it when he told her did nothing to ease that guilt.

"_You pissed her off, Mia. She's mad at you for meddling, so she's getting back at you."_

Mike looked up when he heard people walking into the room. He was already by Emily's bedside, holding her hand as she slept. She seemed comfortable for the most part, there was a hint of pain in her expression, but she was looking better than when he had last seen her.

Mia walked to the foot of Emily's bed and sighed sadly. She turned to Mike who tried to smile.

"She'll be fine."

"If I had known…" Mia shook her head, "I wish…"

"You regret what you did?" Mike asked her. Mia nodded.

"Do you?"

"In a way."

"What did you do wrong?" Kevin asked. This was an image of complete depression for him. His fiancée was on the verge of tears, his best friend was hurting, and his little sister was lying in a hospital bed. He didn't want to see everyone he cared about so hurt and upset. Mia and Mike turned to him.

"What do you mean?"

Kevin looked to Mike, "Dekker was a dick," he said. "He was a danger to Serena, to us, and the rest of the planet. As a Samurai, you did what you had to do."

"But…"

"Mia," Kevin turned to the pink Ranger, "The only thing you did was try to help Dayu. Never regret helping someone. We need more people like you. Dayu's the bitch in all of this. She's the monster. She's the one who made the mistake. Neither of you should feel bad for what you've done."

"But Emily…"

"Emily would be the first to tell you guys not to worry," Kevin looked down at his little sister with a small smile. "She knows this isn't you fault. If she's going to blame anyone, it'll be Dayu. Stop with the pity party."

"Ice-cream?" Emily moaned as her eyes fluttered open. Kevin's speech to Mike and Mia and woken her up but she had only caught the last part. Mike smiled down and her.

"Hey, Em."

"Ice-cream?" Emily asked again. Mike chuckled.

"What ice-cream?"

"Kevin mentioned a party," Emily said, "Will there be ice-cream at the party?"

"When you get home we'll have a party," Mia promised. "You'll have all the ice-cream you want."

Emily smiled and tried to sit up in bed but felt a sharp pain in her side. She clutched the sore spot with her hand, an expression of agony on her face.

"Don't move too fast," Mike told her as he helped her to sit up comfortably. Mia adjusted the pillows as Mike leaned her back. "You'll pull the stitches."

"Stitches?" Antonio asked as he walked into the room with Jayden, Mentor and Serena right behind him. "Sweet! Will you have a cool scar?"

"Everyone's here?" Emily asked, looking to her sister. Serena nodded her head.

"Of course everyone's here," she said. "Who would stay behind?"

"Oh, I brought you something," Antonio had a huge grin on his face as he took his bag back from Kevin and pulled out Stuffy the puppy. He waved it in her face and when she reached to grab it, he lifted it up, just out of her reach. Emily giggled.

"Antonio!"

"Help me, Emily," Antonio raised his voice to a squeak as he spoke through the dog. "Save me before I fall."

"Stuffy…"

"Hurry, Emily, he's about to let go!" Antonio pretended to drop the dog, but snatched it from midair and shoved it gently in Emily's face, "Rawr. I'm going to eat you."

Emily laughed, finally catching the dog in her hands and hugging it to her chest as she smiled up at Antonio. He flicked her in the forehead, at which she stuck out her tongue.

It was Mentor's turn to finally speak up, "Your sister tells us you'll be spending an extra night in the hospital."

"I will?" Emily looked to Serena. The older sister noticed the panicked look in Emily's eyes and she nodded her head slowly, confirming Mentor's statement.

"They just want to make sure you're okay."

"But Mentor can do that, right?" Emily looked to the older man. "You know what you're doing. You can…"

"It's best you stay here," Mentor said. "These doctors are professionals. They'll be able to treat you better than I could."

"But you always… I… I…"

"You won't be alone," Mike promised Emily while taking her hand. "I'll stay here in the hospital with you."

"And Mary's promised to sneak me into the room after visiting hours," Serena added. "We'll both be with you all night, Emy."

"But why do I have to stay… am I…?"

"Nothing's wrong," Serena sat down on the side of the bed. "But we just want to make sure."

"Why?"

"It's safer."

"I want to go home."

"Tomorrow, Emy. Tomorrow we'll take you home."

"You have to give us one night to set up the party," Mia sat down on the other side of Emily and smiled at her little sister. "Antonio, Jayden and Mentor are going to have to restart yours and Mike's engagement dinner and Kevin and I are going to be up all night decorating the common room for your welcome home party."

"With ice-cream," Kevin said with a big smile. Emily loved ice-cream. "All you can eat; whatever flavour you want. But you have to stay in the hospital one more night so we can get it all set up for you, okay?"

Emily looked over to Mike. He was nodding his head which meant he agreed with everyone else. She tried to pout, hoping he would change his mind and cave, but he didn't. He kissed her hand.

"Everything's going to be fine," he told her. "These guys will all stay until the end of visiting hours and Serena and I will stay with you all night."

"We'll get you out of here as soon as possible tomorrow," Jayden promised Emily. "Just one night here. Think you can do that?"

"Promise we'll have a party tomorrow?" Emily asked. "With ice-cream and games?"

"Promise," the team nodded. Emily settled into her bed.

"Fine. One night."

"Atta girl," Serena smiled and kissed Emily's forehead before looking over at Mike and signalled for him to join her in the hallway. Mike nodded and squeezed Emily's hand before leaving her with the rest of the group.

Serena made sure the door was completely closed before she turned to Mike, "I'm worried."

"Emily seems fine," Mike said. "She probably won't be doing the limbo or playing twister with us tomorrow, but she's pretty resilient and she doesn't normally stay down and out for long."

"I meant about Dayu. She's bound to come back. What if she comes back to finish Emily off?"

"That's not going to happen," Mike gently grabbed Serena by the arms and looked her straight in the eyes. "We won't let Dayu near Emily. If she even thinks about Emily, we'll kill her."

Serena sighed loudly and looked down at her stomach, "What about the baby?"

"Baby's fine," Mike took her hands. "Baby's with you. She can't get to junior and she won't get to Emily."

"If she finds out Emily's still alive she'll come back for her, won't she?"

"She can try all she wants…"

"She wants us to hurt."

"Serena…"

"She knows. She knows exactly how to hurt us. You don't care what happens to you, but you care what happens to Emily."

"It's okay to be scared."

"What if she comes back? I never should have trusted Dekker. He was bad news from the start. I let him get me…"

"Don't talk like that. What happened in the past stays in the past. If Dayu can't move on that's her problem."

"It's my problem if she's punching holes in my little sister!" Serena screamed. "What if Dayu had stabbed her liver? Or her stomach? What if the doctors couldn't fix her up or stop her bleeding?"

"Serena…"

"I spent eight years hating myself for doing this to her, Mike! I pretended like I wasn't sick for almost a year because I didn't want her to be in danger and it nearly killed me, but I would do it again."

"Don't…"

"If I hadn't of dated Dekker, Dayu would never have kidnapped me. We wouldn't have found out she was human, Mia wouldn't be obsessed with her and you never would have killed Dekker."

"You don't know that."

"I know that's how it happened! I know I started all this!"

Mike couldn't say anything to his sister in-law that would calm her down, so he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight.

"Dayu scares me too," he whispered. "But we'll keep her safe, I promise."


	36. Too Close For Comfort

Dayu was back in the field, looking over the spot where she had attacked the green and yellow Ranger. A wicked smile was plastered on her face as she relieved that moment in her head. Finally, justice was going to be served and all she had to do was get rid of the yellow Ranger. Her anger and hate had nothing to do with the yellow Ranger. Her true targets were the yellow Ranger's sister, the green Ranger, and the pink Ranger, but yellow was the one thing they all shared in common and she wanted them all to suffer the same way she was suffering. She wanted them to feel guilty for what happened to the yellow Ranger. She wanted them to feel like they were so close to saving her, but she didn't want them to save her. She wanted them to grieve until their dying day.

She stood on the spot where she had left the yellow Ranger to die and she wondered if she had succeeded in killing yellow. It was likely the yellow Ranger wasn't going to be fighting Nighlok, so it would be a while before Dayu ever found out the true. But a while was too long. She couldn't wait for results, she needed them now. With Dekker gone, she had nothing to live for, and nothing left to do. She couldn't die, so she had to pass the time some other way, and while the Rangers were still around, she was going to have a little fun.

She wasn't too sure where their home was, but she knew they frequently visited the city. Hoping to find one of them there, she set off.

-Samurai-

Serena walked back into the hospital room after sneaking past the doctors. They didn't like late night visits and preferred family stayed in their own room while the patient was given time to rest, but Serena knew what was best for her sister. Emily wanted her and Mike, she was going to get her and Mike.

She had gone home with the others quickly to pick up a few extra things for the morning, mainly just a change of clothes for Emily. When Antonio brought a bag to the hospital, he had packed a few essentials along with games to keep the yellow Ranger entertained, so there wasn't much left for Serena to pick up.

As she stepped into the room she saw Mike stuffing something in his pocket. She shook her head.

"Relax, it's just me."

"Good," Mike smiled and held his hands out, letting the ape and bear Zords go free. He couldn't tell for sure who was coming into the room and didn't want a doctor, nurse, or confused patient spotting the folding Zords. "We played chutes and ladders until you were gone. The Zords love that game."

"She's asleep?" Serena asked, pointing to Emily as she pulled up a chair. Mike nodded his head.

"About twenty minutes ago," he grabbed the remote for the TV, which had been muted, and turned it off. While Serena was gone and after Emily had fallen asleep, Mike needed something to do. "Are they setting up the party?"

"Yeah," Serena nodded. "We stopped by the store to pick up ice-cream on the way home. That's why it took so long."

"She was asking."

"How is she feeling?"

"Better. She's not complaining, but I can tell…"

"She's sore?" Serena chuckled. "Emily never liked to complain about pain."

"Unless she can get something out of it," Mike smiled. "She can be pretty manipulative when she wants to be."

Serena nodded her head, "That's my sister."

Mike placed his hands on the side of Emily's bed and pushed himself up out of the chair. "Now that you're back, I'm going to see if I can sneak out and get something to eat before we fall asleep. Want anything?"

"Already ate," Serena shook her head and pulled out a blanket from her bag. Mike saw her do this and then watched for a minute as she tried to get comfortable in the chair. He shook his head.

"Get on the bed."

"What?"

"I helped Emily shift over so you would have enough room on the bed," Mike told Serena. The earth Samurai looked at her sister carefully and saw Emily was slightly off center in her bed, leaving half of it almost completely open.

"Mike…"

"You're almost three months pregnant."

"Yeah, three months," Serena placed her hand on her stomach, "I'm gaining weight, but you'd have to know to notice."

"Still," Mike pointed to the bed, "there's no sense in you having another uncomfortable night in a chair when you'll be having trouble sleeping from here on out because of junior. Take the other half of the bed. Emily and I insist."

Serena muttered to herself as she climbed up into the bed, hating the special treatment. She didn't like it, and she hated being back in a hospital bed, but it was more comfortable than a chair.

"Good girl," Mike chuckled. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

Serena threw her blanket at Mike as he snuck out of the room. When he was gone, she turned her attention to the window and looked out at the city. It had been one of her favorite things to do back when she had to spend nights in hospital. Growing up in the country made for an amazing childhood, and because she was never really in the city, the lights, the buildings, the traffic and the people were a wonder for her to watch. She would spend hours just staring out the window, looking at the busyness of the streets and watching as people rushed to get everywhere quickly and get everything done as soon as possible. It was a funny sight, especially when it rained and people were trying to hide from water.

It was dark, so there weren't many people out. Occasionally the bus would let off a few people who had worked late and were on their way home, but there wasn't much people watching to do. But there was one person, in the distance, who grabbed Serena's interest. Unlike the other people on the street, it didn't seem like this person was rushing to get anywhere. It anything, the man, or woman, was taking her time as he, or she, looked around at everything, taking in the sights.

Serena then started to notice something off about the action on the streets. The few souls who wandered around on foot at this time of night were now running and they were all running away from Serena's interesting character. She furrowed her brows and got out of bed to approach the window and get a better look. Her eyes widened.

Mike walked back into the room and saw Serena was out of bed. Figuring she wasn't tired yet, he tried to start a conversation.

"So, I was thinking. When you can find out, will you want to know the sex of junior?"

"Dayu…" Serena whispered but Mike didn't quite hear. He took a seat in his chair and picked up the blanket Serena had thrown.

"What?"

Serena turned away from the window and her eyes fell on Emily and then she looked over to Mike. The green Ranger quickly noticed rage and terror burning in his sister in-law's eyes.

"Serena…" he said her name carefully.

"Take her and go."

"What?"

Serena pointed to her sister and then the door. Mike shook his head.

"We can't do that!"

"You can and you will," Serena growled through clenched teeth as she began stuffing Emily's things in her bag. When she was done, she shoved the bag into Mike's chest.

"What's going on?" Mike put the bag over his shoulder. "You can't ask me to kidnap Emily without telling me what's going on."

Serena pulled Mike over to the window. Dayu was getting closer and closer. It didn't look like she knew where she was headed, but if she was in sight, she was way too close for comfort.

"Can't she just leave us alone?" Mike grumbled. Now that he had seen what was causing Serena to panic, he was on board with her plan. "Are we taking her home early?"

"_You're_ taking her anywhere you think is safe. I trust you."

"_We're_ going home. _You_ are _not_ going to fight Dayu. Not in your condition and not alone."

"_I'll_ make my own decisions."

"Call the Rangers," Mike said, handing her back her bag. "Dayu hasn't seen us yet, we can make a clean getaway."

"I can handle this…"

"No," Mike pulled Serena away from the window and spun her around so she was facing him. He looked her dead in the eyes, "I want to fight Dayu just as much as you do right now, but that's not in our best interest. Let Jayden, Kevin, Mia and Antonio deal with her while we take Emily somewhere safe."

"But…"

"Serena, I'm not asking you what you want to do, I'm telling you what we're going to do," Mike stated. "Just make sure the hallways are clear and…"

"Cameras," Serena muttered. "Security cameras…"

"What?"

"I'll be right back," Serena told Mike as she raced for the door, "but if Dayu gets too close, screw the cameras, take Emily and run."

"Serena…"

"Trust me! This hospital's like my second home."

Mike glanced out the window and sighed loudly as he pulled out his Samuraizer and explained his problem. He told them exactly where to find Dayu and then hung up, knowing they would be on their way.

After that, he grabbed the blanket from his chair and put it over his shoulder before leaning over Emily and gently shaking her awake. He helped her sit up in bed and then draped the blanket over her shoulders.

"You can sleep on my back," he told her. "We have to leave."

He sat on the bed with his back turned to her and gestured for her to get on. Emily hesitated for a moment, "Where are we going?"

"Home."

"But I thought…"

"Trust me, Em?" Mike looked over his shoulder at Emily. She nodded her head and wrapped her arms around his neck. He lifted her up out of bed and carried her on his back just as Serena rushed in.

"Take her and go," Serena held the door open for Mike and gestured for him to leave. Without another word, Mike, with Emily on his back, raced out of the room, Serena right on his tail.

-Samurai-

"Kevin…"

"Go, guys," Kevin said to Jayden and Antonio while Mia tried to pull away from him. He held onto her tightly. They had just received the call from Mike telling them Dayu was in the city and they were ready to fight. But Kevin knew Mia was a little too eager so he kept her back.

He grabbed her arms and looked at her, "Mia, listen to me. You need to breathe."

"Kevin…"

"Mia, breathe."

Mia breathed in quickly. Kevin shook his head.

"Breathe and calm down."

"But Dayu…"

"I'm not letting you do anything stupid when you fight Dayu," Kevin told her. "Either you calm down right now, or you're sitting this fight out. I won't risk you getting hurt too."

Mia glared at him, but she knew he was right. She was angry at Dayu and had several good reasons to be mad, but her emotions weren't going to do her any good, not when they were this high. If she wanted to fight Dayu, she needed to be calm and focused. She breathed in deeply while counting to ten in her head. Kevin smiled and kissed her.

"Thank you."

"Can we go now?" Mia asked, still itching to go. Kevin nodded his head.

"Right behind you."

"I'll kill her," Mia muttered as she morphed and raced out of the house.

"Right behind you," Kevin nodded again.


	37. Despair and Hope

"Are you going to be okay?" Serena asked Mike as she helped get Emily back onto his back. They had taken a break after getting far enough away from the hospital to get Emily changed out of her hospital down and into sweats Serena had brought from home. They were much warmer to wear in the cool, fall night, and would draw a lot less attention if they were seen. They stuck to the shadows and abandoned alleys to keep out of Dayu's sight, but they didn't want to run the risk of anyone seeing them and assuming they had taken a patient. Once Emily was back on Mike's back, Serena wrapped the blanket back around her. Mike nodded his head at her question.

"She's not that heavy, I'll be fine."

"I can walk," Emily suggested but both Mike and Serena were against that idea. Emily pouted and laid her head on Mike's shoulder. He was rather comfortable and there was nothing much to do but sleep.

"How much further until we get home?" Serena asked Mike, getting rather impatient with their twisted road home. They were terrified Dayu may have seen them and were taking the less obvious roads and questionable turns to try and lose her. It was futile if she wasn't following them, but they weren't going to take that risk.

"Hopefully not long. Once we get to the forest we should be able to go straight to the Shiba House. Mentor will probably be waiting for us."

"And the other Rangers?"

"Should be on their way to fighting Dayu."

"I want to kill her myself," Serena said to Mike as she looked at her sister, "but I hope they finish her off now. I'm tired of her haunting me."

"Next time I see her, I'm forming the Megazord and stepping on her," Mike nodded his head. "She won't survive that, I can guarantee it."

Mike gazed over to the blonde locks resting on his shoulder and he could feel Emily's hold around him loosening slightly as she fell asleep. He hoisted her up higher on his back and leaned forward further so she wouldn't fall back or slip off. He was already worried about the injuries she currently had and didn't want to add more to her list.

"The forest is there," Serena pointed down the road that went off into the trees. "We're almost there."

-Samurai-

Dayu hadn't seen Ranger attacking coming and had no idea how they had found out she was in the city. They must have seen her before she could see them, because she hadn't caused any trouble and she hadn't done anything that would set off their alarm system.

The pink Ranger's attacks were the strongest of them all, but she had to admit, all the Rangers were kicking her ass. She skidded along the ground after being kicked in the chest by the gold Ranger, and as she pushed herself up into a seating position and coughed, the red Ranger slashed at her, his sword burning thanks to his symbol power. The flames were put out by the blue Ranger's attack, but he followed through with slice after slice against her body, nearly tearing her apart. Finally, the pink Ranger attacked again, her symbol burning bright as she traced in in the air and a tornado touched down and set Dayu flying into a building. The winds pressed her there, keeping her pinned against the stone wall.

"I surrender!" she cried, wanting nothing more than to leave and recover, even if it meant letting the Rangers win this battle.

"You surrender?" Mia screamed, ripping off her helmet. She threw it to the ground and approached Dayu as the winds ceased, dropping the Nighlok in a heap on the ground. "After what you did to Emily, you think I'm going to let you surrender?"

A cold wind blew, chilling Dayu to the bone and she trembled as she looked up at the pink Ranger. She was now too weak to defend herself and at the Rangers' mercy. If they wanted, they could kill her now. Judging by the look in the pink Ranger's eyes, they wanted to see her destroyed.

"Mia," Kevin called to his fiancée, running up beside her and placing his hand on her shoulder. Dayu thought for a moment he was going to stop the pink Ranger and tell her she was a better person than this, but he didn't, "Slow and painful?"

The human part of her didn't want to die, so Dayu was willing to try anything, "Master Xandred will not be happy when he finds out!"

"I'm pretty sure he's already pissed at us," Antonio responded, resting his arm on Jayden's shoulder as he stared through his helmet at Dayu. "We don't have anything to lose. In fact, with you gone we…"

Suddenly, the city street began to glow a dark red as every crack and crevasse light up. The Rangers stood in terror. The last time they had seen gaps brighten up Master Xandred's voice had broken through to their world. This time, the lights seemed brighter and were occupying a much bigger space. They knew part of it was because the Sanzu River was slowly filling up and was at a much higher level than the last time, but they were terrified to see it had progress this far.

"Dayu!" Master Xandred's deep voice shouted before Dayu was pulled away into one of the gaps. Mia screamed and stabbed her sword into the spot where Dayu had been only seconds before.

"Dammit!" she shouted, wishing she had killed Dayu when she had the chance. Now the half-Nighlok had gotten away and would live to torment her further, leaving Emily and everyone else in danger.

"We should head home," Jayden said, brushing Antonio's arm from his shoulder. "It's not safe out here."

Kevin nodded and took Mia by the arm. He had to pull her away from where she was standing. She didn't want to leave, not when she had been so close to winning.

"C'mon," he tugged a little harder than he liked, but he knew he had to. Mia turned to him teary-eyed.

"I hesitated…"

"It's okay, Mia."

"No it's not. Someone always gets hurt when I hesitate."

"This time, it won't be us," Kevin wrapped his arm around her. "Xandred seemed pissed with Dayu. This time, I think she's the one who's going to suffer."

"We need to go," Jayden called to the couple, wanting to get the out of the city before Xandred or another Nighlok broke through again. "Hurry up."

-Samurai-

Mentor brought Serena and Mike some tea and sat with them on the couch as they kept their eyes on Emily, who was sleeping across two stools. They didn't want to leave her in her room, terrified something would happen to her if she was left alone. The common room was a lot more open than her bedroom, but everyone could keep an eye on her that way.

Mike took the cup of tea, but Serena didn't. Mentor had to set it down on the table while Serena leaned over and checked Emily's temperature. The hospital had been worried about Emily getting an infection, and now that Emily was no longer being cared for by a doctor, Serena was sharing that worry too.

"She'll be fine," Mentor assured her. "And if she does get sick I will be able to care for her."

"You understand her worry though," Mike looked to Mentor and motioned to Serena with his head. "Infections aren't really welcomed in that family."

"I guess not," Mentor nodded.

Serena finally relaxed after checking for herself that her sister would be fine and leaned back against the couch, grabbing her tea from the table as she did. Just as she made herself comfortable, the Gap Sensor blared and the room light up. This lasted for only a few seconds before everything was calm again. Everything except the Samurai, that is.

"What the hell was that?" Mike asked as Mentor jumped to his feet and raced to the map. He opened it up and searched for any sign of Nighlok, but they were all gone. Even the small symbol that indicated Dayu was around was gone. The city was completely free of Nighlok.

"That is strange," he looked to the Samurai and saw they were all staring at him, the alarm having been loud and bright enough to wake up Emily. "There seems to be nothing on the map."

"Nothing doesn't do that," Mike indicated to the Gap Sensor. "Either it does that when the batteries need to be changed, or we've got a serious problem on our hands."

Serena took Emily into her arms, holding her protectively as she looked to Mentor.

"Where's Dayu?" she asked.

"Gone. She must have gone back to the Nether…"

"If she's gone, why would the Gap Sensor do that?" Serena shook her head. "Check again! You have to be mistaken."

"Serena. There is nothing in the city," Mentor assured her but Serena didn't take comfort in his words as her hold around Emily tightened.

Mike got up to check for himself and shook his head at Serena, telling her that Mentor was somehow right. "There's nothing. You can let Emily breath now."

Serena looked down and her sister and let her go slightly, but still kept her arm wrapped around her. She pulled the blanket up over Emily and let her rest against her body so Emily could fall back to sleep comfortably.

"It is natural to be worried," Mentor said to Serena, "but for now the danger has passed."

"Maybe the guys know what happened," Mike also said, "They'll tell us when they get home."

Mike took seat back on the couch next to Emily and waited with Serena and Mentor for the others to come home.

It didn't take very long for the others to storm into the house. Mia, rather, stormed in and threw her jacket on the ground, wishing she had something with a little more weight so it would make a little more noise. She was still frustrated that she had missed her chance at killing Dayu.

"Keep your eye on her," Serena said to Mentor as she laid Emily down on the couch and got up with Mike to join the others. Mentor nodded, taking a seat beside Emily on the couch and wrapping the blankets back around her, keeping her safe and warm.

"What happened out there?" Mike asked the returning Rangers while he and Serena met up with them in the hallway. "The Gap Sensor went crazy on us for a minute, but there was nothing."

"Master Xandred saved Dayu," Mia growled through clenched teeth as Kevin took her hand to calm her down. He was just as angry as she was, but getting angry wouldn't do anyone any good.

"Master Xandred?" Serena asked, eyes wide. She turned to Jayden, "He came here?"

Jayden shook his head, "He broke through, but not physically. The Sanzu River's getting higher and he's getting stronger."

"I guess that means you didn't kill Dayu," Mike sighed and lowered his head. Jayden shook his.

"No."

"I should have," Mia grumbled. "I had her and I stopped."

"You had her begging for mercy," Antonio reminded Mia. "Something tells me she's going to think twice before going near Emily again."

"I'd think twice before going near Kevin," Jayden pointed out. "If that's how pissed off Mia gets when someone threatens Emily, I don't want to see what she turns into when Kevin's threatened."

Kevin smiled and kissed his fiancé, "I feel protected."

Mia wrapped her arms around him and squeezed lovingly. She kissed him again and then broke away to check up on Emily. Kevin let her go and turned his attention to Serena and Mike, "How are you guys?"

"Stressed, and will continue to be stressed until Emily's safe," Serena answered, glancing back to the common room.

"Dayu's not going to hurt her," Jayden promised, "She won't hurt any of us."

"We keep promising each other that," Serena muttered, "and then things get worse," she looked down at her stomach, "this sucks."

"Why don't you go get Emily a bowl of ice cream?" Kevin suggested to the oldest Samurai and pointed the kitchen. "That'll probably cheer her up."

Serena sighed and nodded, "Fine."

She walked off as Mentor walked into the hallway and tapped Jayden on the shoulder, "We need to protect this place," he said. "No one gets in, no one gets out."

"What if a Nighlok attacks?" Kevin asked. "We need to be able to leave."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there. For now, we're in lockdown until we're ready to fight again," Mentor gestured for Jayden to head outside and the red Ranger followed his orders. Mentor was right behind him.

Mike, Kevin, and Antonio were the only ones left in the hallway and Kevin noticed the two boys had a solemn look on their faces. He furrowed his brow in curiosity, "What?"

"I think Serena's right," Antonio said. "Things are just getting worse. We're fight the Nighlok, but the river keeps rising, they're getting stronger, and we're just falling apart. What's the point?"

"What do you mean, what's the point?" Kevin frowned. "Protecting the innocent; stopping Master Xandred…"

"Ever stop to think that maybe he's unstoppable?" Mike asked Kevin. "Maybe this was a losing battle from the start."

"You guys are kidding me, right?" Kevin looked between the two boys, "You can't give up."

"We're not giving up," Antonio shrugged, "We just… don't see the point."

"Can you and Mia keep an eye on Emily for me?" Mike asked Kevin. "I really need a proper sleep. So does Serena. Send her to bed when you see her."

"Same here, amigo," Antonio nodded his head and followed Mike to the bedrooms. Kevin sighed loudly and shook his head as he walked into the common room. Serena was just handing Emily a bowl of ice-cream. She looked to him, a tired expression on her face.

"Kevin, can you and Mia…"

"We'll keep an eye on Emily," Kevin finished for her. "Get some sleep."

"Thanks," Serena kissed her sister's head before heading off to bed. Kevin sat down on his stool and rubbed his face.

"What's wrong?" Mia asked, feeling a little better now that she had seen Emily and knew she was okay. Kevin groaned.

"Is this a losing battle?" he asked. "Is there no hope?"

"No hope for what?" Emily frowned.

"Stopping Master Xandred; is there no hope left in defeating him for good?"

"Kevin…" Mia sighed.

Emily looked to Mia and Kevin, "I thought we were the hope."

"What do you mean?" Kevin asked her.

"Well, as long as we're around Xandred can't win, right?" Emily shrugged her shoulders. "So, really, if you think about it, we are hope. Master Xandred hasn't won yet."

"Look at you, Emy," Mia breathed, "if Dayu, a servant, can do that to you, imagine what Master Xandred can do."

"I don't care what he can do," Emily set her bowl down in her lap and crossed her arms, "We defeat him or we die. Those are our options and, personally, I prefer the former. So as long as I'm alive, I'm going to keep fighting, and as long as I'm fighting, Xandred can't win."

"But Master Xandred…"

"Don't call him master," Emily glared at her older siblings. "He's not our master, he's not our king. He's a Nighlok, and one way or another we're going to destroy him, just like any other Nighlok we're going to face."

"Em…"

"If you're giving up, drop your Samuraizer and get out," Emily glared at Kevin. "We're the only hope and if you give up on that, we don't need you."

Emily held out her hand, waiting for Kevin to turn over his Samuraizer, but praying he wouldn't. Kevin just stared at her, completely surprised by her words before a smiled appeared on his lips. He shook his head.

"I'm not giving up."

"Good," Emily said. She held out her bowl of ice-cream, "sprinkles please."

Kevin rolled his eyes and took her bowl to top her ice-cream with sprinkles, "Glad you're feeling better, Em."

Emily smiled brightly and turned to Mia. The pink Ranger hugged her.

"You're right, Emy. You're so right."


	38. Back On Board

Kevin and Mia were up early the next morning, training in the dojo while Emily was sitting on a stool that had been moved from the common room into the dojo, watching them. She wasn't ready to train, but Mia and Kevin knew it was still their responsibility to keep an eye on her while everyone else was still sleeping. Jayden's symbols were protecting the house, but no one felt completely safe yet.

In the middle of their training session, Antonio walked into the dojo. He was still in his pyjamas and he wasn't ready to train, but he couldn't fall back to sleep and he thought he had heard someone in the dojo.

He furrowed his brow as he watched Mia and Kevin put their hearts into the lesson. It was good that they were trying, but he didn't see the point. Master Xandred was getting stronger, and they were falling apart. There was no sense in fighting a losing battle. If he only had a little time left, he was going to spend it doing something he loved.

He wouldn't interrupt Kevin and Mia though. He walked over to Emily and took a seat on the floor next to her stool. He looked up at her.

"What are they doing?"

"Hitting each other with sticks," Emily giggled.

Antonio rolled his eyes, "How are you feeling?"

"My side hurts," she replied. Antonio noticed her hand was lightly pressing against her injured sighed and he let out a deep breath before smiling at her, "You'll have a cool scar, huh?"

"It's bandaged, I haven't seen it yet," Emily told him.

"When does it need to be changed?"

"Soon."

"I'll be back," Antonio lifted himself up off the ground and walked out of the dojo. Emily didn't know where he was going he didn't question it as she turned her attention back to Mia and Kevin. She watched them and was taking notes in her head on what she could work on once she was back to fighting form.

Antonio walked back into the room with a first aid kit in his hands. He knelt down beside Emily and asked her to lift her shirt.

"You know what you're doing?" Emily asked him, showing him the bandaged scar. Antonio nodded his head.

"You remember when I first came here and I got my hook stuck in my pants?" he asked and the memory caused Emily to giggle. "Remember how I said it had happened before? Well, it didn't always get hooked on clothing. Once, it hooked my skin and I had no idea until I pulled and torn my skin. Needed eight stitches and changed the bandage myself every day."

"Were you okay?"

"Peachy," Antonio nodded, "I just couldn't sit down for a little while."

"It was…"

"There."

Emily giggled again. She couldn't help but laugh. She figured it must have been painful, but his injury was funny.

"Don't laugh," Antonio smiled, teasing his younger Samurai, "or I'll tell Serena it looked a little too red and I'll have her worry about you until the scar goes away completely."

"Scars don't go… sorry," Emily tried to stop giggling, "It's not funny."

Antonio cleaned the stitches and placed a fresh, clean bandage over them. He smiled up at Emily.

"Good as new," he told her. "By the way, you'll have an awesome scar if it's really visible. Hopefully Mike likes scars."

"He's probably just happy I'm alive," Emily said. "I know I am."

Antonio nodded and packed away the first aid kit before pushing it aside and leaning back against the wall to watch Mia and Kevin train. There was silence for a moment before he looked to Emily.

"So, seriously, what are they doing?"

"Antonio, they're training. Did you hit your head this morning? Maybe I should get Serena to worry about you."

"No, it's not that it's just…" Antonio lowered his gaze for a moment and then shifted it up to Emily, "What's the point, you know?"

"To get better and defeat Xandred."

"But we can't win. He gets stronger and we're hiding in this house like cowards. Chickens."

"Chickens are scary sometimes," Emily frowned. She looked down at Antonio, "Are you giving up too?"

"What's the point?"

"Stopping Xandred."

"Do you think we can?"

"So far we haven't can't."

"What?" Antonio shot Emily a very confused look. She giggled again.

"He hasn't stopped us yet, which means we still have a fighting chance."

"Fighting chance?" Antonio frowned. He pointed to Emily's side, "I wouldn't let you fight a newborn kitten right now."

"Do I have to take your morpher away?" Emily asked. "Antonio, we haven't beaten Xandred, but he hasn't beaten us yet either. If we give up, this world is doomed. As long as we're still fighting, there's a chance we win."

"But…"

"No butts," Emily shook her head, "besides, you don't want to use your too much, you might pull the stitches."

"I should never have told you that story," Antonio rolled his eyes.

Emily held out her hand, "Either get up and train with them, or give me your Samuraizer and forget about your golden moment. If we're going to fight, we don't need quitters on our team."

Antonio sighed loudly, "I'll get changed."

"No one's handing me their morpher?" Emily crossed her arms over her chest, "That sucks."

From where she was training with Kevin, Mia saw Emily was pouting and stopped training for a quick moment.

"You okay, Emy?"

"Any other quitters in this house?" Emily asked Mia and Kevin, "I want to see if I can start a morpher collection."

"Mike seemed pretty down yesterday," Kevin said. "You could make sure he's still willing to fight Xandred."

"Mike?" Emily groaned. "Even he's being stupid?"

"Don't get up," Kevin told Emily. He didn't want her moving around too much; worried she might pull the stitches. He handed his sword to Mia and walked over to Emily, "Honk your horn."

"Beep, beep," Emily giggled as Kevin placed his hands on her stool and started pushing her and the stool down the hall and to her bedroom so she could talk with Mike. When he could push her into the room he gave the stool a big shove (after telling Emily to hold on tight). Emily soared into her bedroom, laughing, and Kevin went back to the dojo.

Mike and Serena (who didn't want to be alone the night before and opted out of sleeping in her own room), sat up in bed when they heard giggling in their room. Emily, on her stool, came to a stop in the middle of the room. Serena and Mike exchanged curious looks.

"Where did you come from?" Serena asked while Mike got out of bed to check up on his fiancée. Emily was still giggling.

"Stools are fun."

"Are you okay?" Mike asked, kneeling down to her level, "It doesn't hurt too much, does it?"

"Not too much," Emily shook her head, "Besides, Kevin tells me you're a quitter."

"Kevin spreads lies."

"Are you giving up on defeating Xandred."

"Kevin might be onto something," Mike lowered his head. Emily held out her hand.

"Samuraizer, then."

"Emily…"

"If you're giving up, you don't need it."

"Em…"

"We can still fight."

"Emily, look at you," Serena said, "There is no fight left."

"You're giving up too?" Emily groaned again and buried her face in her hands, "You both suck!"

"Emily, you don't get it…"

"You don't get it," Emily shook her head. "As long as I'm alive, I'm going to keep fighting. I'm going to protect the people who can't protect themselves and I'm going to make sure Xandred doesn't win, or I'm going to die trying. There's everything to lose and everything to gain."

"Emy…"

"What about the baby?" Emily asked her sister. "Don't you want it to grow up in a world where it doesn't have to worry about serving a master? Don't you him to be happy and free to do what he wants. Don't you want her to grow up strong and proud of the person she might be? Not some slave to a cruel Nighlok who only won because mommy gave up."

Serena lowered her head. Emily turned to Mike.

"I'm fighting, whether you are or not."

"Emily, you can't…"

"Why not?"

"You'll get hurt."

"If I don't fight and Xandred wins, I'll hurt a lot more. Death is better than letting some stupid Nighlok flood the earth."

Mike took Emily's hand, "I want you safe."

"Then fight with me," Emily held out her hand again, "if you don't want to, turn your Samuraizer over."

Mike looked over to his night table where he had placed his Samuraizer before bed the night before. He took it and turned back to Emily. Instead of giving it over, he traced a symbol and a white rose fell into her hand. Emily smiled at Mike as he pulled her in for a kiss.

When they broke, Emily looked over her shoulder to Serena. The eldest Earth Samurai shrugged.

"What? I can't let you fight alone, can I?" she asked. "What kind of big sister would I be if I let my baby sis run into danger by herself?"

"Did you have breakfast?" Mike asked the smiling Emily. The yellow Ranger shook her head.

"Not yet."

"Hold on tight, then," Mike gripped the sides of the stool and pushed Emily out of the room, racing as fast (and safely) as he could down the halls to the kitchen, Serena a few steps behind.

They raced past Mentor and Jayden, who had just gotten out of bed.

"Beep, beep!"

"You'll scratch the floors," Mentor called to his youngest Rangers but they didn't hear him. He groaned and turned to Jayden. The red Ranger shrugged.

"Hey, if you had listened to me from the start, they wouldn't be here scratching up your floors. You brought this on yourself."

"I guess I did," Mentor sighed. "After all, this house was a lot quieter before they showed up."

Scruffy suddenly came racing down the halls, nearly knocking Mentor Ji over had Jayden not been quick to steady him.

"There wouldn't have been a lot less dog, too," Jayden chuckled. "I'm going to go train for a few hours before breakfast."

"I'm going back to bed," Mentor held his head in his hand and sighed. "I think my aspirins need to be restocked."


	39. Antonio's Father

_Author's Note: Anonymous reviews are no longer permitted on any of my stories. After a recent review from Irene for this story I have decided to remove that privilege. Unless someone here is willing to pay me a fortune to update daily, I will update when I have the chapter ready and when I have the time._

_For those of you patient enough to wait for the updates, I thank you. I know you understand it's not always possible to update everyday._

_Irene, if you can't wait for chapters, I suggest you get out. I don't need people like you commenting on my hard work._

* * *

><p>Antonio understood why the protective symbols needed to be placed around the Shiba House and why he needed to stay on the Shiba grounds until they went down and all the Rangers were recovered and ready for battle. After nearly losing Emily in a sudden attack, he wanted nothing more than for his friends to be safe and would give up everything to see them live another day.<p>

But that didn't mean it was hard.

It had now been three days since he had seen a single fish and his was getting anxious to go out again. He felt like he was recovering from an addiction and he was going through the symptoms of withdrawal. He couldn't focus, he was jumpy, his mind felt scattered and he was actually starting to feel sore all over, though he had done nothing to cause the pain. It was just his mind telling him he needed to get out and go fishing, even if he didn't catch anything.

"Here," he looked up as Jayden handed him a bowl of Goldfish crackers. The red Ranger had a playful smirk on his face. He knew being housebound was really bothering Antonio and wanted to find a way to help.

Antonio glared at the crackers. They were gold and they were fish but he wasn't impressed.

"Emily's going to be mad when she finds out you stole some of her snacks."

"What's she going to do, drive her stool into me?" Jayden sat down next to Antonio and placed the bowl on the table. He pulled out his Samuraizer and created a miniature fishing rod to hook the Goldfish crackers with. He handed it to Antonio, "I know it's not the same."

"Thanks," Antonio cast the little fishing rod into the bowl and waited for a catch that would never come. Jayden placed his hand on the gold Ranger's shoulder.

"Soon," he said, "we'll venture outside again and I'll help you catch a million and one fish and we'll sell them all."

"That's a lot of cash," Antonio smirked, "If I could sell that many fish in a year that would be great."

"We'll get you there," Jayden chuckled. He looked to the bowl, "So are the fish biting today?"

"Nope," Antonio shook his head with a smile.

"Sometimes, you just gotta dig in with your hands," Jayden smirked, reaching into the bowl and pulling out a handful. He popped them into his mouth and smiled, "It may be primitive, but it still works."

"Cute," Antonio rolled his eyes before he heard a muffled ringing. He had no idea what that sound was, though it did sound familiar. It dawned in him, finally, and he reached into his pocket to pull out his phone. He checked the number and then looked up at Jayden, eyes wide, "It's my dad."

"You can't answer it," Jayden shook his head. "I know it's tempting but…"

"I don't want to put him in danger, Jay," Antonio replied as he looked to the number nervously, "but I haven't spoken to him in ages and he's probably wondering why. He doesn't know I'm a Samurai. If I don't answer, he might assume the worst."

Jayden, understanding the dilemma, nodded his head. He couldn't ask Antonio to avoid his father completely.

"Answer it."

The phone was immediately pressed to Antonio's ear as the fisherman began to speak to his father in Spanish. Jayden sat next to Antonio, waiting for the phone call to end. He could pick up a few words that Antonio was saying, but had a very limited understand of Spanish and couldn't follow the conversation very well at all.

Finally, Antonio finished up the call, "Sí, papá. No puedo esperar. Adiós," the gold Ranger hung up the phone and looked Jayden dead in the eyes, "My father's coming."

"What!" Jayden jumped out of his seat, "When? Antonio, that's not allowed!"

"He says he wants to see what I've been doing with myself for the last few months. I couldn't say no!"

"He's coming here?"

"Yeah."

"How's he going to get into the yard? We have the symbols up. I can't take the down…"

"The others seem ready," Antonio shrugged his shoulders, "I mean, we're only waiting on Emily, right, and it's not like she'll be in much danger. Serena's watching her like a hawk, Mike's not going to let anything happen to her, and you saw Mia in that last battle, right?"

"Yeah, but…"

"Jayden, I know family visits aren't permitted, unless someone gets knocked up, I guess, but my father needs to stay clueless if I want to keep him safe. Every once in a while parents like to check up on their kids and make sure they're doing okay in this world. If he can't do that, he's going to wonder what's up."

"Any way you can meet up with him in a restaurant, though? Anywhere but here."

"I can try," Antonio pulled out his phone again, "but even if he says yes, you're going to have to make sure this place is ready in case he wants to see where I live."

"Antonio…"

"I know it's inconvenient and dangerous and trust me, I don't want to do this either, but we have to."

"You better hope you know what you're doing."

-Samurai-

"His father might be coming here?" Mia asked. Antonio was already out of the house after the symbols went down. He was trying to meet up with his father as far away as possible from the house in hopes that the distance would discourage the want to visit the house.

Jayden nodded his head to Mia. He had already spoken to Mentor and was now filling all the other Rangers in on the plan. If Antonio did bring his father home, they all needed to know.

"Does this mean we can invite our parents over?" Mike asked. "Emily and Serena got to have theirs over…"

"Look how that turned out," Serena muttered.

"Now Antonio?" Mike continued. "You're not playing favourites, are you, Jay?"

"Antonio's father doesn't know he's a Samurai. We have to pretend he's living a normal life so he doesn't catch on. Mentor's already approved it I just need you guys to know."

"So what do we do if Antonio does bring his dad here?" Kevin asked. "What happens if he brings his dad and the Gap Sensor goes off? We can't all run off, he'll get suspicious, but we can't stay here."

"Hopefully Mia's scared Dayu off for another couple of days," Jayden sighed loudly, "and hopefully Xandred's still working on some master plan and he'll be busy for the next little while. We might be able to pull this off."

"Besides," Serena said, "we won't all be leaving. Antonio can stay behind with his dad, and Emily and I aren't going anywhere. I'm sure we'll be able to distract him while you guys slowly disappear."

"What about us?" Mia asked. "How's he going to explain sharing such a big house with seven other people?"

"You guys are my friends," Jayden answered. "Antonio's father knows me and Mentor. He'll just think we offered Antonio a place to stay while he gets his start in the city."

"And we're all living together because…"

"The bills don't pay themselves. The more roommates, the less money we each need to spend and the house is so big anyways, it would be a waste not to have so many people."

"I think we can pull this off," Mike smiled confidently, leaning back into the couch and wrapping his arm around Emily's shoulders. "All we have to do is pretend we're regular people and that shouldn't be too hard."

"Oh no," Emily groaned, dropping her head in her hands. The team looked to her.

"What?"

"Mike just jinxed it."

"I'm sure it'll be fine, Emily," Jayden told her, "besides, there's a chance we don't even have to worry about Antonio bringing his father…"

The Rangers could hear the click of the lock on the front door turning before Jayden could finish his sentence and their held their breaths as the door opened and they heard people walking in.

"Este es mi hogar," Antonio's voice rang through the house as he and his father stepped into view. Antonio gestured around the common room to his friends, "you already know Jayden, dad, and these are my other friends."

Emily turned to Mike and punched him in the chest, "I told you!"

"Kevin," Antonio pointed to the blue Ranger as he introduced his father to the team, "Mia, Mike, Emily and Serena, mi novia."

Antonio's father made his way around, shaking hands with each of the Rangers while Serena got up and walked over to Jayden. The extra tag after her name hadn't gone unnoticed.

"What the hell does _mi novia_ mean?" she asked him.

"I'm so sorry, I froze up!" Antonio whispered, keeping his voice low so his father wouldn't hear. "He asked me if I had a girlfriend and your name just slipped out."

"What?" Serena gasped. She grabbed his arm and pulled him further away, "Why?"

"It doesn't mean anything, I swear!"

"You could have answered with no!"

"I know, he just… I've never had a girlfriend before and when he heard I was living with you, Mia and Emily he asked if I was seeing any of you. Mia and Emily are already engaged, and not to me, so your name kind of just… fell out."

"Fine, great, can we pretend to break up now? I'll be gentle… I'll just tell you the baby's not… oh shit."

Antonio's eyes widened as well but he quickly shook his head, "He won't know, you're barely showing."

"Antonio, I have baby blankets, baby toys, maternity clothes and pregnancy books scattered around this house. He'll see them for sure and if I'm not pregnant, who is?"

"Mia? Emily?"

"No way," Serena shook her head, "You said my name, we're doing this my way."

Antonio's father walked up to Serena, finally getting the chance to introduce himself. Serena let him kiss her hand and smiled.

"You have an amazing son," she told the gold Ranger's father and placed a hand on her stomach, "When I first found out about the baby, I thought I would be doing the single parenting thing, but Antonio really stepped up to the plate."

"Baby?" Antonio's father looked to him in surprise. Antonio groaned loudly and gave Serena the evil eye. The earth Samurai couldn't be any happier.

"I would have completely understood if Antonio had just said _no_, but he knows he got himself into this mess and he's going to have to live with this decision forever."

Serena kissed Antonio's cheek as she walked out of the room, "By the way, _honey_, you owe me for half the baby stuff I've already bought."

Antonio watched her leave, growling under his breath before he turned to his father with a big grin.

"So, dad, what do you think?"


	40. Around the House

After Serena left Antonio was forced to explain his situation to his father. How he had managed to knock up Serena in his time in the city and how he was now supporting her with his fish business. None of it was actually true and his father couldn't tell his son was lying. Antonio's father came to terms with the fact that he was going to be a grandfather, and while he wasn't thrilled it had happened so fast, he didn't hate the idea.

Emily had excused herself from the room shortly after Antonio's father accepted the baby and the other Rangers offered to give him a tour of the house. They would stay away from the more Samurai prominent rooms but the bedrooms, the kitchen, the hallways and the yards were all acceptable. Meanwhile, Mentor was going to hide the tools that would reveal their identities. Mr. Garcia didn't need to know his son was a Samurai until after the fact, when it was safe for the truth to come out.

Antonio bit his lip nervously as his friends showed his father around the yard. What little training equipment was out wouldn't pose a threat to his secret. Mike had already mentioned he was an active person and Kevin had mentioned that the only reason he and Mike had bonded so well when they first met was because they shared a love of swordsmanship and martial arts. Mr. Garcia just assumed the equipment belonged to the two boys and they would use them when they wanted to train or workout, like any other normal boys.

But Antonio was worried about his new romantic relationship and silently wished he had let Mia or Emily's name slip out instead of Serena's. He would much rather deal with Mike or Kevin giving him dirty looks than a pregnancy. Serena was at fault for that, but Antonio really only had himself to blame. Had he just been honest, he wouldn't be dating the only pregnant member of the team and he wouldn't have temporarily adopted her child. And if the truth ever slipped out to his father, he was sure it would break his heart.

"Is there a stream or lake nearby?" Mr. Garcia asked his son as he walked back over to the side of the house. "You're still fishing, aren't you? You've got to be supporting the mother of your child."

"Always," Antonio nodded his head. "There's a river not too far from here. I head out most mornings and fish, and then sell my stock in the city. I'm doing pretty well for myself."

"And the rest of us are all chipping in, too," Mike added. He was a little put off by the fact that Antonio was now the father of Serena's child. Mr. Garcia knew that Emily and Serena were sisters, so he knew that Mike was going to be the child's uncle, but he had no idea that the father figure was actually supposed to be Mike. _He_ was going to be the one to help Serena during the pregnancy. _He_ was going to be the one who would support her and the child when he or she arrived. _He _was going to be in the room while Serena was giving birth. _He_ would raise this child like it was his own son or daughter. Not Antonio. Antonio was going to be an amazing uncle. He had a close relationship with Emily, and he and Serena got on rather well, and after the shock had settled, he had been one of the most excited. But he was, in no way, going to be the main male role model in the child's life.

To sum it all up, Mike was feeling a little jealous.

"Nothing like the support of a father though, right, son?" Mr. Garcia tapped his son on the shoulder. "It's scary at first, as I assume you know, but you fall right into the role."

"Yeah," Antonio nodded his head.

"So," Mr. Garcia looked around, "Where's this river? I can't come visit my son and not go fishing with him."

Antonio's face suddenly lit up. No more baby talk, just fishing with his father.

"I'll show you," he smiled and raced inside to grab his fishing kit. Mr. Garcia watched him run with a laugh before turning to Jayden.

"Would you like to join? It's been so long, I'm sure we have a lot to catch up on. Last time I saw you, you were barely tall enough to unlock the gate to let Antonio in."

"If Antonio doesn't mind me tagging along, I guess I could come," Jayden shrugged his shoulders. He wasn't a big fan of fishing but didn't want to pass up the opportunity to talk with his best friend's father and possibly hear some embarrassing stories about Antonio. After so many had been shared about him, it was only fair.

Antonio rushed out from the house, pulling his cart along and Mr. Garcia and Jayden followed him out into the woods for an afternoon of fishing. Mike, Mia, and Kevin were the only ones left outside. Kevin looked to Mike with a laugh.

"I guess you're not a big baby-talk kind of guy," he said, "any time that awkward situation came up I saw you making funny faces. You're not going to be sick, are you?"

"I'm not sick," Mike shook his head.

Mia had been a little more vigilant and had noticed that Mike really seemed to get agitated when Mr. Garcia called Antonio the father of Serena's baby. It could have just been her overanalysing the matter, but she could have sworn Mike was green with envy.

"We all know Antonio's not the real dad," she told Mike. "This is just until his father leaves."

"A kid is forever," Mike grumbled. "Just because Antonio's dad is leaving soon doesn't mean he'll stop thinking Antonio's the father."

"The truth will come out eventually," Mia assured him. "For now, the most important thing is Mr. Garcia's safety. Not the father of Serena's unborn child."

"Which, by the way, still isn't you," Kevin pointed out only to be smacked in the chest by Mia. He looked to his fiancée, "Well, it's not."

-Samurai-

Emily had a sick feeling in her stomach as she walked up to Serena's new bedroom door and knocked. She heard her sister's voice calling her in and opened the door. Serena was setting up a few of her things, getting her room to her liking. She looked up and saw Emily seemed upset.

"You okay, Emy?" she asked. "The stitches aren't bothering you, are they?"

Emily shook her head, "Antonio explained the whole pregnancy thing."

Serena chuckled to herself, "That must have been fun to watch. I know it's kind of cruel making him think he's going to be a grandfather, but you have to admit, it's pretty funny."

Emily took a seat on Serena's bed and gently grabbed her niece or nephew's baby blanket. Serena noticed Emily didn't seem in the mood to laugh which indicated something was wrong. She stopped organizing her room and sighed.

"What's up, Emy?"

"He just accepted it," Emily said. "He was a little mad at first, but that was mainly just because Antonio didn't tell him."

"He seems like a good guy," Serena nodded. "I didn't expect anything less from him."

"I guess," Emily lowered her head and stared at the blanket. Serena saw this and walked over to her bed. She took a seat next to Emily and wrapped her arm around her little sister.

"It still stings for me too," she whispered, "but we're going to be okay. Besides, would you really want Antonio's dad to run out on him, especially when the baby's not his."

"No."

Serena kissed the side of Emily's face, "You've still got me and dad and Mike," she said. "I miss mom too, I miss her a lot, but if she's going to hurt you like this, I don't want her back."

"She hurt you more."

"But I made the mistake," Serena hugged her sister again before pushing back onto the bed, "Now, help me with something."

"What?"

"Grab the corner of the sheets at the top of the bed," Serena pointed to both corners and Emily nodded, doing as she was told. Just as she got the sheets in her hands, Serena pulled at her ankles, yanking Emily and the sheets right off the bed. Emily hit the ground gently, wrapped in blankets. Serena looked down at her, "I have to wash these."

Emily giggled, "You could have just said so."

"I like scaring you."

-Samurai-

Dinner time was going to test the Rangers' acting skills as they sat around the common room, plates in their laps and they looked around at each other nervously.

"So, Mr. Garcia," Kevin looked to the gold Ranger's father, "How long are you staying?"

"A few days. Antonio said it was fine."

"Stay as long as you want," Antonio nodded to his father and noticed Serena was shooting him a look. They hadn't even been together for a full day and she was already hating the visits from the in-laws. He took her hand in his, "You're more than welcome to, right guys?"

Antonio looked to his friends and signalled for them to nod their heads. Even with a secret at stake, he couldn't kick his father out. He was the only true family Antonio had.

The gold Ranger felt Serena digging her nails into his hand and tried not to groan in pain. He looked to her as she took a sip of her water. She did not seem happy with this arrangement.

"So when's the wedding?" Mr. Garcia asked.

Serena spit out her water and Antonio's jaw hit the floor. Emily buried her face in Mike's shoulder, Mia seemed excited and the boys were holding in a laugh.

"A wedding?" Serena shook her head, "No, no, we're still so far away from marriage."

"But with a baby on the way you've got to be thinking about it," Mr. Garcia said. "There's no reason why you two shouldn't give marriage a shot. You'll practically be married when you're taking care of a baby anyways."

"I could do without the fancy crap," Serena said. "Besides, I've already got a baby and my sister's wedding to worry about, I wouldn't have time to…"

"I could help!" Mia volunteered enthusiastically. The thought of planning a wedding, even a fake one, was exciting. She couldn't plan her own wedding until Master Xandred was defeated, and she couldn't help with Mike and Emily's for the same reason.

Antonio and Serena shot her frustrated looks while Mr. Garcia clapped his hands together.

"Perfect. There you go," he said with a smile, "The wedding will all be planned and I'm sure we can scrape up enough money for a decent party afterwards."

"Dad, más lento, por favor," Antonio begged his father, "Serena and I haven't been together that long. We'll raise the child together, sure, but let's see if a relationship can last between us before we commit ourselves fully."

Mike's hands balled into fists and he held his fork tightly as Antonio mentioned raising the baby. He was an uncle, nothing more. Kevin noticed this and smiled.

"Is Uncle Mike jealous that the sister in-law gets a wedding first?" he teased.

"Shut up, Kevin," Mike growled.

Mr. Garcia looked to his son, "I'm not trying to pressure you. I just want you to be happy."

"I know, dad."

"When you were in high school I couldn't help but wonder if maybe you weren't trying hard enough to find a special girl. I thought you were missing out. You know, your mother and I met in high school."

"I know, dad."

"Whenever you're ready," Mr. Garcia said and finished his plate. He offered to take all the other dishes and wash them. Antonio decided to join him, collecting Serena and Jayden's plate, he followed his father to the kitchen. He set the plates down.

"I think you really freaked Serena out with the whole wedding thing," Antonio told his father. "You're going to have to slow it down with the girlfriend and wedding stuff. We're in a relationship and expecting a child, but we're still not…"

"You can't tell me you're not serious," Mr. Garcia said. "C'mon, Antonio, you picked a good one. She seems strong, smart, and healthy. She's worth holding onto."

"I know that, dad," Antonio nodded.

"I'm just trying to look out for you," Mr. Garcia placed his hand on his son's arms. "It's hard finding the right girl when you have no one to go to for advice. I can do all I can, but sometimes a son needs to talk with his mother."

"I'm doing fine, dad."

Mr. Garcia glanced into the common room and nodded his head as he spotted Serena.

"I'll say."

Antonio rolled his eyes. This wasn't going to be easy.

"So you said you were staying a few days?"

"Do you have room for me?" Mr. Garcia asked, "If not I can get a hotel…"

"What kind of man would I be if I forced my father to sleep in a hotel?" Antonio asked while trying to figure out the sleeping arrangements in his head. They were all maxed out on beds, and the couch wasn't comfortable enough to get a proper sleep. He groaned when he realised what this meant. There was going to be some awkward doubling up. He promised his father a bed and quickly helped wash the dishes. While his father dried them, Antonio raced back into the common room and whispered in Jayden's ear. The red Ranger shook his head.

"No way, Antonio. You're a kicker."

"But…" Antonio looked to Serena and then back at Jayden, "Please! She'll kill me."

"You told him he could stay…"

"But…"

"You should have thought of that before you offered your father her bed."

"Whose bed?" Serena asked. "My bed?"

Antonio nodded nervously, "Yeah, uh, I was hoping he could take yours and you could take mine and Jayden and I could bunk together but…"

"Too good," Jayden shook his head and laughed. "I would totally pay to see this."

"Pay to see what?" Emily asked and Mike whispered the answer in her ear. She blushed, "That's going to be awkward."

Serena groaned, "Just stick to your half of the bed and we'll be fine," she told Antonio and rolled her eyes, "If you touch me once, even if it's just your foot touching mine, I will shove you onto the floor; do you hear me, Garcia?"

"Loud and clear," Antonio nodded.

Serena grumbled and crossed her arms over her chest, "You couldn't have said Mia's name, huh? It had to be mine."


	41. Garcia Bonding Time

Truth be told, Jayden didn't mind sharing a bed with Antonio. It was always hard at first setting limits so neither of them were shoved onto the floor, but once they both got settled and comfortable there was usually no fuss. But Jayden refused to share with Antonio on this night because it was going to be entertaining watching his best friend try and get Serena in bed.

"Ah!" Serena scolded, holding up her finger to Antonio as he shifted around, "do not touch."

"I'm just…"

"No touch," Serena shook her hands, "Hands to yourself, feet to yourself and for the love of God, if you cross the middle of the bed I will push you to the ground so hard you'll find yourself in bed with Dayu."

"This is going to be a good night," Jayden leaned back into his pillow and closed his eyes.

"Got it?" Serena asked Antonio.

"Need I remind you that this is technically my bed?" Antonio gestured to the gold-coloured blankets, "And that I'm being nice by giving you a place to sleep for the night."

"Need I remind you whose father is sleeping in my bed? Good night Antonio."

"Good night."

Jayden counted backwards from five in his head and right on cue Serena shot up like a rocket. She pointed her glare at Antonio.

"Your feet are freezing! Don't you have a pair of socks you could wear? You're worse than my sister!"

"They cut off my circulation."

"What circulation?" Serena asked, "There's no circulation. Your feet are stone cold! Go find a pair of…"

"Knock, knock!" called a voice and there was a knock on the door. The three Samurai recognised the voice immediately. It was Antonio's father. As the door opened slowly, Serena and Antonio figured out what they needed to do.

Mr. Garcia stepped into the room with a bright smile, wanting to wish his son, his son's best friend, and his son's girlfriend a good night before he laid down for bed. His smile only grew when she saw Serena and Antonio cuddling. There was a wide grin on Jayden's face and the red Ranger seemed to be holding in a laugh, but Mr. Garcia didn't pay any attention to that.

"Look at you two," he said, "I remember being in love. It's a magical time."

Serena nuzzled into Antonio and whispered into his ear, "The no touching rule still applies. Hand off ass, please."

Antonio moved his hand up her back and smiled up to his father.

"Is the bedroom okay, dad?"

"Of course," Mr. Garcia nodded, "I was just coming in to say good night."

"There will be a fresh towel in the bathroom for you tomorrow morning," Serena promised.

"Don't get up early just for me," Mr. Garcia shook his head. "You're an expectant mother. You need all the rest you can get now, before the little one comes out and keeps you busy."

"I've already got an Emily," Serena chuckled, "A baby shouldn't be much of a challenge."

"Dad, if you wanted we could go out early in the morning to catch some more fish. They're usually pretty active right before dawn."

"Tomorrow night we can even cook some for dinner," Jayden suggested. "Antonio and Serena are amazing in the kitchen."

"We are?"

"You might want to stay out of the kitchen when they are cooking, though," Jayden hinted to Mr. Garcia, "They tend to get a little touchy."

"Antonio's always been a hands-on kind of guy."

"You're telling me," Serena muttered to herself and rolled her eyes. Antonio's hand had slipped down and at this point she was sure he was doing it on purpose. Two could play this game. She placed her hand on his chest and leaned up, kissing his cheek. Just when Antonio thought she was going to play along for his father's sake, she dug her fingernails into his chest. "The last person to touch my ass was brutally murdered by my brother in-law. Do you want that to happen to you too?"

Antonio shook his head fearfully but played cool for his father as he hugged Serena close.

"Good night, dad."

"Good night," Mr. Garcia stepped out of the room and closed the door. When he was far enough down the hall, Serena pulled away from Antonio and pushed him onto the floor. Jayden finally exploded with laughter.

"That was amazing."

"You knew it was going to get awkward, didn't you?" Antonio rubbed the back of his head after it hit the floor. He was going to have a bump in the morning. Jayden nodded and moved over in his bed. He tapped the extra space with his hand.

"C'mon, Antonio. I think you've had enough excitement for one night."

"It's lack of excitement I'm hoping for," Serena said as she got settled in her bed, enjoying the space now that she had kicked Antonio out. The gold Ranger grumbled to himself as he crawled into bed with Jayden and lay down.

Suddenly Jayden shot up and turned to the gold Ranger, "Antonio! Socks!"

-Samurai-

"Ew."

"Either help or go get Emily," Serena said from over the toilet as her morning sickness came back for one final round. She was in her second trimester already and thought she had left the barfing stage behind, but when she woke up this morning she had felt rather nauseous and was now giving Antonio and Jayden a free demonstration of what happened to women who were pregnant.

Jayden and Antonio exchanged looks as they wondered what to do. It was then Antonio's father knocked on the bedroom door and invited himself into the room. He and Antonio had planned on going fishing in the early morning and he was ready to leave.

Antonio wasn't. He was completely disgusted by Serena's vomiting and had forgotten to get dressed and packed.

Mr. Garcia saw the trio was gathered in the bathroom and could only assume what was going on. He walked in and brushed Serena's hair out of the way as she puked again. He knelt down next to her and rubbed her back soothingly.

"It does get easier," he promised. "When Antonio's mother was pregnant, this lasted well into the second trimester but not for the full pregnancy."

"One thing your son is useless at," Serena wiped her mouth and moved away from the bowl, finally feeling like the morning sickness was over. She glared at Antonio, "You're terrified of vomit, aren't you _honey_?"

Antonio shrugged his shoulders, "Not terrified just… you need to shower."

"Antonio, why don't we cancel the fishing trip this morning, and I'll show you how to make your lady a proper breakfast?" Mr. Garcia suggested. Antonio nodded his head, but as Mr. Garcia turned to leave the room to get started on the morning meal, Antonio seemed upset. He hated almost everything about his father's visit except for the fact that his father was visiting and he would be able to spend some time with him before having to disappear completely to keep him safe. He didn't like lying, especially about Serena's pregnancy, but he knew he had to keep it up.

Serena and Jayden exchanged looks. It didn't take a rocket scientist to understand Antonio was disappointed. As vengeful as Serena was for Antonio putting her in this position, she didn't want his visit with his dad to suffer one bit. She knew he meant a lot to Antonio.

Jayden had known that since they were kids. Antonio had always been an independent and adventurous soul, but the thing he loved most, above playing Samurai in Jayden's yard, above computer games and even above fishing, was spending time with his father.

"No sense cancelling your trip for a little morning sickness," Jayden said before Mr. Garcia was out of earshot. "Even fathers-to-be need a break sometimes during the pregnancy. Go have fun, guys; I'll take care of Serena."

"Jayden, you rock!" Antonio cried out happily.

"Are you okay with this, Serena?" Mr. Garcia asked. "I'm fine if you wanted Antonio to…"

"Have a good time," Serena nodded her head. "Go out and have fun. Jayden makes a mean omelette anyways, and I'll have plenty of time with him when we're cooking dinner."

"You guys are the best!" Antonio called out, bouncing happily around his room to collect his things for the morning. "C'mon, dad, we have to hurry!"

When father and son had everything ready and they were out of the room, Jayden turned to Serena.

"You're a good fake girlfriend."

"You're a good real friend," Serena smiled, "Taking care of Antonio's pregnant girlfriend so he can go out fishing. Very kind of you."

"Thanks. So I guess this means you're going to go bug Mike and Emily, now?" Jayden chuckled as Serena started for the door.

"My real baby family," she nodded.

-Samurai-

Antonio loved his morning. Fishing in the calm river in the early morning with his father by his side meant the world to him. Ever since his mother had passed away, Antonio and his father had grown much closer. The tragedy had hit them both really hard, in a way that could either make or break their friendship. Fortunately, they stuck by each other and supported each other, and eventually they found they both loved to fish. After his mother's death, Antonio used to dread mornings because he would wake up and realise his mother was never going to come into his room and carry him down the stairs so he could eat the breakfast she made especially for him. She wasn't going to pick out his clothes so he looked sharp. There would be no hug and kiss before Antonio left for school. Mornings really sucks.

But when Mr. Garcia and Antonio planned on going fishing in the mornings, things turned around for the two of them. They had something to look forward to every night, and a reason to wake up in the mornings. They would always miss Mrs. Garcia, but she had left them the greatest gift of all when she passed away.

"You know," Antonio looked to his father, "I was thinking of starting an aquarium."

"Like, the big building or a fish tank?" Mr. Garcia asked as he pulled another small fish from the water and tossed it back. It was too small to eat and too small to sell.

"Fish tank. I catch a lot of little ones and don't know what to do with them."

"You would have to be careful that the dog doesn't knock the tank over and eat the fish."

"It's a dog, not a cat," Antonio chuckled. "Anyways, Emily's trained Scruffy really well. I'm sure he'll be fine with fish."

"You could start an aquarium," Mr. Garcia nodded, "but maybe with the fish at the pet store."

"I just think it would be neat," Antonio said. "The fish guy's gotta have his own fish, right?"

"If you do get fish, you'll have to be careful not to forget about them once the baby comes along."

"Dad…"

"I'm serious, Antonio. You're going to be really stressed out and tired. You'll be very forgetful and you wouldn't want the fish to suffer, would you?"

"No," Antonio shook his head and grumbled. His father was excited for the baby and it was awkward for Antonio. He was sure Serena would let his father play a role in her child's life, especially after all this, but he wasn't the grandfather. He felt terrible lying to his father.

"I'm really proud of you, son," Antonio's father smiled. "I know you told me you and Serena haven't been serious for long, but it still shows how good a man you are that you're going to stick by her through this. There are a lot of boys your age who would have packed their things and left. They don't realise that just because they aren't actually carrying the child that doesn't mean they aren't responsible for it."

"I hate guys who think that," Antonio nodded. "I would never do that, dad. I know better."

"I know, and I'm so proud of you."

Antonio lowered his head, "Thanks dad…"

"And Serena's such a beautiful young woman," Mr. Garcia smiled. "You, my son, are a very lucky boy. She must make you really happy."

"Yeah, dad."

Mr. Garcia turned to Antonio, hearing the enthusiasm in his son's responses dwindle down. He noticed Antonio seemed upset and he didn't know what was causing it.

"Is there something you want to tell me?" he asked. Antonio shook his head, then shifted uncomfortable in his seat.

"Dad…"

"You know, I'm always proud of you. No matter what, you're my son."

"I know," Antonio looked out to the water.

"I'll always support you," his father continued, "just because you're going to be a father, doesn't mean you'll stop needing one. You can always…"

Antonio clenched his fists, "Dad…"

Mr. Garcia was no idiot. His son was upset, looked as if he had something to say and seemed to really want to get it out whenever the baby came up.

"It's not yours, is it?"

"Serena's not even my girlfriend. I like her, I like her a lot, but as a friend. Nothing more."

Mr. Garcia nodded his head, "Well, that's a relief."

"A relief?"

Mr. Garcia set his fishing pole down and turned to his son with a big smile, "Antonio, I want you to be happy. I didn't find happiness until I met your mother and I wanted that for you. Someone special. I know when you were in high school I pressured you a bit to get out and talk to the girls, but if you're not ready, you're not ready."

"I just haven't found any girls I really liked, dad," Antonio said, feeling as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders now that the truth was out.

"You should have just told me from the start you weren't seeing anyone," Mr. Garcia said. "I wouldn't have been disappointed. I may be getting a little impatient, but I would never let my dreams step in the way of your happiness. You'll find someone when you're ready, you'll settle down with them, and you'll tell me right away, won't you."

"Of course. I'm sorry I made you think the baby was mine. I didn't plan on that, but Serena…"

"It's our turn to have a little fun now," Mr. Garcia smiled. He started collecting his things, "C'mon, son, we've got a pregnant lady to scare."


	42. Antonio's Game

Coming home from the fishing trip, Antonio felt so much better. He had finally told his father the truth about the baby. It wasn't his. He could breathe easy knowing he wasn't going to have to fake it around his father anymore, though he would have to for Serena. Another thing he loved about his father was that he was always ready to have fun.

He walked into the house and found Serena sitting in the common room, helping Emily with her symbol power. Emily was still recovering and couldn't train with the others, but there was nothing stopping her from practicing her symbols, and Serena was still so far ahead of Emily in that field that she made an excellent teacher. Antonio approached Serena, signalled to his father and then kissed her on the lips. Serena knew he had to do it, but was wide-eyed in shock. Emily covered her mouth with her hands, trying to hold down her breakfast and hold in a laugh at the same time, and Antonio and Mr. Garcia were trying so hard not to laugh and blurt out that the game was over.

Serena finally pushed Antonio away and looked up at him, her eyes telling the gold Ranger he was going to get it later.

"How was the fishing trip?" she asked sweetly but everyone in the room could see she was not happy with this secret anymore.

"Amazing," Antonio smiled and looked to his dad, "we even got to talking about baby names."

"Antonio…"

"No, hear me out. Dad and I think it would be really special if our baby was named after my mother," Antonio was beaming with nothing but pride and when Serena looked to Mr. Garcia she could see he was the same. She groaned loudly.

"What if it's a boy?"

"That's the best part," Antonio took a seat next to Serena and took her hands, "My mother's name was Charlotte but dad always called her Charlie. It's unisex."

"Fantastic," Serena looked to Emily nervously and the yellow Ranger shrugged her shoulders.

"Maybe Serena can think about it?" Emily suggested. "I mean, it's a big deal, right?"

"Of course we'll let you think about it," Mr. Garcia nodded, "but it would really mean a lot to me. Charlie was my life."

"And I really, really miss my mom," Antonio said to Serena. He placed his hands on her stomach. Normally Serena didn't mind. The Rangers were her family and this child was a part of their lives, but right now it felt very, very weird. Antonio smiled to his 'girlfriend', "Please, Serena, can we consider it?"

"Wouldn't it be a little cruel?" Serena asked. "I mean, a middle name, sure, but…"

"We talked about it, and it's what we want."

Serena didn't know what to do anymore. Antonio was milking this lie for all it was worth and it wasn't like she could refuse to consider the name. She sighed loudly.

"I… I guess we can think about it."

"No Emily Junior?" Emily pouted and crossed her arms over her chest, "Well then."

"Little Charlie Garcia," Mr. Garcia smiled, "Don't you like the ring of it? Charlie Garcia. Charles or Charlotte Garcia."

As Mr. Garcia continued with the name for the baby, Serena glared at Antonio.

"No," she shook her head, trying to stay subtle, "No Garcia, no Charlie."

"For dad's sake?"

"No."

"C'mon, Serena, it's not like you had a name planned out, right? And what's wrong with Charlie?"

"Nothing, but…"

The other Rangers walked into the common room after their morning training. They hadn't trained in their Samurai uniforms, preferring instead to use regular workout clothes because Antonio's father was visiting. As they took their seats, they heard whispers of the name Charlie from Mr. Garcia's mouth and from the conversation between Serena and Antonio.

Jayden leaned over and whispered to Emily, "What are they talking about?"

"Antonio and Mr. Garcia want to name the baby after Antonio's mother."

"What if it's a boy?" Jayden asked, "They can't name a boy Bella."

"Bella?" Emily frowned and looked at Jayden curiously, "But they said…" her eyes widened and she caught the smirks on Mr. Garcia and Antonio's face. She whispered to her sister, "Bella."

Serena looked to Emily, "What?"

"Antonio's mother's name is Bella," Emily said, "not Charlie."

"But…" Serena's eyes shifted back to Antonio and she saw he was grinning wickedly. "You devil. You told him?"

"During the fishing trip," Antonio nodded. "I couldn't lie to him anymore."

"And then you… and you…"

"Wait a minute," Emily furrowed her brow, "if you told your dad while fishing, why did you kiss Serena just now?"

"You what?" Kevin gasped. He and the others were shocked to hear this.

Serena pointed a glare at Antonio, "That's a good question, Emily."

"Well, I've got to go," Antonio jumped up from the stool and took his father's hand, "C'mon, dad, those fish we caught won't sell themselves."

"Antonio!" Serena shouted as she chased after him, "Get your Spanish ass back here!"

The other Rangers and Mr. Garcia chuckled as Serena chased Antonio around the house. Emily looked down sadly and breathed out a heavy sigh. Mike looked to her.

"What's up, Em?"

"I'm going to miss Antonio," she shook her head; "He was fun."


	43. Samurai Scare

Mr. Garcia's visit to the Shiba House went by a lot smoother now that the truth of the pregnancy was out (well, as much truth as Mr. Garcia needed to know), though Antonio was still sore from the consequences of his prank. All the Rangers had to hide from the older man was the fact that they were the Samurai Power Rangers. They were dreading the moment the Gap Sensor went off, hoping that it would at least wait until Mr. Garcia was gone. It only needed to wait a few more minutes.

Mr. Garcia was standing by the door with his bags, saying goodbye to the team of Samurai that had let him stay in their home. He loved his visit, getting to know his son's friends and spending time with his son. After not seeing or hearing from Antonio for so long, it was nice getting a few days of father/son time.

"I'm going to be pretty busy here, dad," Antonio said as he hugged his father goodbye. "I won't be able to call or email often."

"You still haven't told me why," Mr. Garcia sounded slightly disappointed, hoping the silent streak would end.

"Well, Serena's baby isn't mine, but we're all helping out," Antonio gestured to Serena, "she takes up a bit of time."

"Yeah, blame me," Serena rolled her eyes. "You're also busy selling fish. It's a real hit here. People seem to love their fish."

"This was one of the best places to sell," Mr. Garcia nodded and Antonio grinned. Serena hadn't been lying when she said this city was good for his fish selling business, and though it wasn't the reason he couldn't phone or email his father, it was serving as a god excuse. Mr. Garcia turned to his son, "Well, whenever you have the time, don't be afraid to call and tell you're old man how you're doing."

"I won't," Antonio promised and walked his father out the door. He had promised to take him as far as the bus stop and would wait for the bus with his father, giving them both one final chance to catch up.

Jayden closed the door behind the two Garcia men and let out a heavy sigh, "That was close."

"He doesn't suspect a thing," Kevin nodded. "I don't know how we did it, but we really pulled it off. We should have guests over more often."

"If we're doing this again, I'm single," Serena shook her head, "Dekker's a dick, but he was a much better kisser than Antonio."

"You liked it," Mia teased the older Samurai.

"I'm just glad the whole dating pregnancy thing is out in the clear," Mike said. He was feeling much better now that there wasn't someone else taking over his role in the baby's life. He had been rather jealous of Antonio and hated how everyone had to pretend he was the man of Mike's family. The earth girls were his girls. Serena was his older sister and Emily was his future bride. Anything they loved he wanted to protect and love as well. It felt strange having to share that with Antonio.

Kevin smirked and nudged Mike. He and Mia were the only two to pick up on Mike's jealousy and Kevin had loved to tease Mike about it. Mike just rolled his eyes. Everything was back to normal for him now. He wouldn't give into the teasing.

"So, Antonio's saying goodbye to his dad, I'll be catching up on the symbol practice I missed while his father's gone," Jayden looked around at his team as they walked together to the common room, "What are you all going to be doing?"

"We saw a pretty cool ad in the newspaper for a Haunted House in the city," Kevin said as he looked to Mia, "We were thinking of giving it a go. Anyone want to join?"

"Haunted House?" Emily shook her head, "No way. I'm already dreading Halloween enough as it is."

"Still don't like Zombies, huh?" Mike smiled to her. Emily shook her head.

"After that nightmare," she shivered, "that nightmare gives me nightmares."

"I'll take that as a 'no' from the two of you," Kevin said with a chuckle and turned to Serena, "How about you? Up for a Haunted House?"

"Let's see," Serena tapped her finger to her chin, "Crazy people jumping out at me with the intention of scaring me and likely succeeding because I've never been good in Haunted House, and I'm pregnant and already stressed enough living with you people. Plus, I would be third wheel on your date. Sounds so appealing."

"No?" Mia laughed.

"No," Serena confirmed it with a nod, "Big, big no."

"You could try Antonio on your way out," Jayden suggested, "He might be up for it."

"Or you two can go scare yourselves silly on your own," Mike said, "but no crawling into bed with us tonight when you hear strange bumps in the middle of the night."

Kevin rolled his eyes and set off with Mia for the Haunted House. He wasn't a coward. Growing up, when he got the chance, he loved going into Haunted Houses. They helped him test his level of focus and awareness. He would look around and anticipate where the scares were going to come from next. It was his favourite Halloween game and sometimes he would even get a jump on the people trying to scare him.

And a part of him hoped the Haunted House would scare Mia right into his arms.

Kevin and Mia were gone, and Serena turned to her sister, "Emy, seeing as everyone seems to be going out, wanna go pick out a few more things for the nursery?"

"Like what?" Emily asked. Serena's new bedroom was still rather bare so the expectant mother was hoping to fill it up with the things she would need when the baby came along. She didn't have a lot of money to spend all at once, so she was going to slowly start collecting the necessities throughout the pregnancy so they would all be ready by the time her little bundle of joy screamed its way into the world.

"I was thinking of getting a mobile this time," Serena said. "You want to help me pick one out?"

Emily smiled and nodded her head. Shopping for the baby was so much more exciting than staying at home or going to a Haunted House.

Mike pulled out his video games, "Well, if everyone's going to leave, I've got a level to beat."

-Samurai-

Kevin and Mia purchased their tickets for the Haunted House. In the ad it said it was the scariest Haunted House in town and they were here to test it out. They had already faced real monsters, real danger and they had stared death in the face too many times to count. They were certain it was going to take a little more than men in costumes to have them screaming their heads off.

But as they waited in line, Mia noticed there were grown men crying as they excited the house, many of them were holding onto their girlfriends or wives tightly, trying to comfort them. Teenage girls were racing out of the house screaming bloody murder, and teenage boys were scared stiff, barely able to move as they slowly made their way out, eyes wide in horror and their faces completely blank and pale.

"Maybe we underestimated the house a little bit," Mia looked up at Kevin. He shrugged his shoulders.

"It's just a bunch of guys in costumes with fake blood, fake body parts and fake monsters. Just remember that and you'll be fine."

He handed his ticket to the man at the door of the house and waited for the signal to head inside. For safety reasons, there was a limit on how many people could enter the house at once. He felt Mia holding his hand tightly as they walked in, so to comfort her he wrapped his arm around her.

"I'll teach you the trick to getting through," he promised her. "We'll see everything coming before it… Holy shit!" Kevin and Mia jumped as they both felt hands dropping down from behind onto their shoulders. Fake thunder sounded and the lights flickered on and off as the hand pulled itself away from them and let them continue on their haunted path. Mia looked up to Kevin.

"We'll see it coming?"

"Okay, that one took me by surprise," Kevin admitted and checked over his shoulder one last time before moving on. "I'll see the other ones. Like that, look over there. Someone's going to… AH!"

A dead man dropped from the ceiling, terrifying both Mia and Kevin. Their hearts raced as they stumbled back. They took a few deep breaths, trying to remain calm so they could get through the house without suffering a heart attack. Once her heart rate returned back to normal, Mia kicked the dead man.

"It's a dummy," she told Kevin. "This house got you again."

"Last time," Kevin said to the house and took Mia's hand. "We'll get through this. Worse come to worse, we morph."

"And draw more attention to ourselves," Mia jumped only slightly as a fake spider jumped out at her from the wall. She swatted it away and leaned into Kevin. "No one's going to want to scare the Samurai."

-Samurai-

While Kevin and Mia were challenging the scare level of the Haunted House, Serena and Emily were in the least, and at the same time, the most terrifying place in the city: the baby store. For planned pregnancies and excited mother-to-be, this was the best place to be. For nervous and terrified mothers, this place was to be avoided at all costs.

Emily was staring at the mobiles while Serena was looking through the book section. Serena had given Emily the chance to pick out the mobile that would hang over the baby's crib. She had no real preference and knew Emily was possibly more excited about the baby than she was. This would be right up her alley. Meanwhile, Serena wanted to see if there were any books that dealt with single parenting. She had a team of Rangers by her side, but the truth of the matter was that she was going to be a single parent. She wanted to have the upper hand when her baby arrived, and with so much free time at the Shiba House, Serena had nothing to do but get ready for her baby.

Over by the mobiles, Emily looked up in awe, slightly mesmerized by all the mobiles as they spun slowly. She looked to each one of them, finding it difficult to choose. Her only saving grace was that she wanted to stay away from the mobiles that were designed for boys or girls specifically. She had no idea what the sex of the baby was going to be and therefore was limited to the generic mobiles, such as the Mikey Mouse ones, the clowns (which actually scared her slightly), and the ducks.

And, of course, she couldn't ignore the Samurai Ranger mobile hanging in the corner of the store. She had seen a little bit of Power Ranger merchandise around the city, and on TV, had even seen commercials for Power Rangers costumes. She found it flattering, and the idea of putting the Samurai Rangers on a mobile was adorable to her.

Just as she was about to make a final decision between Mickey, the ducks and the Power Rangers, she heard a voice that chilled her to the bone.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Emily."

The yellow Ranger's body tensed up and she turned around slowly, finding herself face to face with the girl who made her school years a living nightmare.

"Abby?"

"Shopping for baby stuff already, Emily?" Abby crossed her arms over her chest, "To be honest, I never really saw you as a whore. I pictured you as the type who would die completely alone."

"I'm… I'm…" Emily's eyes darted around the store as she searched for her sister. She couldn't deal with Abby when she was by herself. The last time she had run into her bully she had been with Mia and she was certain her pink friend would protect her if Abby was too cruel. This time, unless Serena turned up, she would be completely alone.

"Then again," Abby shrugged her shoulders, "after your sister died your parents must have sent you out. It's not like there's any reason to keep a crybaby like you around. That explains why you're here in the city. You're selling yourself on the streets, aren't you?"

Emily shook her head but couldn't bring herself to answer.

Over by the books, Serena's ears had finally picked up on a familiar voice and she turned around. She noticed the voice seemed to be coming from the mobile section of the store so she poked her head over the bookcases to have a look.

It took her a moment, but she recognised Abby, Emily's elementary and high school bully, standing before her little sister. It was obvious from the minute Serena laid eyes on Abby that the mean girl hadn't changed. She seemed to be digging into Emily and putting her down so much more than ever before. Serena wasn't sure how long Abby had been standing in front of Emily, but it was already long enough to bring tears to Emily's eyes.

As the older sister, Serena's first instinct was to jump in and rip Abby a new one, but she knew violence wasn't the answer. When she had been younger, before getting sick, Serena had gotten revenge for Emily by putting the fear of God into all the kids who even gave her sister a crooked glance and for a few days it seemed to work, but the bullies would always come back. When Serena did get sick and could no longer protect Emily, the teasing and harassment escalated. Emily's fragile state as a result of her home life left her even more vulnerable, and her classmates picked up on it and abused it right away.

So instead of jumping in, Serena decided to sit back and wait to see if Emily could solve this on her own. She wasn't a kid anymore. She was a Samurai and a Power Ranger. She had dealt with monsters much worse than Abby and had come out stronger because of it. Of course, if Emily looked like she was drowning Serena would step in, but she wanted to see if Emily was ready to handle herself; if she had really grown.

"So, cow-bitch," Abby bumped past Emily and began to look around the store, "I hope you at least know the name of the man whose baby you're carrying."

"I'm… I'm not…"

"Don't lie to me, Em. You know I'm always right. So spill."

-Samurai-

Mia jumped and screamed as a man who had been pretending to be dead reached out and grabbed Kevin's foot, tripping him before jumping on top of him and holding him down. Once again, Kevin hadn't seen this scare coming and had been completely taken off guard. Kevin had to wrestle his way out from under the dead man. His heart was beating a thousand times a minute as he hopped to his feet, grabbed Mia's hand and ran the rest of the way through the house.

They stumbled out and tripped onto the grass, breathing heavily as they let their bodies settle. They had come out in better shape than most of the people who had gone in, but they were still terrified.

"Scariest house I have ever been in," Kevin panted loudly as he sat up and pulled Mia into his arms, "Are you okay?"

"Alive… I think," Mia nodded her head and hugged Kevin. "I think that house scared me to death."

"Same," Kevin nodded. He was glad he was out of that house. He had never seen anything to terrifying in his life. He snuggled into Mia, taking comfort in her arms as he glanced back to the house. He blinked and for a moment thought he saw Octoroo waddling his way around the house. Kevin shook his head and blinked again, and when he went to double check what he had seen, the squid was gone. He hugged Mia tighter, "Let's go home."

She nodded her head, more than ready to leave.


	44. Bigger Person

Serena bit her lip nervously as she watched Abby pressure her sister into revealing the father of the child she wasn't even carrying. Emily stammered and stuttered and couldn't get out a proper response, making it hard for her to tell Abby she wasn't the one who was pregnant.

"Unless," Abby pondered aloud, looking Emily up and down, "you don't know the father, do you? Well, Emily, you just keep surprising me. You're an even bigger whore than I thought."

It was at this point that Serena wanted to jump in, but she held her breath and waited. She knew Emily could do it if she just focused. She trusted her sister.

Abby bumped past Emily, knocking the yellow Ranger off her feet. The bigger girl laughed and looked at Emily on the floor.

"Still so klutzy, Emy-baby? Feet are for standing and walking, remember?" Abby reached down and yanked Emily back up to her feet and brushed her off before shoving her again. Emily stumbled backwards, falling onto her butt again. Abby laughed, "C'mon, Emily. Stand up properly."

Emily stood up but she was shoved again by Abby. She stumbled, but this time she didn't fall over, so Abby shoved her again and knocked her right off her feet. Abby laughed and pointed to Emily, drawing attention to her from the entire store, "Stupid cry-baby still can't stand on her own two feet."

Emily clutched her side in pain, that last fall had been too much to take. When she started walking around, Mentor had told her to be careful because she risked aggravating her injury if she moved too much. Abby wasn't satisfied with Emily staying on the floor, and unaware of the wound to Emily's stomach (not that she really cared), she tapped her foot against Emily's side. It wasn't hard enough to be considered a kick, but because of the injury, it hurt like one. Emily cried out softly in pain, trying not to show Abby she was weak,

"C'mon, Em, get up. The floor's all dirty. Get up," she continued prodding Emily with her foot, "Stupid whore, now is not the time to lie down. Have some dignity."

Serena decided to step in now that the situation was proving to be too much for Emily. If she couldn't defend herself before she had gotten hurt, there was no way she could protect herself from the ground. She raced over and knelt down, first checking to see if Emily's okay.

"And who the hell is that?" Abby asked, having not yet seen Serena's face. Serena ignored her for now and helped Emily to her feet. She walked her over to a rocking chair and set her down gently. Abby followed.

"Klutzilla hurt herself again?" she teased Emily. "Is the big baby going to cry about it? Wah, wah, go cry to mommy, stupid whore."

"You know, what, Abby," Serena turned around, revealing her face to a very surprised Abby. Where they came from, the town was so small that news spread quickly. Abby knew Serena had been expected to die and figured after so long that the older sister of the girl she loved to torment had finally passed away. To say Abby was surprised that Serena was here in the city, healthy and strong, would be a huge understatement. Serena looked down, "I have had it with you. I had put up with a lot of bullshit in my life, but you definitely take the cake."

-Samurai-

Explosions rang throughout the common room as Mike lost himself in his video game. He didn't even hear as Mia and Kevin walked in and let his player throw another grenade, blowing up the opponents and causing body parts to fly around on scream. Mia clutched Kevin's arm tighter as images from the Haunted House came back to her. Kevin was scared too so he walked up to the TV and turned it off.

"Dude!" Mike shouted, dropping his controller and falling to his knees, "I almost had it! Why, Kevin, why would do something like that?"

"Overdramatic, much?" Mia asked, feeling a little better with the silence of the house. She took a seat on the couch and leaned into it, needing something to cover her back. Kevin joined her, sitting close.

When Mike got over the loss of his progress on the game (that would teach him to save his game frequently), he turned to the couple with a wide smirk.

"So, was the Haunted House really scary?" he asked. "Was there a lot of blood, guts and Zombies? Should I have come with? I love stuff like that!"

"Be happy you didn't tag along," Kevin shook his head, "I don't know who was in charge of creating the house this year, but I hope this is a onetime thing for them."

"Not good, huh?"

"Terrifying," Mia shook her head. "I will admit to crying halfway through."

"Same here," Kevin said, nodding his head without shame. Mike furrowed his brow.

"Dudes, it's just a silly Haunted House. It's supposed to scare you shitless."

"Well, it did a good job," Kevin hugged Mia. Mike rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, just accept it and move on," Mike picked up his controller and set it in his special bin for his video game accessories only. "That's what I do when I watch scary movies. Some of them are more funny that actually scary, but sometimes… just remind yourselves, it's only props."

"Yeah, it's not like anything in there was real," Mia nodded. She kissed Kevin's cheek, "I need a shower. I'll see you later."

"Yep," Kevin answered, letting her leave. Mike waited until Mia was out of the room before setting himself down on the couch next to Kevin.

"So, dude, did she jump into your arms? Did you get to hold her and be the big, strong hero?"

"Yeah… well, the holding her part," Kevin nodded. "I was too busy trying not to wet myself to be a real hero."

Mike laughed, "Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"You have so much to learn when it comes to scaring your girlfriend," Mike tapped Kevin on the shoulder.

"This coming from the guy who gave his girlfriend nightmares on the first date."

"Our movie was sold out!" Mike grumbled. "It's not my fault she agreed to see the horror movie with me. Besides, I didn't wet myself. That's already a step up."

-Samurai-

After seeing Serena, Abby quickly tried to turn things around. She had actually liked Serena, growing up. Everyone in school had.

"Serena, I… I tried to help her, but you know what Emily's like," she said, "she just kept falling over and…"

"I saw you push her," Serena didn't want to make a scene so she kept her voice down, but it was taking everything she had to keep herself from screaming. "You pushed her, kicked her, you called her names. C'mon Abigail, grow up!"

"I swear, Serena, I was just trying to help," Abby hurried over to Emily's side and tried to pretend she was making sure Emily was okay. "Emily, did you hurt yourself. Do you want…?"

"Abby, get up. You're not fooling anyone."

"Honest, Serena…"

"Honest is one thing you're not," Serena shook her head, "Get up, get your shit, and get out."

Lowering her head in defeat, Abby got up and walked to the cribs, keeping her eyes on them and away from Emily and Serena. She was quiet as a mouse as she looked at each of the cribs.

While Abby did that, Serena checked up on Emily's stomach to make sure the stitches were still in place. Thankfully, they were. She lowered Emily's shirt and then pulled her sister into her arms, hugging her tight just like every other time she heard of Emily's being picked on and bullied.

"Nothing she said was true," Serena whispered, "Remember that."

Emily nodded her head and held on tightly to her sister. Serena kissed the top of her head before turning to check up on Abby to see where she was. She noticed the girl was still standing by the cribs, reading the information sheets. She then remembered what store they were in and why people came into this store. It was possible Abby had just seen Emily from across the street and went out of her way to pick on her, she had done it before, but if that had been the case she would have walked out when Serena stepped in.

"Stay here," Serena whispered to Emily as she got up and walked over to Abby. On her way over she noticed Abby was wearing a big sweater. She hadn't noticed it before because she had been too busy keeping an eye on Emily. The sweater looked big enough to hide a baby bump. Serena touched her own stomach and stood next to Abby, "You insecurities are not going to go away just because Emily feels bad."

"I'm not insecure," Abby scoffed, dropping the information sheet back into the crib as she tried to walk away. Serena would not let her leave that easily. She followed the girl to the lower priced cribs.

"Please," she rolled her eyes, "you've been insecure since kindergarten. I know all about you, Abby. You've been pushing my sister around for years."

"I haven't been pushing her around," Abby shook her head; "She's a klutz. She falls."

"She's been falling a lot less lately," Serena said. She grabbed Abby's wrist and spun her around so the smaller girl was forced to look her in the eyes, "if I ever see you hurting another living being on this planet, God help you if it's my sister, I will personally come after you and make you wish you hadn't been born. Am I making myself clear?"

"Whatever," Abby scoffed. Serena rolled her eyes and then walked back over to the crib Abby had her eyes on. She checked the price and saw she had just enough money to cover it, it would leave her with only a few dollars and that would mean she would be out of cash until she found a way to make more. She looked back to Abby and then over to her sister. She'd do anything to get the bullying to stop.

She called the clerk over and handed him all bills she had.

"It's for the brunette," she hated herself for doing this but knew it was the right thing. Abby looked up as the clerk went to ring up the purchase. Hesitantly she walked over to Serena.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked.

"Those low-priced cribs don't seem sturdy enough to me," Serena shrugged.

"It's all I can afford," Abby said.

"You're in this alone, aren't you?" Serena pointed to Abby's stomach. Abby placed her hands over her stomach and lowered her head. Serena rolled her eyes, "I've got a bunch of people back home to help me. I'll be fine. With that attitude of yours, you're going to be on your own for a while. If your baby can't have a proper family, it should at least get a proper sleep every night."

"Thanks," Abby whispered, her eyes still focused on the floor. Serena bumped past her and led Emily out of the store.

"No mobile?" Emily asked.

Serena checked her wallet for some change, seeing she had only a few dollars left if she added it all up.

"How about ice-cream instead?" she offered.


	45. Consequences

Mike tip-toed cautiously across the kitchen and tried to remain as silent as possible while Kevin had his back turned. Ever since he and Mia had gotten home from the Haunted House, they had been on high alert for danger, jumping at even the smallest of sounds. Mike wasn't one to terrify women, especially not Mia, who would eat him alive, but Kevin was fair game.

Kevin was pouring himself a glass of water, unaware of the presence lurking behind him. Just as the cup neared full, he felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder. His body tensed.

"I want to suck your blood!" Mike whispered into Kevin's ear and the blue ranger quickly spun around and punched his attacker in the stomach. Mike doubled over in pain, clutching his stomach tightly, but the pain was worth it. For a moment, he had seen Kevin's terrified face and it was hilarious. He tried to catch his breath, but between the pain and the attempt at laughter, it was next to impossible.

"I will kill you next time," Kevin growled, throwing his water in Mike's face. "Seriously, Mike, grow up!"

"So worth it," Mike walked over to the kitchen chair, in desperate need to sit down before he fell over.

"You would not be doing this if you went to that Haunted House with us," Kevin poured himself a new glass of water and sat down at the table with Mike. "I swear, Mike, it's the scariest thing I've ever lived through."

"The scariest?" Mike asked him. "Dude, we face death and danger every day. Besides, the scariest thing is your girlfriend when she doesn't get enough sleep."

"Go to the Haunted House," Kevin suggested. "You'll see what I mean. It's twisted."

Mike rolled his eyes and snatched the paper from the other end of the table. There was still the ad for the Haunted House, "Kevin, it says ages fourteen and up. You're telling me, a house that lets fourteen year old girls in, scared you? A fully trained Samurai Ranger?"

"Just go. You probably won't even make it past the first room before you piss yourself."

Mike sighed, "Fine, but do I have to go alone or can I take that guy with the axe along?" Mike pointed over Kevin's shoulder. The blue Ranger wasn't going to fall for it, but every being of his body told him to look just in case.

"Ha-ha, Mike," Kevin mocked and rolled his eyes as the younger Ranger got up to leave. "There's no guy with an axe behind me."

"He looks kind of hungry, too. Starved even," Mike called as he walked away, "He might resort to cannibalism if you don't feed him soon."

The moment Mike was out of the room Kevin checked over his shoulder. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw there was nothing there. As he turned back to the table, he jumped and screamed in fright. Mike had rushed back and was staring him in the face.

"Boo!"

Kevin tossed his water in Mike's face again, "Not funny!"

-Samurai-

"You know, the trick to eating ice-cream is to eat it before it melts," Serena chuckled, wiping off another drip of ice-cream from Emily's hand as the two of them sat on the corner in front of the ice-cream shop. With what little money Serena had left she paid for an ice-cream cone for Emily, knowing her sister was going to need a little pick-me-up after her run in with her nemesis. But Emily didn't seem willing to eat, and so far the napkin had more ice-cream that Emily's stomach. Serena had noticed this and was hoping her sister would talk to her, just like in the years before. However, Emily didn't seem to be budging. Serena gently held Emily's chin between her thumb and index finger and opened her sister's mouth, "You eat like this."

"I know how to eat," Emily handed the cone to Serena. There was no sense letting the ice-cream go to waste, "I know what happened in there too."

"Abby's a bitch. I've been telling you that for years," Serena said, "Don't listen to a word she says…"

"The store wasn't that big," Emily turned to Serena, "You weren't that far away. You knew she was picking on me."

"And I jumped in."

"You waited," Emily shook her head. "The more I think about it, the more it makes sense. You waited."

"I…"

"You were testing me and I failed."

"Emy…"

"You wanted to see if I could stand up for myself, right?" Emily asked. "But I can't. I always need someone protecting me. You, Mia, Mike, especially. I can't do anything right."

Serena felt like she had jumped back in time as she looked at her little sister. The thing she hated most about the bullying wasn't how hurt Emily was in the moment. The bruises Emily had gotten or the emotional pain she felt as the aggression was occurring was never as bad as the long-term effects. It made the yellow Ranger feel weak and worthless and made her doubt herself constantly. In a way, Emily was right about how the others always tried to protect her, but it wasn't because they thought she was too weak to protect herself. It was simply because they cared for her.

Serena moved off the curb and knelt down in front of Emily, holding her arms gently as she looked her little sister in the eyes.

"That's not true, Emily and you know it. I never, ever want to hear you saying that, do you understand me?"

"I'm not supposed to lie," Emily shook her head. "You taught me that."

"Look at me," Serena grabbed Emily's shaking head, forcing her to keep eye contact, "We do protect you. But not for the reasons you're thinking right now."

"Why? You do you have to protect me? Why can't I protect myself?"

"Because you let people like Abby step all over you."

"Because I'm stupid."

"Emily, no!" Serena shook her head.

"Yes. That's why I wasn't good in school, that's why I couldn't do well in sports. That's why they picked on me, that's why you protect me, and that's why mom ran away. It's why mom and dad lied about you not being sick; it's why the teachers didn't do anything to help. It's not worth it because I'm not worth it!"

"Emily!" Serena shouted as Emily jumped up from the curb and tried to run away. Serena grabbed her arm and tried to pull her back, but Emily struggled and managed to escape. She took off down the street. Serena chased after her, but as she turned the corner, Emily disappeared. Serena screamed and kicked a street light. As she turned around to pace and figure out what to do next, she ran into a familiar brunette.

Abby looked up at Serena and then handed her some bills, "The change."

"Just get lost," Serena growled, slapping the money out of Abby's hands. "I gave it to you."

"I just… you gave a little extra and I heard you were going to the ice-cream shop so I…"

"Unless that money's going to help me find my sister, I don't want it."

"What happened?"

"People like you," Serena shouted, finally losing her cool, "it's people like you who make life hell for people like her."

"Do you want help finding her?" Abby asked.

Serena shook her head, "You've done enough. Just take the money, take the crib, and get lost before I lost something else."

"I…"

"I said get lost!" Serena shouted. She didn't want to be so rude to Abby, but she couldn't get her mind off Emily. Her little sister was injured, scared and so upset that it was dangerous to be out on her own. Right now, Serena didn't care how her yelling made Abby feel.

Abby lowered her head, picking up the money from the ground and stuffed it in her pocket.

"I…" before she could say anything Serena took off down the street. Abby sighed and glanced at the change in her hand. It didn't feel right taking the money from Serena. The older girl had been nothing but nice to her, with the exception of the times where she was defending Emily. But even then, it wasn't like she ever bullied Abby herself or gave the mean girl a taste of her own medicine. It was just threat after threat. That was part of the reason Abby's bullying had never ceased. Her consequences had never been bad: a few days of detention, a suspension (which was more a reward than anything else), extra homework, which she never did anyways, and empty threats.

Serena had been the first person in a long time to do something even remotely nice for Abby, and it was completely unselfish. There was no need to buy Abby a crib. There was no reason why Serena had to help Abby out. She was getting nothing in return. In fact, if anything her act of kindness was costing her. She had an empty wallet, no crib or mobile for her own child, and now her sister was missing.

Abby was mean and selfish, but she wasn't stupid. She knew, all those years, what she had been doing, but never explored the other side. Just how bad was it for the people who she did bully? How much did life suck for them if she was working on making them feel worse than she felt? She honestly had no clue, but she wanted to find out.

The only good thing that came out of bullying Emily was just how much she had gotten to know her victim. There was nowhere Emily could hide that Abby couldn't find her. She stuffed the money in her pocket and set off down the streets. Sooner or later she would find Emily.

-Samurai-

"Dammit, Antonio!"

While Mike had enough sense to avoid scaring Mia, it seemed Antonio had no shame. Mia thought he had learned his lesson about messing with the girls after he had fooled Serena, but it seemed to gold Ranger was never ready to learn.

She ripped the fake spider from the ceiling and tossed it at the laughing fisherman, "Seriously? You think this is funny?"

"You… should have… seen… your face!" Antonio said between giggled as he rolled on the ground, holding his stomach from laughter.

Mia rolled her eyes as Jayden walked into the room. She pointed to the laughing Ranger, "Keep your friend under control. He's pissing me off."

"Antonio, do you remember what Mia's like when she gets pissed off?" Jayden warned the gold Ranger. Antonio nodded his head.

"Yeah, but if she kills me I'll just come back to haunt her. She doesn't want that."

"He has a point," Jayden shrugged to Mia. "Maybe you shouldn't have gone to that Haunted House after all."

"It was ridiculous," Mia muttered. "I'm surprised a parent hasn't filed a complaint yet."

"How bad was it?" Jayden asked Mia.

"Bad enough to make Kevin and I want to keep the bedroom light on tonight," Mia looked to Jayden and then tossed a pillow at the still laughing Antonio. When she turned back to Jayden, she saw he had a distant look in his eyes. "Jayden!"

"What? Oh, sorry, Mia. I was just wondering how long that's been there. Antonio, do you think it's real blood or…"

"Blood?" Mia shot around and looked to where Jayden was pointing. There was nothing there. She turned back to him and growled. "You're not funny."

"I had to do it once," the red Ranger laughed as he high-fived Antonio.

"Just for that, I'll be coming after you tomorrow," Mia pointed a menacing finger at Jayden, "and here's the really scary part: I won't be getting any sleep tonight."


	46. Stand Up

Mia and Kevin stood in the doorway to their bedroom, staring at the room. It was starting to get dark out and they were worried about what would come once the sun was gone completely. They were still spooked from the Haunted House and doubted they could lay their heads down in the dark, but they wouldn't be able to sleep if they kept the lights on.

"We could look for a nightlight," Mia suggested with a shoulder shrug as she looked up at her fiancé. Kevin raised his eyebrow.

"Mike's already having a blast with this scare thing," he shook his head, "we don't need to add nightlight to the list of things he can use against us. Besides, they cast weird shadows."

"Mike's your problem?" Mia sighed, "Antonio and Jayden have been pissing me off. Antonio more than Jayden, actually, but Jayden's not innocent."

"Mike's been trying to scare the crap outta me all day."

"Has been," Mia corrected her fiancé with a smirk as she glanced at him and caught a frown. She shrugged her shoulders, "What? Everyone in the house could hear you screaming."

Kevin rolled his eyes and Mia laughed, poking his sides, "Aw, don't be embarrassed. It's okay if you scream like a girl."

"I don't scream like a girl," Kevin poked her back and then tickled her sides, "They were manly screams, from a man who doesn't get scared."

"First of all," Mia pulled away from Kevin's tickling fingers and smiled at him, "men who don't get scared don't scream, and second, I was with you in that Haunted House. There's no way you can convince me you don't get scared."

"It was acting."

"Are you sure?" Mia asked before Kevin lunged for her playfully and tickled her sides again. She pulled away as soon as she could and held her hands out to try and catch his next attack as she laughed. Kevin eyed her teasingly before jumping forward and pushing her onto the bed. He landed on top of her and leaned down for a kiss.

Suddenly, the pink and blue Rangers heard a scream and a thump coming from their door, and they turned to see Mike on the hallway floor, staring into their room with a panicked and fearful look in his eyes. His hand was pressed over his heart, like he was suffering a heart attack and he was breathing heavily, as if he had lost his breath. He looked to the couple. They smiled to each other and sat up as they turned to him.

"What's wrong Mike?" they asked.

The green Ranger scooted back, "I did not need to see that."

"See what?" Kevin smirked before leaning in to kiss Mia. The disgusted look on Mike's face grew, as did Kevin's smile, and he deepened his kiss with Mia.

"I'll leave you alone, I swear!" Mike scrambled to his feet, tripped over himself a few times and the got up and backed into the wall, "just stop! Stop with the PDA!"

Mia laughed. She placed her hands on Kevin's chest and pushed him away gently, "I think we got our revenge."

"Who said revenge was a bad thing?" Kevin smiled. He wrapped his arms around Mia, "I'll get revenge on people more often if it means this."

Mike raced away from the bedroom, careful to close to the door as he ran. No one needed to stumble upon what he had stumbled upon.

"I picked a bad time to walk by…"

-Samurai-

It was getting dark and cold outside and Emily zipped her sweater up all the way to try and keep the cold out. She rubbed her arms with her hands and found a place to rest in a bus shelter.

She wasn't too sure what she wanted but she knew she wanted things to get better. She hugged her legs to her chest and rested her chin on her knees as she sat on the bench. She wondered why life couldn't leave her alone; why it couldn't just pick on someone else for a moment; why, just when everything was starting to look up, it had to knock her right back down.

She knew her sister loved her, and Mike and Mia as well. They had nothing but good intentions and they would never call her weak or worthless. In fact, they had called her just the opposite. But Emily didn't feel that way. She felt weak and pathetic. She was a Samurai. She fought Nighlok and Moogers, and yet she couldn't deal with a seventeen year old girl. She had faced enemies like Negatron and Dekker, and couldn't stand up for herself when it came to Abby.

The bus came by and the driver opened his doors. It was an invitation for Emily to hop on. She didn't have any money on her, but maybe the driver would let her ride if she told him she was lost and looking for a way home. She didn't know if the bus was going to take her to the bus stop closest to the Shiba House, but she wasn't sure she wanted to go home. She was just going to see what happened.

As she got up to catch the bus, she felt someone grabbing her arm and then a haunting voice told the bus driver Emily wouldn't be a passenger. The bus driver seemed to accept it and closed his doors. As he drove off, Emily turned around and found herself face to face with Abby. She stumbled backwards, nothing but fear in her eyes. She clutched her side with her hand, terrified Abby was going to push her around again and she would hurt herself. This time, there was no one to protect her.

"That bus goes out of town," Abby told Emily. "You get on there, there's no coming home."

Emily didn't say anything. She couldn't and she would. If she could remain silent for a week with her family and friends, surely she could keep her mouth shut until someone realised she was missing and found her. Hopefully before Abby buried her body.

But Abby had no intention of picking on Emily. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the money she felt she owed Serena.

"Your sister said she didn't need it, but it wouldn't feel right taking everything from her," Abby held out the cash, "Here, Emily, take it."

Emily snatched the money quickly. She knew better than to disobey a direct order from Abby.

"Apparently you're worth more than that to your sister," Abby shrugged and gestured for Emily to head back into the bus shelter so they could take a seat. She needed to be off her feet after all that walking around. Again, Emily did as she was told, but only because she was scared. When they were both seated, Abby looked to Emily, "You're worth quite a bit to your sister. It's pretty cool how much she cares about you. A lot of us were jealous, you know."

Emily furrowed her brow but didn't say a word.

"She's pretty cool," Abby continued, "I mean, she was pretty good at everything. She was smart and pretty and just… well, you grew up with her, you know. You're really lucky, Em."

Emily shrugged her shoulders. Abby sighed.

"I think back to kindergarten all the time," she said, "That stupid pink crayon that started all this. I was just a kid and it was a big deal back then, but… wow, I was a bitch, huh?"

Emily didn't respond. She was told not to lie, but if she told the truth she was scared Abby was going to hurt her. Abby saw that Emily was still scared and sighed again, feeling like she was getting nowhere.

"What I'm trying to say is… you've got an amazing sister who seems to love you more than life itself and she'll do anything for you. That's pretty rare, you know. I guess… I'm kind of… well… jealous. You had it all, Emily. You were cute, happy, you had a cool family, probably one of the best farms in town and a sister like Serena. How could I not be jealous? I realised that today. Serena's amazing and if she cares so much about you, you must be pretty amazing too."

Abby then began to lift her sweater and Emily frowned curiously as she saw a rounded stomach come out. She hadn't seen many pregnancies, but she knew when she was staring one in the face. She looked up at Abby, her eyes expressing shock. Abby nodded her head and then gestured to Emily's pocket.

"The money I gave you… it was change. Serena paid for a crib for my baby. After everything I did for you… she still helped me out. I would never have been able to afford the crib I got. She didn't have to help me. I was mean to you, and I know it. But she did and… what kind of person would I be if… well… Emily, I'm sorry. Those things I said and did, I wish I could take them back."

"You can't," Emily whispered, turning away from Abby. "You made school a nightmare for me. I had no friends because of you. I was scared and weak and… sorry doesn't fix things."

"I know, Em, I just…"

"I'm not going to just roll over and take it," Emily shook her head and jumped up. She looked at Abby with a hard glare.

Just around the corner, Serena hurried by. She was spinning around in circles, searching every way for her little sister. She finally found her with Abby in a bus shelter and was about to run over and interfere, but before she could reach she noticed what was happening and stopped herself. She ducked behind a lamppost, realising it wouldn't hide her completely, but it would help her blend in slightly.

Back in the bus shelter, Emily continued her ran to Abby.

"You made my life a living hell and I was too scared to take it. You made me feel stupid and pathetic; like I deserved to be treated badly by you and everyone else in school because I wasn't good enough. I don't care how sincere your apology is. Sorry isn't going to undo everything you've done."

"Emily…"

"No," Emily shook her head and stomped her foot, "I'm done, Abby. I'm not going to let you tell me how to live my life. I'm not going to let you control me anymore. I'm going to do what I want and what I want to do is forget about you and go home to the people who actually care about me. People who didn't need to be bought before they realised I'm special. Those are the people I want in my life. Those are the people whose opinions matter to me."

Serena finally walked into view with a smile on her face. She signalled for Emily to leave the bus shelter before she let her anger get the better of her. She had said all she needed to say. Anything more and she would simply regret defending herself.

"C'mon, Emy," she wrapped her arm around her sister as Emily hugged her, "Mike's probably wondering where you are."

Emily nodded and started her way home. Serena followed for a few paces before turning back to Abby. The brunette was sitting in the bus shelter, looking completely defeated. Serena sighed loudly and walked back over to her. She knelt down in front of Abby and smiled.

"If it helps, your life's not over yet. It's barely just started. You can turn things around and make it better for yourself. Maybe you've burned your bridges with a few people, but that doesn't mean you can't try and build more. Where's that money I gave you? The change from the crib?"

Abby simply pointed to Emily. Serena called her sister back over and had Emily give her the cash. Serena then placed it in Abby's pocket.

"Like I said, you need it more than I do. Do you have a place to stay tonight?"

"My uncle's letting me live with him," Abby nodded. "He's letting me stay, but he won't pay for the baby stuff. I'm on my own there."

"Well, you've got a house and a crib already, I guess," Serena shrugged, "and a little money in your pocket. Use it to get home safely. Do you have a phone on you?"

Abby pulled out her cellphone. Serena smiled.

"Do you want us to stay here until a cab arrives?"

"Serena, I want to go home," Emily said.

Abby sighed and shook her head, "I'll be fine. There's a restaurant across the street that's open. I'll wait in there until a ride shows up."

"Good luck, Abby," Serena gently tapped Abby's leg as she pushed herself up and walked over to Emily, and the two Earth Samurai headed home.

-Samurai-

Mike was pacing back and forth in the hallway, checking the time on his phone. It was now long after dark and Emily and Serena were supposed to be home, but they weren't.

He glanced into the common room, where Kevin, Mia, Antonio and Jayden were playing a board game. They were all just as nervous as Mike and refused to go to bed until everyone was safe and sound at home, but unlike Mike, they were still able to relax a bit and wait patiently.

"This is more revenge, isn't it?" Mike asked, eyeing Kevin specifically. "You told them to come home late just so I would worry a Zombie or some other creature of the night got them."

"I swear, Mike, this isn't us," Kevin rolled the dice and his eyes.

Finally, the lock clicked and the door opened. Mike took in a deep breath and readied himself to yell at the two girls for worrying him, but suddenly found himself needing to catch his fiancée she jumped into his arms and kissed him.

"What the hell?" Kevin asked as Serena stepped into view and joined them around the common room table. Serena chuckled.

"Long story."

When Mike and Emily finally broke, he set her back down onto her feet and looked her in the eyes.

"What happened? Are you okay?"

"Love me?"

"Always," Mike nodded and glanced down to her side, "Em, seriously, are you okay? You didn't…"

Emily nestled into his arms. She rested her head against his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. Mike hugged her and kissed the top of her head.

Antonio looked to Serena, "Seriously… what happened?"

"Emily faced her scariest Nighlok yet," Serena smiled and tapped the bear Zord on the head as it began acting up on the game board.

The four Samurai in the room turned to the Gap Sensor, causing Serena to chuckle.

"This wasn't a Samurai Nighlok."

"What other Nighlok is there?" Jayden asked.

"Ghosts," Serena got back to her feet and started making her way to her bedroom, "Ghosts from her past. And before you ask, she won."

"That's good to… Oof!" Mia was knocked right off her stool as Emily hug-tackled her. It took a few moments for Mia to realise what happened and then she looked up at Emily, who was now sitting on top of her, "You know I love your hugs, Emy, but next time can you, you know, hug like a normal human being?"

Emily shook her head and shifted slightly so Mia could sit up. She then threw herself into Mia's arms once again.

"I'm special."

Mia gently tapped Emily's back and rolled her eyes at the other Rangers, "That you are, Emy. That you are."


	47. Haunter Becomes the Haunted

Just as he thought, Kevin hadn't gotten much sleep after his trip to the Haunted House, and neither had Mia. She was finding ways to keep herself busy, though (mainly by searching for Antonio and Jayden to get revenge for their pranks the day before). Kevin was just dead tired – though dead was not a word he wanted to use at this point.

He had never really been into Halloween. He's gone to Haunted House, but dressing up and going door to door for candy seemed rather pointless. Even as a kid, candy hadn't been as big a deal to him as the other kids. To be a Samurai and to be a professional swimmer meant he had to keep a strict diet and candies never fit. Not to mention his lack of desire to get into costume. As a kid he knew he was going to be a super-hero, so he didn't need to pretend. He would rather train so he could be a good one when it happened.

He wasn't into the pranks or scaring people, either. It was a waste of his time. People didn't need to be scared, especially not when fear was making the Sanzu River rise. It didn't just rise when Nighlok were in town. Any time humans were scared or suffered, it added water to the river, bringing Xandred closer and closer into their world. Kevin was fighting to keep that from happening, and wouldn't do anything to help Xandred for laughs.

But the others didn't see it the same way. Just as Kevin's eyes were about to close and he was going to drift off on the couch, a head popped into sight. It was blurry until Kevin opened his eyes and saw a Zombie staring down at him. He heard a deep moan coming from the mouth of the Zombie and he groaned loudly and rolled into the back of the couch.

"Go away, Mike!"

Mike pulled up a stool and sat down, "Dude, you have to pick out a costume! Mentor went out and bought a ton."

"Why am I the pumpkin?" Serena asked, holding up a pumpkin costume and looking less than pleased about her disguise.

"Because you're going to be big, round and fat soon," Antonio searched through the chest of costumes Mentor had filled, trying to find the perfect one for himself, "You'll be just like a pumpkin soon… Aha!"

Antonio pulled out a pirate's hat and stuck it on his head, "Aye, matey, where be me gold?"

He dove back into the chest to find the rest of his costume when suddenly he heard someone behind him clearing his throat. He gulped and pulled himself out of the chest. When he turned around he saw Mia tapping her foot. He looked up at her, "Hey, Sleeping Beauty… sleep well?"

Mia pulled out a bone-club from the chest, likely belonging to a caveman costume.

"I've got a bone to pick with you," she waved the club in Antonio's face. The gold Ranger gulped again and took off running, Mia right on his tail.

Serena tossed the pumpkin costume back into the chest and started searching for something else she could wear.

"Not wearing the stupid pumpkin," she muttered.

Mike prodded Kevin in the ribs, "C'mon, dude, you have to dress up! Mentor's going to let us decorate the house and everything."

"No Halloween."

"Party pooper," Mike grumbled. "Is this because the Haunted House scared you? Is the big, scary monster too scary for wittle Kevin?"

"Mike, knock it off," Kevin closed his eyes, "I didn't sleep last night and I'm trying to catch up now."

"Turning into a creature of the night already?" Mike asked before leaning forward and hissing in Kevin's ear. He managed to pull his head away in time to avoid a slap to the cheek. "Ha, outsmarted you!"

Kevin rolled his eyes and then closed them, trying to go back to sleep, but Mike still wouldn't leave him alone. So he reached out, grabbed Mike's hand and pulled.

Suddenly, Mike screamed and Kevin bolted up straight and looked at Mike's hand in his while Mike doubled over and rolled on the ground in pain. He cried out in agony and Kevin could see why. He had ripped Mike's hand right off his arm. His eyes widened for a moment before he realised just how impossible that was. The hand was a fake and a part of Mike's Zombie costume. Kevin threw the fake hand at Mike as the prank came to an end and Mike's screams turned into laughter. Kevin stormed up from the couch.

"Grow up, Michael," he shouted as he stomped to his room. Mike wiped the tears from his eyes as he placed his fake hand back up his sleeve and turned to Serena. The older girl shook her head.

"He's got a point," she told him as she pulled out a costume and smiled. It was Mother Earth, the perfect costume for her.

Mike rolled his eyes, "Come on. It's harmless pranks. And he's the one who chose to go to that Haunted House."

"Maybe it was scarier than you think," Serena said. "Just cut him some slack. I like seeing him jump just as much as you do, but you're starting to cross the line."

"It's Halloween."

"Exactly. It's supposed to be fun."

"Scary."

"Michael…"

"Fine, no more severed body parts," Mike ripped his fake hand out and tossed it back into the costume chest. "But I still prefer tricks rather than treats."

"To each his own," Serena shrugged and was about to leave with her costume when she stopped and turned back to the green Ranger, "Uh, did you by any chance run your costume choice by your fiancée before you put it on?"

"No, why?"

"ZOMBIE!" Emily screamed and dropped Scruffy's leash after returning home from her walk with the dog and spotting Mike. Scruffy growled and jumped for Mike, biting his shirt.

"Ah, Scruffers! Stop! It's just me!" Mike wrestled with the dog. "I mean no harm! I'm a vegetarian Zombie! I don't eat brains."

Serena rolled her eyes and looked to her sister as Emily stood frozen in the doorway, "Uh, Em, it's just…" she turned back to Mike, then looked to where Kevin had stormed off and shrugged. She reached back into the chest and pulled out Mike's fake hand. She tossed it to her sister who jumped in fright. Emily looked to Serena, horrified. The older sister shrugged, "It's a good thing Scruffy showed up when he did, or that Zombie would have eaten my brain and the baby's brain."

"Emily, get your dog off me!" Mike cried and the girls turned to him and found him pinned under a growling Scruffy. Emily gasped and raced to help her fiancé and Serena rubbed her stomach.

"Never a dull moment, junior," she laughed.

-Samurai-

On the way to his room Kevin heard the familiar sound of Antonio screaming. It was a specific scream. A scream that told everyone in the house he had pissed Mia off once again and she was coming after him. With a chuckle, he walked to the dojo and found Mia had Antonio trembling in a corner. Deciding the gold Ranger had suffered enough; he wrapped his arms around Mia's waist and pulled her away from Antonio while kissing her neck.

"I think he's learned his lesson," Kevin told her and Antonio nodded his head frantically. He jumped up to his feet and tried to race to safety, but Kevin stopped him with a hand on his chest. "Wait a minute…"

"What?" Antonio asked nervously as he looked to Kevin in curiosity. Even Mia seemed intrigued by what her fiancé was trying to hint at.

"Mike likes to be scared, right?"

"I think he likes scaring people," Antonio said. "I don't know how he would respond to being scared."

Kevin smirked, wrapped his arm around Antonio and pulled the gold and pink Ranger into a hug, "I think I might like Halloween."

"But last night you said…"

"Shh, Mia, this is personal," Kevin smiled wickedly as he looked down at the two Rangers in his arms, "How would you two like to help me with revenge?"

Mia and Antonio exchanged a nervous look.

"We're going to scare Mike," Kevin said.

"How bad?" Antonio asked as he also began to smirk.

"Get Serena, Emily and Jayden in here," Kevin pulled away from the pink and gold Rangers and walked to the bench, where Emily left her notebook to practice her symbols. He grabbed it and a pen and began taking notes. Mia and Antonio looked to each other again.

"This isn't going to be cruel, is it?"

"Right up Mike's alley," Kevin promised, "it'll be worth it, guys, I swear."


	48. Halloween Pranks

After an entire afternoon and a lot of help from the others, Mike was able to turn the Shiba House into a Samurai version of a Haunted House, complete with fake spiders and webs, dark, candlelight rooms, monsters, ghosts and ghouls hanging from the ceiling and lining the walls. Mike even managed to get a costume on Scruffy, and the yellow dog now walked around proudly in his Zombie costume (which Emily didn't like).

Now that the house had been converted, Mike's Halloween spirit was at its max. With a fake spider in hand, he set out to find one of the Samurai in hopes that he could scare them silly. He turned the corner and a grin appeared on his lips when he saw Kevin, dressed as a traditional Samurai, sitting in the common room reading a book.

Zombie Mike tip-toed over behind him while staying as quiet as possible. He didn't want to alert Kevin of his presence. He held the giant spider in his hand and reached out, over Kevin's head.

Little did Mike know that Kevin was expecting another scare. Actually, Kevin wanted another scare and he was counting on it happening soon. The green Samurai wasn't as subtle as his thought, so Kevin knew where he was exactly. He had no idea what Mike was going to pull, but he knew it was coming.

Suddenly, a big, hairy spider fell onto his lap from the air and Kevin jumped. He slammed his book shut, grabbed the spider and tossed it to the wall. He got out of his seat and turned to the green Ranger, "You're not funny!"

"I wish I had seen your face," Mike held his stomach as he laughed; "You jumped about a foot in the air!"

"Grow up, Mike," Kevin growled as he grabbed the Zombie by the shirt and lifted Mike in the air, "You're pranks aren't funny anymore. How would you like to be scared to death?"

"Dude, bring it on," Mike was set down by Kevin and he smoothed out his shirt, "Learn to relax, Kevin. It's Halloween. Live a little."

"Watch yourself, Michael," Kevin threatened Mike and bumped shoulders with the green Ranger as he stormed off. Mike just furrowed his brows and watched the swimmer take off in a huff.

"Someone needs stress management," he muttered.

-Samurai-

It was getting darker and darker outside and the house was really beginning to look Haunted. It brought back memories for Mia and Kevin, but they focused on Kevin's plan so they didn't end up scaring themselves instead of Mike.

Ever since the spider scare, Kevin had been stomping and storming around the house, furious with everyone, and the entire house but Mike knew it was only an act.

Finally, as Mike was putting away his video games to go relax in his room before bed, a very nervous Mia, disguised as Snow White approached him. She tapped the Zombie on the shoulder. Mike turned around and chuckled, seeing her fearful face.

"It's just decorations, Mia," he reminded her. "We're not actually in a…"

Mia turned her cheek to Mike, revealing a red mark about the size of a hand; more specifically, Kevin's hand. Mike gasped and leaned in closer, inspecting it for himself.

"Tell me this was an accident."

"He's been pretty angry lately…"

"Mia! That's no excuse," Mike took her arm and tried to lead her into the kitchen, but Mia pulled away from him.

"He hasn't been himself since the Haunted House," Mia explained, looking Mike dead in the eyes, "We told you that place was weird, right?"

"It's just a house…"

"Mike, please listen," Mia grabbed his hand, "I… I don't think it did anything to me but Kevin was terrified in there; like, seriously terrified. What if…"

"Fake monsters, fake scares, fake…"

"Mike, listen," Mia was holding his hand tightly now and tears started forming in her eyes. Mike was all ears as he looked down at her.

"You said he hasn't been himself?" Mike asked just before a dish was smashed in the kitchen and Kevin began to scream something about doing things properly. Another dish shattered and a scream followed. Mike was about to run in to check it out, but Mia pulled him back.

"You can't go in there," Mia whispered, "Just let him cool down for a minute."

Mike looked back to Mia and then a blue light began to shine from the kitchen. Mike furrowed his brows and watched until Kevin, still dressed as a traditional Samurai, stormed out. He put his sword back in the sheath and tucked his Samuraizer away in his pocket.

"Good for nothing little punk," he muttered before bumping past Mia and Mike.

"Dude," Mike called and as Kevin turned around he placed himself between the blue Ranger and Mia. Kevin was angry and Mia already had one mark on her face. That was one too many. Mike wasn't going to let him hit anyone else, "I don't know what your problem is, but you've got some serious issues."

Mia caught the wink Kevin gave her and started tugging on Mike's arm, "The scream," she whispered in the green Ranger's ear, "Mike, that scream didn't sound like it could have come from Kevin."

"Mia, I'm not going to let him walk away after hitting you," Mike turned to her for a brief moment and then when he turned back to Kevin, the blue Ranger was gone. Instead, he was replaced by a slightly worried looking Serena.

"You guys aren't playing a Halloween track on the stereo, are you?" she asked.

"It was a real scream," Mia pulled on Mike's arm again. The green Ranger looked to Serena, then Mia and the scream played over again in his head.

"Where's Emily?" he asked the elder earth Samurai, "isn't she supposed to be practicing her symbols with you?"

"She went to get a snack," Serena said.

"In the kitchen?" Mia asked fearfully as she pointed over her shoulder to the room where she had heard the scream. Serena nodded.

"Where else?"

Suddenly, Mike shot off like a rocket to the kitchen. Mia and Serena were right behind him. He spun, around and around, searching every corner of the room.

"Emily!" he called her name, hoping she would come running like she always did when he called for her, "Emily! Emily!"

"Emy!" Serena shouted as well as she checked the hallways.

Mia was helping Mike search the kitchen, even though it was obvious Emily wasn't around. As she searched by the fridge, she felt something hit her foot. She looked down and saw Emily's Samuraizer.

_Right where it's supposed to be,_ she smiled as she picked up it up and turned to Mike, "She's not here."

"What?" Mike gasped when he saw Emily's Samuraizer and he raced over to snatch it out of her hand.

"She's not in the house," Serena raced back into the kitchen and her eyes widened when they fell on Emily's Samuraizer, "Please tell me that's not…"

"He wouldn't," Mike turned to the door and looked down the hall to Kevin's bedroom, "There's no way he would…"

He trailed off as he spotted the red mark on Mia's cheek. His teeth and fists clenched as he growled, "This isn't funny, Kevin."

As he stormed out, Mia and Serena exchanged looks, trying to contain their laughter. Mia had, originally, had her doubts about this plan, but it was turning out to be great fun. Getting back at Mike was not only giving him a taste of her own medicine, but it was reminding her that everything on Halloween was just for fun.

Haunted Houses were still off limits, though.

"Emily's…"

"Watching a DVD in Mentor's bedroom," Serena laughed and wrapped her arm around Mia's shoulder, "Mike's never checking there."

"How far is too far?"

"Killing her would have been too far," Serena smirked, "Now she's just… undecided."

Mia chuckled and rolled her eyes, "He seems to be more pissed than scared right now," her role in the plan was to keep an eye on things and make sure they didn't get out of hand. Mike deserved everything he was getting, but this was a fun prank for revenge, not a cruel joke, "I think we're good to continue."

"Then we better get in there and help him look around for Kevin," Serena tugged on Mia's arm, "He'll know something's up if we're not worried."

"Jayden and Antonio are ready?"

"So ready," Serena smiled and bounced excitedly, "Come on! I want to see his face when he realises Kevin's gone mad!"


	49. Tell Me This Was Planned

When Mike finally found Kevin, the blue Ranger was in the dojo. At first glance, it looked like he was sparring with Jayden; a friendly fight to boost skill and blow off some steam. But when Mike got closer, Kevin threw Jayden onto his back and held his sword over Jayden's chest. The red Ranger was panting heavily as he looked up at Kevin. He held his hands up in surrender.

"I know you're angry, Kev," Jayden tried to reason, "but you seriously just need to take a deep breath and…"

Jayden couldn't finish his sentence as Kevin smashed his sword into his head, or so it seemed to Mike. The red Ranger fell completely limp and Mike had seen enough.

"What the hell?" he shot over and shoved Kevin away from Jayden, knocking him into the wall. Kevin rolled his eyes and pushed Mike away.

"You think it's funny to scare people?" Kevin asked him as Serena and Mia finally joined. Serena raced over to Jayden side while Mia stayed near the doorway to watch the scene. Kevin scoffed, "You should have seen both their faces, Mike. They were horrified."

"Where's Emily?" Mike asked, ramming Kevin back into the wall, "What the hell did you do her?"

"Mike," Serena looked up worriedly, "Jayden's not breathing."

"Of course he's not," Kevin rolled his eyes as Mike let him go and dropped to Jayden's side. He tapped the red Ranger lightly on the cheek.

"Jay, c'mon man, wake up," he called before Kevin shoved past him and walked to the door. He looked to Mia before ramming her into the wall, catching Mike's attention once again as the green Ranger jumped up.

"Dude…!"

"You like scaring people, Mike?" Kevin asked, "Happy Halloween."

Once Kevin was out of earshot, Mia looked to Mike, "Now do you believe me? Something's wrong. I think the house did something to him."

"No way…"

"Mike, you weren't there!" tears brimmed Mia's eyes, "We thought we were going to die in that Haunted House! Every jump, every scream, every turn, every time… It didn't end…"

"It was just a Haunted House."

"Does that look like the Kevin we know?" Mia gestured to Jayden and then to the kitchen, "Kevin would never hurt us. The only time he did was when…"

"He was under a spell," Serena completed for Mia and she looked up at Mike, "Emily told me about that. She said he was ruthless, too."

"He was, but…" Mike turned down to Jayden as Serena moved his head off her lap and gently lowered it back to the floor. She shook her head sadly at Mike. The green Ranger sighed and turned to Mia, "You know him best. Is he…"

"You think that's funny?" Kevin shouted from somewhere else in the house before there was a thump and a smash and Mike took off running. He wouldn't let anyone else get hurt.

As soon as he was gone, Jayden's head shot up. He looked at Serena.

"He fell for it?"

"Hook, line, and sinker."

Jayden rubbed the back of his head before laying back down, "He actually got me at one point. It kind of hurt."

Serena rolled her eyes and then looked to Mia, "We should go. The real scare's what I'm excited for."

-Samurai-

Mike raced to the common room, but it was too late. Antonio's scream ripped through the house and before Mike could make it to the door, Kevin walked out. He was wiping his hands clean on a piece of cloth that resembled the shirt Antonio had been wearing. Mike grabbed Kevin by the arm to stop him walking away, but the blue Ranger shoved him into the wall.

"You like being scared?" he hoisted Mike off the ground.

"Kevin," Mike struggled slightly against the wall, "you seriously need to relax."

"Not so fun when the shoe is on the other foot, huh?"

"Where's Antonio?" Mike peeked over Kevin's shoulder.

"He just learned why it wasn't smart to sneak up behind me."

"What did you do?" Mike asked. Kevin threw him to the ground. He glared, anger burning in his eyes. Mike scurried backwards slightly, finally realising that Mia was right. Something was seriously wrong with Kevin, "Kev…"

"You'll get what's coming to you, Mike," Kevin promised and he flicked the cloth in Mike's face. Mike ripped it away and looked up at Kevin.

"Look, dude…"

"Before the sun comes up," Kevin said as he turned his back to Mike, "you'll see them all again."

"Dude," Mike scrambled to his feet as Kevin began to walk away, "Kevin! Kevin! Kev…"

Suddenly, in a cloud of smoke, the blue Ranger disappeared. Mike's eyes went wide. There was definitely something going on in this house.

"You believe me now, right?" Mia and Serena came up behind Mike, causing him to jump slightly as he turned to face them. He looked to Mia and nodded his head.

"Maybe we should check that house out for ourselves?" he suggested. Mia shook her head fearfully.

"I can't go back there! What if it happens again?"

"Besides, if we leave Kevin alone, who knows what kind of trouble he'll get into?" Serena looked down at her hands. "He's already gotten to Jayden and… who knows where Emily is."

"Antonio!" Mike cried as he pushed his way into the common room but he froze as soon as he saw the destruction. Halloween decorations had been torn down, furniture had been flipped, pillows were completely destroyed and the walls were splattered with blood. As Serena walked in, she held her hand to her stomach.

"I'm going to be sick…"

"Death count, two," Mia whispered. Mike looked to her so she specified, "Jayden had no pulse when we left him. And by the looks of things…"

"This sucks for Antonio and Jayden," Serena took a seat on the couch, "but where's Emily? If Kevin could to this to them…"

Mike pulled out Emily's Samuraizer from his pocket and exchanged a worried look with Serena. The elder Samurai then looked down sadly.

"Dad's going to kill me…"

"We'll find her," Mia promised, "Kevin may have done this," she gestured to the room, "to Jayden and Antonio, but he would never…"

"Mia, do you feel that stinging pain in your cheek?" Mike asked the pink Ranger. She touched her cheek and nodded her head, "I never thought Kevin would do that, either."

"I think our best shot at helping the others is if we stick together," Serena said, "Emily, Jayden, and Antonio were all alone when Kevin…"

A loud, piercing scream suddenly echoed through the room, following by the sound of shattering glass, and all three sets of eyes widened as they exchanged looks. They were all in the same room together, Antonio and Jayden were supposed to be dead and the scream sounded too high to be from Mentor or Kevin. Serena didn't waste another minute as a dark thought sunk into her head and she took off, running to Mentor Ji's bedroom.

"What the hell was that?" Mike asked, turning fearfully to Mia before Jayden and Antonio suddenly raced through the room. Mike's eyes widened as he watched them run and then he looked to Mia, "What's going on? I thought they were…"

"It was a joke," Mia told Mike as she reached for his arm and started to pull, "You were really pissing Kevin off so we all decided to get back at you!"

"So, this is all some revenge prank?"

Mia looked up at Mike, "This wasn't planned."

"What?"

"Emily was supposed to… just come on!" Mia yanked Mike by the arm down to Mentor Ji's room. They burst in just in time to see the boys trying to hold Kevin still. Serena and Emily were nowhere in sight.

"Mia, Mike, go get Mentor!" Antonio shouted as he held Kevin's arm, trying to keep Kevin from hurting anyone else. There was a look of uncontrolled rage in Kevin's eyes as he struggled to shake off the gold and red Rangers.

"We'll hold him off!" Jayden said.

"Where are Serena and Emily?" Mia asked.

"Window," Antonio answered, "but you guys have to…"

Mia and Mike ignored him and raced to the shattered window. They looked out and saw Serena sobbing while clutching Emily in her arms. Mike clenched his fists and shook his head.

"No way," he began to laugh and Mia looked at him, wide-eyed.

"Mike…"

"This is all a joke. This was planned, wasn't it?"

Before Mia could answer, Kevin ripped himself free from Jayden and Antonio. He knocked them to the ground and pulled out his sword. As the boys tried to grab him again, he swiped at them.

Mike watched, horrified, as the two Samurai fell to their knees, clutching their chests, and he was sure he saw some red seeping through their fingers.

Kevin turned around and looked at Mike, "I meant what I said. Before the sun comes up, you'll join them all."

"Kevin, it's just a joke, remember!" Mia cried and she stepped forward but Mike grabbed her arm.

"It's Halloween," Kevin smirked and he glanced at his sword, "the night of the living dead. We shouldn't stop at some half-ass prank. I'm going full out."

"Kevin!"

"He deserves it!" Kevin pointed his sword to Mike and his eyes followed, "You want Halloween? You want horror? Here is it!"

"Don't do this…" Mia shook her head.

"You have ten seconds to hide," Kevin rested his sword on shoulder and closed his eyes, "if I find you before morning, you're dead."

"Kevin…"

"One!" Kevin shouted, "Two! Three!"

Mike tugged on Mia's arm, "Tell me he's kidding…"

"Four!"

"Kevin…"

Jayden and Antonio pushed themselves to their feet. They were hurt, but they weren't dead yet, and they didn't plan on dying.

"I'm not chancing it," Antonio said as he ran. Jayden nodded and followed.

"Five!"

"You son of a bitch!" Serena screamed as she jumped through the window. Mike grabbed her before she could get near Kevin.

"Six!"

"We can't stay here," Mia looked to Mike. He nodded his head.

"Seven!" Kevin continued to count and heard shuffling before the door slammed. He kept his promise, though, "Eight! Nine! Ten!"

He opened his eyes and looked around the empty room, "Let the games begin."


	50. Dead of the Night

The room was bathed in darkness and Mike held his breath. His lungs were ready to burst, but he couldn't make a single sound, terrified Kevin would hear it and find him. He glanced over at Mia as footsteps echoed in the hallway on the other side of the door. The same thoughts seemed to running through her head as the tears streamed down her cheeks.

In his arms, Mike held a struggling Serena. She reminded him that they had left Emily behind and Mike wanted to go back and find her, but he knew he had to wait for Kevin to pass and be far enough away to give them enough time to make it back to the other side of the house. Serena wasn't as bothered by the thought of what Kevin would do if he found them and was making the most noise of the trio, forcing Mike to hold her still and hold his hand over her mouth.

"I know you're here," Kevin's voice came through the door, and the sound of his footsteps on the floor told Mike that he was pacing the halls. Suddenly, there was a loud thump as one of the doors was kicked down. Mike, Serena, and Mia all jumped and Kevin continued kicking in doors. The thumps and crashes were louder and louder as he got closer and closer to their room.

Mike signalled for Mia to retreat into the shadows and she followed his command, hiding herself under the large desk while Mike shuffled himself and Serena into the corner of the room.

Suddenly, their door was kicked open and Kevin stood tall in the doorway. His eyes scanned the room carefully, searching every inch, but with the trio hidden in the shadows he failed to see them. He stood for another moment and then turned and walked away. As he kicked down more doors, Mike, Serena, and Mia regrouped in the furthest corner of the room, hiding behind old Samurai equipment just in case Kevin decided to come back.

Serena squirmed in Mike's arms and tried to say something. Mike didn't pull his hand away from her mouth before whispering, "Quietly."

Serena nodded her head and finally he removed his hand. She punched him in the shoulder, "my sister," she whispered, "you forgot her, you…"

"Kevin came after us," Mia tried to wipe her tears away as he eyes strayed to the door. From her hiding spot she had seen Kevin and the rage and hatred in his eyes. This wasn't the man she knew, "almost right away. He must not have touched her…"

"Which means she's still where we left her," Mike breathed.

"What about Antonio and Jayden?" Mia asked. "We need to worry about them, too."

"They can take care of themselves," Serena shook her head, "As long as they stick together they should be fine. Before we focus on them, we need to find Emily."

Mia nodded her head slowly and then looked over to Mike. She took his hand gently, "Are you okay? You're not scared, are you?"

"I can't be scared," Mike breathed, "Cowards don't get anything done."

"It's okay to be scared," Mia told him with a very subtle smile, "courage isn't about being fearless. It's about not letting those fears keep you from doing the right thing."

Mike hung his head low, "That Haunted House… it did something to Kevin, didn't it?"

Mia shrugged her shoulders, "I have no idea. It scared him… it scared me, but…"

"I shouldn't have pestered him," Mike whispered, "Well, maybe just a little, but I knew he was getting annoyed and… I should have stopped. Now he's…"

"Clearly not thinking straight," Serena huffed.

Mike nodded, "Yeah…"

"Not Kevin," Serena rolled her eyes, "you! I'm talking about you! Kevin's obviously gone psychotic, but we're not going to help him, or Emily, or Jayden and Antonio if we just sit around here thinking about what shouldn't have happened."

"Serena's right," Mia said, "We need to focus on what's happening now. We need to find the others and figure out what's haunting Kevin before the sun comes up."

"I'm going to make sure the coast is clear," Serena stuck low to the ground as she made her way to the door and poked her head out. She checked both ways and carefully stepped into the hallway. Just because she couldn't see Kevin at first sight didn't mean he wasn't lurking nearby.

Mia clutched on tightly to Mike's arm and held her breath. They had to wait for Serena's signal before they came out.

Time ticked by slowly, wearing on and on while they waited. It was as if Serena had decided to check every corner of the house before she came back. Mike felt if he waited any longer it would be sunrise and he would be out of time for whatever Kevin planned on doing before the night was up. He took Mia's hand and walked her to do the door.

"We have to go," he whispered.

"Serena…"

"We can't wait for her. Not anymore."

"But…"

Mike turned around and held Mia by the arms. Looking into her eyes, he whispered very quietly, "We have to keep moving. She knows where we're going, if she doesn't run into Kevin, she'll meet us there."

Mia was about to nod her head but suddenly her eyes widened and she screamed. Mike turned around to see what had spooked her and found Kevin standing right behind him, sword in hand and ready to strike. Just before it could hit either Mia or Mike, Kevin was tackled into the wall and another scream filled the air.

Kevin pushed Serena off and got to his feet, lifting his bloodied sword from the ground. Mike and Mia stared in horror as Kevin wiped off the blade and Serena coughed up her own blood.

"She'll be dead soon," Kevin assured the green and pink Rangers. "She'll die in vain if you don't run now."

Mike looked down at Serena, ready to come to her aid, but Kevin's sword fell in front of him, stopping just short of his chest. Mike couldn't take a step closer without risking his own life, and then there would be nothing standing in Kevin's way. Mia would never fight him, Antonio and Jayden were nowhere to be found, and Emily was on her own.

"I'm so sorry, Serena," Mike whispered before grabbing Mia's arm and pulling her down the hallway. They turned the corner and they could hear Serena screaming again. Mike stopped and wrapped his arms protectively around a sobbing Mia, "It's okay… It'll be okay…"

Mia looked up at him, "Kevin…"

"Shh," Mike hugged her close, "We'll figure it out. We'll save him from himself. Just be strong, okay?"

Mia nodded her head and wiped her tears, "We can't do this by ourselves. We need the others."

Mike looked over his shoulder and down the hallway, "There's another way to Mentor's room. Kevin might be able to cut us off, but we have to try it."

"We have to try anything."

Mike smiled for a moment and then led her down the hallway. They had to stick close. If they were separated, they were doomed. Neither of them could find the strength to attack Kevin on their own, but worst come to worst, they could motivate each other to do what was best.

When they reached the kitchen, Mike slipped down behind the counters and Mia followed him. The counters wrapped around three sides, meaning Kevin could only come at them from one direction while they stopped to catch their breath. He couldn't get them off guard.

"What would make him do this?" Mike asked, looking to Mia.

"We tried to tell you the Haunted House was bad," Mia whispered, her eyes constantly straying to the darkness of the kitchen, as if she was just waiting for Kevin to appear and end their night of terror. "Kevin was scared at every turn. It probably traumatized him."

"But you both went inside the house," Mike said, "If something happened in that house, if there was something fishy about it, why is he the only one acting all murderous? Why are you still… you?"

"Kevin was scared, but he kept jumping in front of me. Maybe he protected me from something."

"He's not protecting you from much right now," Mike crawled forward and checked the kitchen and hallways for signs of Kevin, "if we survive tonight, I'm not scaring anyone ever again."

"Really, Mike? That's the one thing in life you regret?" Mia snapped, "We're about to die, and all you can think about is some stupid pranks you played on Kevin?"

"I'm not exactly thinking straight, Mia," Mike glared at her, "I'm trying to be strong, but I'm fucking terrified too. Something's up with Kevin, Serena's likely dead, Antonio and Jayden and who-knows-where, and my fiancée's all alone while yours is playing a murdering game!"

"You're terrified?"

"Duh!"

Mia took his hand, "We have to finish this soon," she said and took him down the hallway. There was only a little way to go before they reached Mentor's room and they could check for Emily. Very quietly, they both scurried down until they reached the bedroom door. Mike pressed his ear against the wood to listen inside, just in case Kevin had found his way back. Mia, meanwhile, was keeping look out.

Mike turned to her when he heard silence, "We're good. Come on."

He opened the door carefully and crept inside. The room was just as they left it. Mike and Mia had to be careful not to step on the broken glass as they approached the window. Mike looked over the bottom and saw Emily was still lying on the ground, face down, hidden in her arms.

"Em!" he cried, hopping over the window, he fell by her side and placed his hand on her back, "Emily, are you okay?"

"Red light!" Emily suddenly shouted and her head shot up from her arms. She giggled happily and pointed, "I saw you move!"

Mike looked to see what she was pointing at and noticed she was playing a game of red light/green light with her Ape Zord. He furrowed his brow quizzically as he lifted her into his arms.

"Emily, what the hell is going on?"

"It's Halloween," Emily giggled to him and pointed back to the window. Mike looked up and saw all his friends, even Mentor and Serena, were gathered inside the house, looking at him and Emily through the shattered window. His jaw nearly hit the floor.

"What the hell?" he cried and pointed to Serena, "You're supposed to be dead!"

His finger shifted to Kevin, "And why are you smiling! You're under some mad-crazy-murdering spell!"

"We got you good!" Antonio bounced excitedly as he hopped over the ledge and landed outside the house.

"That'll teach you not to scare Kevin," Jayden chuckled.

"Wait a minute," Mike closed his eyes and shook his head; "this was all some sick prank?"

"Now you know how scared Mia and I were in that Haunted House," Kevin smirked.

"What?" Mike glared at Kevin, "You're comparing tonight to what you went through in that…"

"We were pretty scared in that Haunted House," Mia admitted, "Some guy kept following us and actually jumped us with a knife. It was probably a fake but I was sure I was going to die."

"You guys are mean!" Mike pouted.

"Oh, relax, Zombie Mike," Serena stuck out her lower lip teasingly as she unzipped her sweater, revealing a special vest that had been used to keep Kevin from actually hurting her during the prank, and when Mike turned to Antonio and Jayden he saw they were wearing the same thing. There were a few tubes on the vest as well, filled with red liquid which Mike assumed would shoot out like blood when programmed. Serena rolled her eyes at her brother in-law, "We weren't going to take it much further. We had Mia holding your hand the entire time. If things got out of control, she would stop it."

"Which I did," Mia nodded. "When you told me you were terrified in the kitchen I knew the prank was done."

"_You_ were holding _my _hand the entire time?"

"We also made sure you wouldn't totally lose it," Jayden added, "Which is why your goal was to get back to Emily. She's not dead, but you're still panicked enough to keep the prank scary."

"Killing me and junior was a bit of a risk, though," Serena said with her hand on her stomach, "but your face was priceless."

"You guys are mean," Mike unwrapped his arms from around Emily and hopped back inside the house through the window. He was about to storm off when he heard Emily calling his name. He turned around and saw her smile.

"They forgot to mention the giant bowl of candy waiting just for you in our room," she said. "You get it all to yourself while the rest of us clean up the house."

"Before morning," Mentor added. "Every window that's been smashed, every door that's been kicked in, and everything that's been broken, needs to be fixed or replaced before morning."

"Okay," Mike sighed, "the candy and the fact that I don't have to clean kind of makes up for the very mean prank," he glared to each of his friends, "but it was still mean."

"But fun," Kevin smiled happily, "and so worth losing friendship points."

Emily climbed back inside the house and smiled sweetly to Mike, "We weren't going to cross the line! Promise! Don't be mad!"

Mike eyed her for a moment, trying to stay angry with her and all his friends, but then she did the one thing he didn't want her to do. She gave him her sweet puppy look, the one he could never resist. Mike knew what she was doing and the others by extension. They knew she was his weakness, and if anyone could get him to forgive and forget it was Emily. He tried to resist, and the struggle was evident on his face, but he couldn't.

"Fine," he groaned loudly and Emily bounced into his arms. He rolled his eyes, "but no more pranks!"

"Deal," the house agreed.

"And," Mike lifted Emily over his shoulder, "I'm taking her with me and tomorrow you guys will have to put up with her sugar rush as punishment for that mean, mean prank."

"Mike!" Emily giggled as he carried her away, "I have to help clean up!"

"No you don't!" he waved goodbye to the others, "Have fun cleaning!"

"Sugar rush Emily?" Jayden turned to Kevin, "This better still be worth it."

"He nearly pissed himself," Kevin nodded his head, "I'll deal with hyper Emily times ten and I'll clean the house by myself. It was so worth it."

"Then you better get started," Jayden picked up a broom from the corner of Mentor's room and shoved it into Kevin's hands, "We're going to go find some leftover candy."

"Guys! You were in on this too!" Kevin called as they began to walk away, "Mia…"

"I need sleep," Mia smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

Kevin sighed loudly and looked around the room. He then smiled to himself as Mike's horrified face played over again and again in his head.

"So worth it," he said as he swept up the glass.

**Author's Note: Happy Halloween!**


	51. November First

The day after Halloween, Kevin was still going around the house, cleaning up the mess that had been made from the prank they pulled on Mike. He was beginning to regret being so careless with the house, but it still didn't damper how exciting it had been scaring Mike. It wasn't often Kevin got to do something of the sort. He was normally too serious and disciplined to concern himself with mindless pranks, but he had put up with just short of a year of Mike's nonsense and it was about time the green Ranger got a taste of his own medicine.

He was just finishing up with the final door, the door to the room Mike, Mia, and Serena had hidden in, when he felt two arms wrap about his waist, a head rest on his shoulder and lips kissing his neck.

"Did you work all night?" Mia asked him. Kevin nodded his hand, slid the door to make sure it opened properly, and then turned to his fiancé.

"I, uh… kind of had to," he said, "it was Mentor's condition to the prank, remember? I would have been done earlier if you guys held up your end of the deal and helped out."

"Kevin, we're suffering enough," Mia glanced down the hallway and suddenly Kevin felt someone jumping up on his back and arms wrapped around his neck. It wasn't Mia and the only other person who would jump hug him was…

"Emily?" he asked, turning his head to look over his shoulder.

"I didn't get a wink of sleep but I'm feeling amazing! We should go run around in a circle! Come on, Kevin, run in a circle! Run with me!"

Emily had slipped off his back and was now tugging on his arm, trying to get him to move. Kevin chuckled and rolled his eyes.

"Did Mike feed you the entire bowl of candy?"

Emily nodded her rapidly up and down. Kevin had to quickly grab it to keep it from shooting off. He tried to hold her still, but every muscle in her body seemed to be energized by the sugar from the candies, and it seemed like there was going to be no end to her hyperactivity.

"Actually," her speech had been accelerated by all the candy, "he only fed me half of it, but the bowl was so big I couldn't eat it all and Mike promised I could eat the rest for breakfast and lunch and I did!"

"It's never ending," Mia whispered in Kevin's ear, "Mike keeps pulling out random candies from his pocket and feeding it to her when she looks like she's about to crash."

"Maybe cleaning was the better option," Kevin chuckled. Emily continued to pull on his arm. She was bouncing so much, and so quickly, he wasn't sure her feet had time to touch the floor again before she was back in the air, "I wasn't stuck with that all morning."

"Tag!" Emily tapped Kevin on the arm and suddenly took off like a rocket down the hallway, "You're it!"

"I'll trade jobs with you," Mia pleaded, "Please, save me."

"You're on your own, Mia," Kevin chuckled as he tapped her lightly, "You're it."

"You son of a bitch," Mia growled. Kevin picked up the toolbox.

"I have a job to do. I love you too."

"You'll pay for this!"

"Who's it?" Emily asked, appearing from the other side of the hallway and scaring Mia. The pink Ranger jumped and turned.

"Where the hell…?"

"Mia's it," Kevin pointed to his fiancée, "Run away from her, Emily!"

"No," Emily shook her head and held out her arm, "Tag me, tag me! I wanna get Antonio! Tag me! Tag me! Please, Mia! Tag, me! Hurry, hurry, hurry!"

"Slow down!" Mia rolled her eyes and tapped Emily's arm, "You're it. Go after Antonio."

"Thanks!" Emily was already down the hallway and Mia let out a sigh of relief. She was no longer Emily's victim. Just as she was about to offer Kevin a hand, she heard a loud groan from the bedroom.

"Thanks a lot, Mia! I just sent her to you!"

"You're welcome!" Mia called back.

Kevin laughed and shook his head, "When it finally dawns on them that Emily's running away from the person who's it…"

"They'll be fighting for it until she crashes," Mia smirked, "Good plan."

-Samurai-

Even though cleaning up the house was Kevin's duty, Serena was still helping to take down the decorations. He was going to be busy rebuilding and restoring the things that had been destroyed in the prank, and now that Halloween was gone there was no point keeping the decorations up. It was only a sad reminder of the one night a year where Emily could compete with Road Runner for best time in a marathon and win.

She was busy in the common room, taking down the fake spider webs. Jayden was helping her out by sweeping up whatever had fallen on the floor. Mike was too busy enjoying unleashing his wrath of hyper Emily onto the house to help clean up, Emily was more of a nuisance than anything in her current state, and Antonio was keeping her distracted.

She was just about to set a rather large, fake spider in a box for storage when she noticed Jayden was staring at a book of baby names. She had picked it up recently while shopping for baby gadgets. It was starting to dawn on her that pregnancy was only temporary and soon she would have a child in her arms, and that child needed a name.

"What have you been thinking?" Jayden held up the book and Serena shrugged.

"Too many names," she chuckled. "It's got an A-Z list of every name you can possibly think of. It would help if I knew the gender."

"I'm sure you're not far off from figuring it out," Jayden shrugged his shoulder. "I take it you want to know, then."

"It would help," Serena nodded. "I keep accidentally calling the kid an it and I think it pisses it off… like that."

"I see your point," Jayden laughed, "Personally, I would probably be offended if people kept calling me an it."

"So I do want to know," Serena said.

"You do have to have names that you like, though."

"It's hard," Serena dropped the spider into the box and took the book from Jayden, "I mean, you think you like a name and then you read the meaning, and I know it technically doesn't mean anything, but I don't want to name my kid something like… here Jacory."

"What?"

"Jacory. It's a created name. That's what the book says under 'meaning'. Aren't they all created? If this kid's a boy, my poor son's answer to the question, 'what does your name mean' is going to be, 'well, creepy old man, my name is a created name'. That's stupid!"

"Does it have all name meanings in there?" Jayden asked. Serena nodded her head.

"Why do you ask?"

"What does my name mean?"

Serena shrugged her shoulders, "I haven't looked. Jayden, right?"

"Last I heard," Jayden chuckled. Serena shot him a look.

"Shut up… Aha! Your name means… hold up."

"What?"

"It's a combo name," Serena looked at him, "It's a combination of Jay and Aiden. Jay which means the bird, and Aiden which means, coincidentally, little fire."

"My name means flaming bird? That's pretty cool."

"Or a roasted chicken dinner," Serena giggled.

"I'll go with flaming bird. What about the others.

"Kevin: beautiful and handsome."

"We won't tell him that."

"Michael: who is like God? ... Jay, the meaning of Mike's name is a question."

"Just skip to Mia."

"Mia: of the sea, or bitter."

"Neither seem to really suit her," Jayden chuckled.

"Emily: to excel, to strive, or to rival."

"And Serena?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Serena rolled her eyes and closed the book, "it means serene, calm, and I'm freaking out!"

Jayden frowned, "You are?"

"My baby doesn't have a name."

"You still have five and a half months. Besides, you don't have to name the kid right away."

"No, my baby is not a baby no-name," Serena shook her head. "It's already got no father, no grandmother, a possible Nighlok life, and…"

"You just called the kid and it again."

"Dammit!"

"Why don't you just forget the meaning of the names and pick something that means a lot to you?" Jayden suggested, "A name can be anything you want it to be."

"Created name?"

"Why not?"

"I'm not naming my kid Jacory, if that's what you're saying."

"If she's a girl, what's something you can name her?"

"I don't know."

"A boy?"

"I don't know."

Jayden rolled his eyes and tapped the book in her hand, "I'm sure you'll come up with something before the squirt comes out. Just don't let Emily name it. She'll come up with something like Infant the Baby."

"Worse come to worse, I might use that."

"What about when it's not a baby anymore?"

"Legal name change," Serena suggested just before the Gap Sensor went off. Before it could sound a second time, Emily was in the room staring at the map.

"Nighlok! Nighlok! Nighlok!"

"Where, Emy?" Serena asked, looking over her sister's shoulder.

"Maremma Boulevard!" Emily bounced, "Let's go, let's go, let's go!"

"Will she even need our help taking out the Nighlok?" Antonio asked and the others all shrugged their shoulders. Mike tossed Emily another little candy. The rest of the team rolled their eyes and groaned.

"What?" he shrugged, "the last thing any of us need is for her to crash in the middle of the fight. Besides, this'll teach you guys not to prank me and give me a bowl of candy. Obviously I'm sharing with… where did she go?"

"We might want to catch up with her," Jayden suggested with a chuckle, "she may have the energy to stop a Nighlok on her own, but she'll need us for the Megazord."

"I doubt she'll even need her own Zord to take out a Mega monster," Mia muttered to Kevin. "Big or small, nothing can keep up with her."

"Let's not put that theory to the test, huh?"

"Good idea."


	52. Once Upon A Time

The Rangers made it into the city and got as many people away from the Nighlok and the Moogers as they could. Emily, on her own, had done a good job of rounding people up and getting them to safety, though many of them were probably running away from the hyperactive Samurai with a sword.

When the streets were cleared, Jayden could finally look down the street and he saw the Nighlok threatening the city. He appeared to be nothing more than a big, open book with legs, arms, and a head with a crown on top. Jayden chuckled to himself and looked over to Mia.

"Storybook fairy tale?"

"He's not getting a happy ending, I can promise you that," Mia nodded her head.

"I can take him! I can take him!" Emily's hand shot up in the air as she continued to bounce. She was about to race off to prove she could handle this herself, but Mike grabbed her shoulder and held her back.

"Slow down, Energizer," he tapped the top of her helmet, "we can't just rush him. Steps need to be taken. Watch and learn."

Mike stepped in front of Emily and looked to the Nighlok, Spin Sword at the ready, "Hey, what the hell do you do?"

"Leave the talking to me, Mike," Jayden groaned, hitting his helmet with his hand.

Pages shot out from the book and flew right for the Rangers. They were sliced and knocked right off their feet before the Moogers charged. As they got back up, they found themselves surrounded while the Nighlok tried to run around the corner, searching for more victims.

Mike wiped out his forest spear, slicing the Moogers down and clearing a straight path for him and Emily, "Now, Road Runner!"

Emily sped off, launching her Earth Splicer in the process as she chased down the Nighlok and caught him before he reached the end of the street. Her Earth Splicer tore him down and came right back into her hand as she approached him and swiped at him.

"Ah, not fair!" the Nighlok cried out, defending himself with another assault of papers, knocking Emily down and leaving her blinded. Antonio was quick to jump in and sliced as many papers as he could in half, causing them to flutter to the ground harmlessly.

"I was never a big reader," he chuckled as he finished by swiping at the Nighlok. The Nighlok tumbled and rolled away from the yellow and Gold Rangers. As he got back to his feet, the Rangers regrouped. He shook his head, trying to find his bearings again. He was here on a mission: to cause terror and suffering. He couldn't leave without getting one person trapped in his fantasy world.

"You Rangers are ruining my plans!"

"Plot change, Nighlok," Jayden shouted, "You're about to get a different ending!"

"What exactly does this guy do?" Mia asked, looking to the other Rangers, "Most of the books I read had happy endings."

"Of course they did," Kevin smirked behind him helmet.

"I'm just saying that a happy ending isn't Xandred's usual cup of tea. What's the worst that can happen?"

"Why don't you come closer and find out?" the Nighlok taunted her and held his hands up to the side of his head, waved them around, stuck out his tongue and blew a raspberry. Mike frowned.

"Okay, definitely a book from the kiddie section of the library."

"Why don't we just destroy the guy and get home?" Antonio suggested, "Normally when we find out what a Nighlok can do, we're in trouble."

"I give happy endings with a twist!" the Nighlok cried out happily as more pages came flying from his open book, showing and slicing the Rangers again, "the twist is, the happy ending isn't for you."

"Paper cuts hurts," Mike groaned, pushing himself back to his feet, "I think we're gotten our fair share. Sparky, you're on again."

Emily shook her head and doubled over, resting her hands on her knees, "I don't feel so good…"

"Seriously?" Mike asked her, "You're choosing now to crash."

"Don't throw up in your helmet," Mia advise the yellow Ranger and then looked to the boys, "We can finish him off, can't we?"

Jayden, Kevin, and Antonio nodded their heads and raced off with Mia while Mike stayed back with Emily.

"Too much candy?" he chuckled, keeping his eye on the fight in case the others needed them. Emily looked up at him.

"You think? I'm so stuffed this year's Thanksgiving Turkey's going to be jealous."

"You okay to fight?"

"Give me a minute," Emily held up a finger and took a few deep breathes, trying to shake the sugar crash quickly so she could help the others. She looked over at them and saw they were faring rather well against the overgrown book. Truth be told, the Nighlok didn't seem to pose a threat. She had more paper cuts on her from this one battle than she ever hoped to obtain in her lifetime, but there was no real danger.

Her eyes fell on Mia as it seemed like the pink Ranger was going to be the one to finish off the Nighlok. Mia raised her sword, ready to strike the Nighlok right in the center of the book, but as her sword touched the paper, more pages, this time bigger than any before, shot out, tearing through each of the Rangers' suits and skin as a bright light illuminated the street, blinding the Rangers who powered down and sunk to their feet.

-Samurai-

"Mentor!" Serena called as she slammed her fists on the table. She could see on the map that the Rangers were no longer morphed and when the Nighlok's signal was still present that was never a good sign.

"Go," Mentor nodded to her as he rose to his feet, "I will stay here and get everything ready."

"Can't we just have one easy Nighlok?" she grumbled as she raced out of the house. "I won't be able to do this when I'm waddling around!"

In record time, Serena made it to the scene of the battle and she spotted the Rangers lying on the ground, clutching their wounds in pain. The Nighlok seemed to be gone, having likely dried up after his powerful attack. She fell to her knees by her sister and looked over at the boys.

"Are you guys okay?"

"Do you know what a paper cut feels like?" Mike groaned as he tried to push himself back up but fell, "Try getting hundreds of them at once."

"I'll get you guys home," Serena promised. "It seems like the Nighlok's gone for now. You've got a few hours to recover."

"I might need more than…" Emily suddenly rolled over and expelled most of the candy she had eaten in the last twenty-four hours, causing Serena to jump back slightly and stare at the vomit, disgusted.

"Rainbow coloured. Fantastic," she picked up Emily's Samuraizer, "Mentor… I might need some help. These guys can barely walk."

"I'll be there as soon as I can," Mentor promised her, "just make sure they are okay."

"They are more or less okay," Serena nodded as she checked each and every Ranger. They were all moving around and complaining, which was a good sign in her eyes, until she realised that there was one missing. Her eyes scanned the street for Mia, "Where's pinky?" she asked Kevin.

He finally managed to sit up and looked around, "I… I don't know."

Serena checked Emily's Samuraizer for a signal from the pink Ranger, but there was nothing. It was as if she had been wiped off the face of the planet completely.

-Samurai-

Hours later, when Mia finally woke up, she found herself starting at a pink canopy hanging over her bed rather than just a ceiling. Something cool touched her face, causing Mia to look around the room and her eyes fell on Emily, gently dabbing a cool, wet cloth to her face. The younger Samurai smiled brightly when she saw Mia was awake.

"What happened?" Mia sat up as Emily set the cloth in a bowl and put it aside.

"You do not remember?" Emily asked with a frown as she turned back to Mia. The pink Ranger shook her head.

"No, I…"

"Your father will not be pleased to hear that."

"My father?"

Emily looked nervously to Mia, "It is worse than I thought… the King is not going to be happy. Serena will not be happy…"

"Emily," Mia took Emily's arms gently and looked the younger girl in the eyes, "What the hell is going on? Tell me what happened."

"You remember my name and yet you don't remember your own father?"

"Emy, if this is Mike's revenge you can quit it."

"Mike? Do you mean Michael?"

"Of course I…" Mia shook her head in defeat. She was getting nowhere with Emily, "Look, Emy, thanks for your help, but can you go get Kevin?"

"You know better than to invite him into your bedchamber during daylight," Emily frowned. "If your father were to see you two…"

"Emily, my father's on the other side of the country, remember? And stop talking like that!"

"But I must! The King…"

"Well, around me you don't have to."

Emily looked to Mia and bit her lower lip nervously, "Are you sure?"

"As long as you tell me what happened, you can talk however you want," Mia nodded her head, "Just tell me where we are, how I wound up here and if we killed the storybook Nighlok."

"Nighlok?" Emily frowned. "Killing? Mia, you don't kill. We were out in the gardens picking fruits for tonight when you suddenly fainted."

"Suddenly…" Mia shook her head, "Emily, the Nighlok. What happened to the Nighlok?"

"I…"

Mia's door opened suddenly and the two girls turned to see who was coming into Mia's room. Serena was walking in backwards, seemingly trying to keep someone else from entering the room.

"I assure you, King, your daughter will be well cared for in my sister's hands. She must rest. You will see her…"

"When I please," to Mia, the voice sounded strangely like Mentor Ji's, and when the King pushed his way past Serena, she saw that it was, in fact, Mentor Ji. Her jaw dropped as Mentor hurried to her bedside and wrapped his arms around her. She remembered very few occasions where Mentor had ever hugged her, but not enough to make this a normal thing. She squirmed out of his arms.

"Okay, now I'm freaking out," she pushed him away, "Mentor, what…"

"Mentor?" Emily whispered into Mia's ear, "He is not your mentor, he is your father."

"My what…?"

Ji turned to Serena and frowned, "Who is this mentor?"

"I don't know," Serena shrugged her shoulders. "I told you she needed rest. Let Emily tend to her while we…"

Ji turned away from Serena and sat on the edge of Mia's bed. He gently took her hand, "Are you okay?"

"A little freaked out," Mia pulled her hand away from Ji's and turned to Emily and Serena before looking back at Mentor, "I… I think I need more sleep."

"Then you shall get it," Ji rose from the bed and walked straight to the door. "Come, Serena."

Serena quickly glanced to Emily, "We will talk about this later," she whispered before, to Mia's surprise, sprouting wings and flying off after Mentor Ji. Mia watched in absolute shock while Emily went to the door and closed it.

"Now I'm in trouble."

"Why does your sister have wings?"

"We all have wings," Emily shrugged her shoulders. Mia looked over her shoulder.

"We do?"

"Uh, no," Emily shook her head, "You do not, but all fairies…"

"Fairies?"

"Yes," Emily nodded, "All fairies have wings. After the age of five, of course. They do need a little time to grow."

Mia stared blankly at Emily who, at this pout, was speaking nonsense. After a couple of blinks and a long, deep, inward breath, she decided to play along.

"So, Serena's a fairy, then? What does that make you?"

"A fairy," wings appeared from Emily's back and Mia jumped slightly. "You really hurt yourself, didn't you? I should have been paying closer attention. I don't think I can do this fairy thing…"

"What do you mean?"

"What do you mean, what do I mean?"

"What's the fairy thing?"

"You know… the fairies?" Emily pointed to her wings, "We live to serve the King and his family."

"Serve?" Mia frowned, "Mentor's making you and Serena…"

"Mentor?"

"Ji, my father, whatever, he's making you serve him?" Mia threw the blankets off and jumped out of bed, "No way in hell am I letting him…"

Emily rushed to Mia's side and grabbed her arm gently, "Mia, only Serena serves the King."

"But…"

"I serve you."

"No. Emy…"

"It's not as bad as it sounds," Emily assured Mia as she guided her back to bed, "We guide you. We help you make the right decisions when faced with challenges and we, well just help you in general. Most Kings would abuse that, but you and your father respect us and our powers."

"What powers?"

"Only Serena has powers," Emily lowered her head, "But once you are Queen, Serena will retire and I…"

Mia pulled Emily down onto the bed, grabbed her arms and looked her square in the eye, "Okay, okay, before we go into magical power talk and fairy princesses."

"Exactly," Emily smiled and wrapped her arms around Mia, "You do remember!"

"Mentor Ji or King Ji or whatever you want to call him, he's my father?"

"Yes!"

"Serena's his fairy princess?"

Emily nodded. "She's his fairy godmother."

"What? Mentor's got…"

"The King."

"He's got a fairy godmother?"

"They aren't just for princesses, you know," Emily frowned. "Serena keeps his moral compass pointed north. Thanks to her, he's ended wars and settled feud that have been raging for centuries."

"And yet we're still fighting the Nighlok."

"I beg your pardon?"

Mia shook her head, "Nothing. So, wait, if Mentor…"

"King."

"Is my father," Mia frowned, "that means I'm…?"

"The princess," Emily nodded with a smile, "soon to be Queen. Your father plans to marry you soon to the Prince of the neighbouring land. The final step to ending a decade long feud for land."

"He wants to marry me off? To who?"

"You do not remember?" Emily asked. Mia shook her head.

"Of course not! I just learned you were a… Kevin?"

"A Kevin?"

"No, Kevin."

"Sir Kevin?"

"Yeah, sure. Is it him?"

"Of course not," Emily shook her head, "Sir Kevin is charming, and he has made a suitable lover for you until now, but he is no Prince."

"What?"

"Your father has arranged for you to marry Prince Jayden."

"Jayden?"

"You have always known that?"

"Obviously not," Mia rolled her eyes, "if Kevin is my lover…"

"Your father knows not of the romance between you and Sir Kevin," Emily explained. "If he did…"

Emily looked down sadly, "Unfortunately, you must end the romance before the Prince arrives."

"Jayden? You expect me to marry Jayden? Emily, you know I love Kevin."

"But this marriage…"

"I don't care about land! I love Kevin."

"I will take you to him tonight," Emily promised, "but you must end it."

"No," Mia shook her head defiantly, "No, I love Kevin."

"I know, but…"

"Where is Kevin?" Mia asked. "Emily, take me to Kevin."

"But…"

"Now."

"Yes, Princess," Emily bowed her head and got to her feet. Mia followed her path as they snuck out of the room.


	53. Princess' Desires

Mentor returned into the common room after looking over the Rangers after their battle.

"Nothing dangerous to report," he assured Serena, who was busy leafing through the book of Nighloks to figure out who the Rangers had been fighting and where Mia could have gone to, "It's like Mike said, they have paper cuts, but nothing serious."

"And Emily's finally puking up rainbows," Serena pointed over her shoulder to the bathroom, "Any minute now I'm expecting her to pass out and we'll finally remember what peace and quiet sounds like."

"You aren't in there with her?" Mentor asked with a frown as he took a seat next to Serena. She shook her head.

"This isn't Emily's first rodeo," she said, "Besides, finding Mia is a little more important than holding Emily's hair back."

"But not more important that caring for your own family," Mentor gently pulled the book from Serena's hands, "I will search for…"

"Aha," Serena smiled, yanking the book back and pointing to the image of the Nighlok the Rangers had faced, "Right here; the Story Book Nighlok."

"What does it say?" Mentor asked. Serena read over the information the former Samurai had gathered and sighed loudly.

"Oh boy," Serena passed the book over to Mentor, "Mia's living once upon a time."

"What?"

"The Nighlok's almost completely useless to Xandred," Serena explained. "Because he's basically a giant book, he's too chunky to possess any real fighting skills. He can paper cut like mad, but unless you're a haemophiliac, that's not much of an issue, don't you think?"

"It took out our Rangers."

"Yeah, but it's barely been two hours and they seem ready for a round two," Serena shrugged her shoulders, "the real danger is the Nighlok's final self-defensive attack, where he pulls his attacker into the pages of his book."

"The Nighlok ate Mia?" Emily asked as she walked into the room after spilling her guts into the toilet. Serena nodded her head.

"Basically."

"What does that mean?" Emily took a seat across from Serena and Mentor, "Do we have to destroy him to save her?"

"I fear Mia is on her own," Mentor sighed heavily as he closed the book, keeping his finger between the pages to mark where he had left off, "Inside the book, we can't help her. She must find a way to make her own happy ending, or she will never return."

"What about the Nighlok?" Emily asked, "Where did he go?"

"Doesn't matter," Mentor stood up and walked to the bookshelf, "Until Mia is back, we cannot destroy the Nighlok."

"What?"

"If we destroy him…"

"Mia's basically stuck in the book, happy ending or not," Serena finished for Mentor.

"So, we're just supposed to let that big, bad book run around the city hurting people because it ate Mia and she can't get out if the book's gone?"

"Basically," Serena nodded.

"Just because you can't destroy the Nighlok, that does not mean you can't protect the city," Mentor reminded the girls, "Fight, but you must not destroy the Nighlok until Mia is home."

Serena sighed loudly, "Maybe this Nighlok isn't so useless after all…"

-Samurai-

Mia winced as she watched Emily accidentally fly into the branches of another tree and this time the fairy fell from the sky and landed on the ground.

"I thought you said you had your wings since you were five."

"Yeah…"

Mia chuckled and helped Emily to her feet, "I guess, no matter what world I'm in, some things never change. Are you okay?"

"I think… I…" Emily tried to look over her shoulder to check her wings, feeling a small pain, but couldn't get a proper look. She started spinning around in a circle, like a dog chasing its tail. Mia hit her hand to her forehead and sighed.

"Emily…"

"I just need to…"

"Emy…"

"Stupid wings."

"Emily," Mia grabbed the fairy by the arm, stopping the spins, "I'll have a look."

Emily blushed nervously and turned her back to Mia so the princess could inspect her wings, "The left one," she said, "it kind of hurts."

"I'm no wing expert, but it looks… ripped?"

"Oh no! It can't be ripped!"

"I'm sure it hurts, but it can't be that big of a deal, right?" Mia asked. "You can walk, can't you?"

"Yeah, but…"

"So, just walk with me."

Emily looked to the ground sadly and sighed. She retracted her wings and walked alongside the princess. She pointed down a path to a cabin, "Sir Kevin lives there. I will warn you again, though; visiting him for pleasure during daylight hours is a huge risk. If the King knew…"

"Emily, relax."

"But…"

"Emy, nothing's going to happen," Mia assured the younger girl as she approached the door to the cabin and knocked. "If you're so worried about Mentor finding out, why don't you go distract him?"

"I cannot," Emily shook her head, "I must stay with you. My sole purpose is to look over you."

"Sole purpose?" Mia frowned.

"I am your fairy," Emily nodded, "I protect and guide you up until your dying day."

"I don't need protecting," Mia said before the door opened and she found herself staring at Mike. She turned to Emily, "I thought you said Kevin lives here."

"He does," Emily nodded. She looked to Mike, "The princess wishes to visit Sir Kevin."

"It is still daylight," Mike looked up and then looked to Emily worriedly, "If the King…"

"She insisted," Emily said. Mike sighed, looked to Mia, and then nodded his head. He opened the door wide, allowing Mia and Emily to walk in. He carefully checked the yard around his house before closing and locking the door.

Once inside, Mia spotted Kevin sharpening his sword across the room and rushed over to him. Kevin looked up, surprised to see her, but Mia could guess it was because it was still daytime. She threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tight, "Please tell me you know what's going on."

"I do not," Kevin shook his head. "Princess, you know you aren't supposed to visit me. At night, I come to you."

Mia pulled away from Kevin sadly, "You mean… this is all normal for you two? Mentor is my dad? Emily has wings?"

"Of course," Kevin nodded. He cupped her cheek gently in his hand, "Princess, are you okay?"

"She must have hurt her head," Emily whispered softly. "We were out in the garden picking fruits when she fainted. She's been speaking nonsense since she woke up."

"I've been speaking nonsense?" Mia frowned. "You're the one telling me I'm supposed to marry Jayden! And the wing thing? Don't even get me started on that!"

Kevin lowered his head and stood up. He walked away from Mia, "I suppose you are here to end things, then."

"What?" Mia shook her head, "No, Kevin…"

"You marriage to the Prince is only days away," Kevin said. "I'm afraid that will put an end to our love."

"But I don't love Jayden," Mia took Kevin's hands, "Kevin, we're supposed to get married. You proposed to me!"

"I have done no such thing," Kevin pulled his hand from Mia's; "I live to serve the King. I would never dishonour him by stealing his daughter."

"Yet you sleep with her almost every night," Mike muttered.

"If your father found out…" Emily whispered and lowered her head sadly. Mike wrapped his arm around her.

"He will never find out," he promised Emily. "I will make sure it doesn't happen."

"As will I," Kevin said, turning to look at Mia, "Things must end. We must never speak of this again. You have your life and I must go back to mine."

"No," Mia shook her head, "Kevin, I want you. I don't love Jayden…"

"That doesn't matter…"

"Yes it does!" Mia stomped her foot on the ground, "I don't care who Mentor wants me to marry. He had absolutely no say in who I love at all. It's my choice! I'm going to marry the man I love and the man who makes me happy. That's you, Kevin!"

"She does love you, Sir Kevin," Emily smiled. "She talks about you all the time, even when her father is around. She's happiest when you are with her."

"Please, Kevin," Mia begged, taking his hand, "I you don't love me, just tell me and I'll marry Jayden. I'll be unhappy, but I'll marry Jayden. But if you do love me, if you truly do love me, you won't let my father tell me who to love."

Kevin took a deep breath and looked to Mike for advice. The younger man shrugged his shoulders with a sly smirk.

"I think you know what you're supposed to do."

"Mia," Emily called, "You understand your father will not be happy when he finds out you chose to marry Sir Kevin over Prince Jayden. He won't let it happen."

"He's going to have to," Mia said. "Your sister will convince him to do what's right."

"She'll try," Emily nodded, "but the King is his own man. The final decision belongs to him. Please think this through, Mia. If you do believe marriage to Sir Kevin is for the best, and if it truly does make you happy, I will stand by your side, but you need to…"

"I don't need to think," Mia shook her head and smiled to Kevin, "We're supposed to be together. You and me. Please tell me you know that."

"I do, Princess," Kevin nodded his head and cast a quick smile at Mike. The younger man raised his fist slightly and pumped it in the air.

"I knew you loved her," he said. "You understand this love won't be easy though, right? Prince Jayden has been waiting for this marriage his entire life, and the King's got his heart set on wedding as well. They will do anything they can to ensure the wedding happens."

"He can try to tear us apart," Kevin wrapped his arms tightly around Mia, "I will fight to the death for this love."

Mia smiled and hugged Kevin. Finally, something in this crazy land made sense. She still had Kevin by her side, and it seemed her friends were willing to support her. There was still the matter with Mentor and Jayden to deal with, and she had yet to see Antonio, but hopefully she could make things right and somehow find her way back home.

Mike approached Emily, pulling her to the other side of the small house to give Mia and Kevin their privacy.

"The King will not be happy."

"I know," Emily nodded, "but it's my job to make sure Mia does what's right. I can't ask her not to follow her heart. The King won't be happy, but if I convinced her to live a lie, I wouldn't be a good fairy, would I?"

"I guess not," Mike breathed and then gestured to her back, "Where are your beautiful wings?"

"I… well…" Emily sprouted her wings, showing Mike the torn left one. She lowered her head sadly, "I hurt it again."

"You must avoid the trees, or at least ask your sister for more lessons," Mike chuckled, "Turn around."

"But…"

"I can't leave you with a broken wing," he gently touched her wing, at which Emily started to blush. She took a seat on the wooden stool and let him tend to her wing.


	54. What Father Wants

"Mia… Mia…"

"Go away, Emily," Mia muttered while still half-asleep and she rolled over in Kevin's arms to hide away from the fairy trying to pull her from her dreams.

"I wish I could, Mia, but it is almost sunrise. If you are not in your bedchamber soon, your father will be angry."

Mia opened her eyes and looked up at Emily. She groaned loudly and uncurled herself from Kevin's arms.

"What won't anger my father?" she asked and straightened out her dress so it didn't look like she had slept in it. Emily shrugged her shoulders.

"You must understand, he is only trying to do what he thinks is best for you."

"Then why will it piss him off when I tell him I want to marry Kevin?" Mia asked.

"He does not believe that is best," Emily said.

"But Kevin makes me happy."

"And this feud between the two lands had made many people unhappy. The wedding between you and Prince Jayden will restore peace and join the two lands, making many people happy."

"That is a lot of pressure," Mia lowered her head and looked over at Kevin. He was still sleeping soundly and she didn't want to leave him, but Emily seemed eager to go, desperate even. Mia didn't know what King Ji was like when he was angry, but if he was anything like Mentor, she didn't want to find out. "But I should be allowed to do what I want, right?"

"You have a right to your own happiness," Emily nodded her head. "This feud had existence long before you were born. It is not right for everyone to expect you to end it and deprive you of your happiness. I'm sure the lands can be joined another way."

"We'll have to hope Serena can convince Mentor of that, huh?" Mia looked to Emily. The young fairy nodded her head.

"We must go, Mia. We do not want to upset your father just yet."

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Mia leaned down and kissed Kevin's cheek, pulling him from his sleep, "I have to go."

Kevin opened his eyes and looked around. It was still dark, but the light of day was beginning to glow. He nodded his head.

"I will visit you tonight," he promised, kissing her lips, "We will tell your father of your decision together."

"You're leaving, already?" Mike yawned loudly, having been awakened by the conversations. He sat up in his cot and looked at Emily, "Will you be safe traveling in the dark?"

"I will keep the princess safe," Emily nodded. Mike shook his head.

"Will _you_ be safe?" he repeated. A faint smile appeared on Emily's lips.

"I will keep to the ground," she chuckled, "My wing is recovering, but I will not be able to fly for another few days."

"Go straight back to the castle," Mike told her. "Avoid shortcuts."

"I promise," Emily nodded. Mia took her hand.

"You said we needed to go?" she reminded the fairy. Emily nodded her hand and pulled Mia out of the small home. She looked around the field carefully, making sure the way was clear before they started heading to the castle.

During the night, Mia had spent quite a bit of time with her focus on Kevin, but she hadn't been completely blinded by the other couple in the room. She knew, back in the real world (or other world. She wasn't exactly sure where she was), they were engaged, but here things seemed to be very different. She noticed Emily seemed very shy around Mike and she would blush when they touched. It was like the two were right back to the square one.

On the walk home, Mia gently nudged Emily and smiled, "So, you and Mike, huh…"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not blind, Emy," Mia smirked, "You like him, don't you."

"It is forbidden. I cannot like him, nor can I like anyone else. My sole purpose is to protect and guide you. Now, keep your voice down."

"It's forbidden to like someone else?" Mia frowned and grabbed Emily by the arm, spinning her around. "Emy, you're going to have to explain that."

"I'm your fairy," Emily said. "Your father made it my responsibility to keep you happy, healthy, and safe. He knows falling in love would distract me from my duties, so he has made it forbidden."

"For you?"

"For me. If I were to love a man, that would take me away from you. If you were to get hurt or if something terrible were to happen…"

"Emy…"

"Your father is a nice King," Emily turned away from Mia, "He loves you dearly and always has. Nothing matters more to him than you."

"So, he'll be fine with who I choose to marry?"

"It's complicated, Princess," Emily looked down the land and saw the sun beginning shin over the horizon. She grabbed Mia's arm again and began to tug her along, "We must hurry, Mia!"

Emily led her back to the castle and the two girls tried to sneak back inside. Mia was completely lost. Every hallway and every room looked the same to her, but Emily knew her way around. Mia stuck close to Emily right up until she felt someone grabbing her by the waist. She let out a quick scream that was silenced almost immediately by a hand over her mouth.

Emily was soon grabbed by what appeared to be a guard, as far as Mia could tell. The princess then quickly assumed the man who grabbed her was also one of the guards.

"Your father has been searching all night for you, Princess," the guard whispered to Mia as he let her go, "Where have you been?"

"I've been," Mia glanced over to Emily, remembering Emily's desperation to get home and how she kept mentioning her father would be angry if he found out she had left her room to see Kevin, "in the garden."

"During the night?" the guard asked. He turned to Emily, "You know better than that."

"I…"

"It wasn't her fault," Mia quickly interrupted, "I insisted. She was only…"

"Your father is waiting for you," the guard told Mia as he signalled to the other guard to drag Emily away. The guard gestured down the hallway to a large door before he too walked off. Mia gulped, deciding it was best not to stir up trouble. She turned to the large door and made her way into the room.

She found Mentor pacing in front of a throne in what appeared to be the throne room. Serena was sitting on the steps watching him, trying to keep him calm by telling him Mia would be fine. The King wouldn't listen until he saw Mia with his own eyes. Mentor raced over to her, wrapping her up in his arms.

"Where have you been?" he asked her, setting her back down on her feet as he looked into her eyes. "I went to wish you goodnight and you were not in your bed."

"I know. I was out…"

"Out where?" Mentor gently led Mia to a smaller chair by his big throne and sat her down. "It is not safe for you to wander the kingdom alone at night."

"Okay, but…"

"You know better than to leave the castle walls without Kevin by your side."

"Kevin by my side?" Mia furrowed her brow and wished she had Emily here to translate. She tried to put the pieces together on her own, but she couldn't.

Mentor, or rather, the king, looked at her curiously, "You still do not remember? You must still be ill. You are not fit to wander around and that fairy lets you go," he growled and turned to Serena, "Your sister…"

"Is trying her best, you know she is," Serena insisted, "And I mean no offense to you, Great King, or to your daughter, but the Princess is a rather stubborn lady at the best of times."

"How do you expect your sister to protect and guide for my daughter if she cannot care for her while she is ill?" Mentor frowned. He pointed to the doors, "Until your sister returns, I ask that you keep an eye on my daughter. Prepare her for tonight."

"As you wish," Serena nodded and stood up. She gestured to the door, "Princess."

"Now what?" Mia asked.

"Come with me. We only have a day to prepare."

"What's going on?" Mia looked to Mentor and then Serena. The fairy looked at her quizzically.

"You do not remember? Tonight is the ball. You will meet your Prince for the first time and your father will announce your engagement to both Kingdoms."

"Tonight?" Mia asked wide eyed. Serena nodded and took Mia's hand, pulling her from her throne.

"You must have hit your head in the fall," she said. "I will explain everything. Come with me."

-Samurai-

Kevin paced the common room nervously after hearing what had happened to Mia. On the one hand, he was relieved that she was only trapped within the pages of a book. Normally she found herself in much more danger when something like this happened. But on the other hand, Kevin had no idea where she was or if she truly was safe within the Nighlok's book.

"So, let me get this straight?" Mike asked, hugging an exhausted Emily on his lap. He looked to Serena, "we can't destroy the Nighlok until Mia comes back."

"If Mia comes back," Emily mumbled. She was done barfing up the candies Mike had given her, but her sugar crash had left her feeling very lethargic. She barely had enough energy to think about what she was saying and couldn't see her words were stressing Kevin out. Mike kissed her forehead.

"Just go to sleep, Em."

Emily nodded and snuggled into his chest. Mike looked over to Kevin, "Mia's going to make it back," he promised. "If anyone can find their way out of a storybook, it's Mia."

"Until then we have to find a way to keep the Nighlok from causing havoc without destroying him," Jayden said. "If we kill the Nighlok, Mia's trapped forever."

Kevin felt his stomach turning and placed his hand over it to keep it still. There was nothing he could do to help Mia and it bothered him. She was all alone.


	55. Mia's True Love

Mia looked nervously in the mirror as Serena fixed up her hair. It was still hours before the ball, but Serena insisted it would take that long for her to be ready to meet her Prince. Mia didn't mind getting dolled up; she used to love it when she got the chance as a kid, but right now it wasn't her main focus. Her mind was on what Serena was saying.

Serena believed Mia had hit her head and was suffering from slight amnesia, so she was going over the basics, telling the princess everything she needed to know. So far, she hadn't said anything that really surprised Mia. She had picked up on quite a bit through her conversations with Emily. But hearing it all come out at once felt like a huge mess.

Her father, Mentor King Ji, wanted her to marry Prince Jayden. The two Kingdoms had been in conflict over shared land for decades and it seemed the only way to finally bring peace was to join the Kingdoms and bring the lands together under one ruler. It was a good plan, on paper, but Mia's heart didn't belong to Jayden. She loved the man back in her own world, but as more of a brother than a lover. She could never picture herself marrying the man unless they were the last two people on the planet, and even then, they would have to be desperate to keep humans alive.

Serena was also explaining what roles the other Samurai-turned-fairy-tale-characters were playing. Kevin was the bravest Knight in the land (which Mia was pleased to hear), and he had been given the great honour of protecting the King's most valued treasure: Mia. The princess was not to wander out of the castle with permission from her father and without her Knight by her side (Mia could only assume this was how she and Kevin met in this crazy world and fell in love).

Mike was Kevin's loyal companion. He followed Kevin everywhere and fought battles alongside the great Knight. He was, in a way, Kevin's sidekick. Mia was going to have to remember that for when she returned home (if she ever did).

Serena was Mentor's fairy, as Emily had explained. She acted as his conscience, reminding him of the consequences of his selfish actions and keeping him on a good, clean path. There was nothing worse for a Kingdom than a rogue leader, and it was Serena's responsibility to keep the power from getting to his head.

Emily's duty was much the same, only she was responsible for Mia. It was Emily's job to keep Mia on the right path and, because the King was so protective, it was up to Emily to ensure Mia never found herself in any trouble.

When she asked about Jayden and Antonio, Serena didn't have much to say, but she did admit to meeting them before. Jayden seemed to be nothing like the Jayden Mia knew from back home. All he wanted was to be King and to marry the Princess so she could give him a son who would claim the throne. Even Serena seemed disgusted by his attitude, but she knew the marriage would bring peace, and as a fairy it was her job to keep peace and harmony over the land.

Antonio seemed to be Jayden's loyal servant; a man who has stood by the Prince's side since the two boys were infants. From what Serena had seen in her brief visits, it almost seemed like Antonio and Jayden were brothers.

Mia looked down sadly at her dress as Serena finally finished up with her hair. The fairy placed her hand on Mia's shoulder.

"You're not happy."

"I don't love Jayden," Mia admitted.

"Unfortunately, it's not about love," Serena sighed, "Marriage is a union. This is a good thing."

"I don't care about land," Mia spun around in her chair and looked up, "I care about being happy. Jayden's not going to make me happy."

"The Prince is handsome…"

"I don't care."

Serena sighed deeply and took a seat on Mia's bed, "This is what the King wants. When you have a child, you will choose the person they marry…"

"I don't want to choose," Mia shook her head, "not for them. I want to choose my own husband."

"And who would you choose, Princess?" Serena asked. "There aren't many men worthy of…"

"Kevin," Mia looked to Serena cautiously. Kevin had promised they would proclaim their love together but if there was any chance the King would understand, Mia needed to convince Serena beforehand, "I love Kevin."

"The Knight?" Serena shook her head, "You cannot…"

"Says who?" Mia asked, "My father? You know it isn't right for him to choose who I will marry. You know the right thing isn't to use me to end a feud that I have business in."

"But as Princess…"

"I don't care about being a Princess," Mia jumped to her feet, "I'll give it up! You or Emily can have the crown. You can marry Jayden. I'll be a servant or a peasant or whatever I have to be. I love Kevin. It's him I want to marry."

"You feel strongly about this?" Serena asked, "In your heart, you truly believe you're doing the right thing?"

"If land really is a problem, I'm sure we can come up with another way to solve it," Mia nodded. "But I just can't live a lie."

"Changing so many minds will not be easy. Your father and the Prince have their hearts set on the wedding. They will do anything to ensure it takes place."

"The right road and the easy road aren't always the same. If I have to fight, I will fight. I will do what I think is right by everyone."

"Your father only wants to see you happy," Serena stood up and smiled to Mia, "It might take a lot of convincing, but I'm sure, eventually, he will see the truth. The Prince on the other hand."

"Screw the Prince. Jayden can find happiness somewhere else. There's someone else out there for him who'll love him more than I possibly could. Why force him to marry me when he's got a better future with someone else?"

"Perhaps you are right, Princess," Serena nodded. "Not only is this wedding not fair to you, but it is unfair to the Prince, and if it will cause so much unhappiness it is unfair to the Kingdom."

"So you'll help me?" Mia asked hopefully. Serena smiled.

"Of course. Your father will not be happy but…"

"Wait a minute," Mia interrupted as a thought occurred to her. She had heard that sentence many times before since coming to this crazy world, usually from one mouth. She looked to Serena, "Where did the guards take Emily?"

Serena lowered her head, "Princess…"

"You'll be with the King," Mia said, "I'll need Emily by my side for the ball."

"I'm afraid that's not possible. She was not supposed to let you leave the castle. I explained this to you. Your father is very protective."

"So am I," Mia growled and stood toe to toe with the fairy, "Where's Emy?"

Serena backed away and walked to the door. She opened it and looked down the hallway, "Come with me, Princess."

Mia followed Serena through the castle. She noticed they were headed down many steps and surely they were underground at this point. Serena walked Mia to the bottom of the set of stairs and stood at the end.

"This is as far as they'll let us go," she said. "Unless the King…"

"Who needs the King?" Mia asked. "Emily's my fairy, right?"

"Yes."

"And she's your sister, right?"

"Yes."

"So they will let us through," Mia walked past Serena and up to the guards in front of the big door. She cleared her throat and held out her hand as they looked down at her. "Keys, please."

"Princess…"

"My fairy, my rules," Mia said.

"She is being punished…"

"And I will punish her the way I see fit," Mia insisted, "Keys, now."

The guards looked to each other before one reached to his belt and removed a set of keys. He handed them to Mia who then shooed them away. As they walked off, Serena hurried forward, snatching the keys from Mia and then unlocking the large door.

"She's right inside," Serena said. Mia followed her into the prison and watched in amazement as Serena, with a flick of her fingers, lit up the torches in the room without missing a beat in her print to Emily. She fell by her sister's side and unlocked the shackles around Emily's wrists. The younger fairy jumped into her older sister's arms, thankful for the rescue.

"I'll do better, I promise."

"You're doing fine, Emily," Serena assured her.

"If you really want to help, you can start by getting Kevin and Mike," Mia said with a smile. "Mentor will think you're still being punished. He won't be suspicious when you're not with me before the ball. Get the boys and bring them to my room. Make sure you aren't seen."

"What are you going to do?" Emily asked.

"I'm getting my happy ending," Mia smiled, "hopefully then this crazy story will be done and I can find my way home."

"Home?"

"I'll explain later," Mia promised, "You need to go, Emily."

"And us?" Serena asked as Emily raced off on foot, "We don't have much time left before the ball."

"So?"

"The Prince's anger will only be worse if you profess your love for another man in front of the entire Kingdom!" Serena said. "He will be humiliated. He'll go after those he thinks corrupted you; Kevin will take the most blame."

"Alright, so try to squeeze in big speech in private and not in front of all our guests," Mia made herself a mental note, "I think I can do that."

"If Emily makes it back on time."

"Where's the Halloween candy when you need it…"

-Samurai-

"I am swearing off sugar for life," Emily moaned, holding her stomach in pain as she sat around the common room with the others, waiting for the Gap Sensor to go off. They couldn't destroy the Nighlok, but if he came back into the city they needed to protect the people. And, if they could keep him close, they had a better chance of finding Mia when she made her way out of his book and back into their world.

Emily sat up, doubling over in pain. She was still exhausted and felt like she was going to be sick all over again, "The crash really isn't worth the high…"

"You can blame Mike for that one," Antonio chuckled. "He's the one who shared his candies with you."

Emily glared at her fiancé, "You know, just because we're engaged, that doesn't mean we have to share everything.

"Perk up, Em," Mike smiled, "Come Christmas you'll be eating candy canes and gumdrops like there's no tomorrow."

"Can you guys focus?" Kevin was becoming impatient. He knew there was no point running around the city like fools trying to find a Nighlok, but he hated how he was sitting here at home while Mia was off, trapped inside a Nighlok, with no one to help her home.

"Dude, we're just passing the time," Mike said. "Relax, I'm sure Mia's fine."

Kevin grumbled and crossed his arms over his chest just as the Gap Sensor started to blare. The boys jumped to their feet, ready for action again. Emily groaned loudly, slipping off her stool and lazily pushing herself to her feet.

"Not fun…"

"C'mon, Em," Mike chuckled, taking her hand and pulling her along, "I'm sure Mia's counting on you too."

"This is your fault," Emily glared, "you know that, right?"


	56. Happily Ever After

Mia paced back and forth in her room as she waited for the boys and Emily to arrive. She had heard from one of the guards that the Prince would soon be arriving and Mia could only hope she would have enough time to make a plan with the others before addressing this very delicate issue with the King and Jayden, and she hoped they could do it all in private.

Finally, there was a knock on her door and Serena went to answer it, telling Mia to stay where she was. The fairy opened the door and was greeted by three people cloaked by robes. She furrowed her brow for a moment before one of them lifted his head, showing his face and revealing himself as Kevin. Assuming the other two were Michael and Emily, Serena let them inside.

Kevin pulled off his cloak and raced over to Mia. He wrapped his arms around her and spun her. He was always happy to see with her, and knowing what this night would hold, he was more excited than ever. He knew he faced a big challenge, but he loved Mia more than anything and would gladly die for her love.

"You made it," she smiled as he set her back down.

"Just barely," Kevin nodded his head, "On our way here we saw the Prince arriving. He's in the throne room with your father."

"They must be discussing the marriage," Serena said. Kevin and Mike looked to her skeptically, knowing her role was to serve the King, but Mia smiled.

"She's helping us."

"I'll hopefully be able to talk the King around. If Mia's happiness truly is his only concern, he should be able to see that love, not power, makes her happy."

"But there's a problem," Emily whispered softly, "There was someone else with the King. Someone I do not recognise."

"Nor do I," Mike nodded.

"Could it be the Prince's servant?" Serena asked. Emily shook her head.

"As I said, this man was with the King. He was muttering something but I did not catch it. We had to move quickly."

"We can check on our way down," Mike suggested to Serena and Emily as he winked to Kevin. He knew it was likely the couple wanted some time alone to discuss their night. Kevin smiled at his friend as Mike led the girls away.

Mia took a seat on her bed and looked up at Kevin. She wanted to marry him, even if this world wasn't real to her, but she was starting to feel nervous about what exactly would happen. She fiddled with her hands as he sat next to her and wrapped his arms around her in a warm embrace. He kissed her neck.

"After tonight there will be no more hiding. The entire Kingdom will know…"

"How do you think they'll take it?" Mia looked to Kevin curiously, "Mentor and the Prince."

"They will have to accept it," Kevin told her. "They have no choice. As you told me, we love each other, we make each other happy. No one can change that."

"Should we go down there and talk to them now?" Mia asked, "We should get this out of the way, before the ball."

"I agree, but we should wait for a signal from the others," Kevin suggested. "Serena may be down there with the King already. She could be talking it over with him already. She does a very good job at keeping him calm. Once he is ready to listen, we will speak."

Mia smiled. She wrapped her arms around Kevin and leaned into him. Since arriving in this crazy world, she hadn't gotten many chances at spending time alone with him. Even though she had spent the night with him, Mike and Emily were in the house and because the house had only one room, there was very little privacy. Now that they were gone, Mia was truly alone with Kevin. She pressed her lips to his and he responded, deepening the kiss. He laid her down on the bed and they let them the time go by.

They had lost track of time in their excitement, but after what they could only assume was a decent amount of time there was a pounding on the door. Kevin jumped off the bed, rolling underneath so he was out of sight. If anyone were to see him before he and Mia were ready for their announcement things could get ugly quickly.

Mia straightened herself out and raced for the door. The pounding sounded urgent. She opened the door and gasped.

"Emily!" she cried as the fairy struggled in the arms of one of the guards, her hands seemed to be bound behind her back and her face was streaked with tears. Mia reached out to pull Emily into the safety of her arms but the guard ripped Emily further away while the other grabbed Mia. Kevin jumped out from under the bed after watching the hostility.

The guard drew his sword and Kevin stood where he was, remembering he was unarmed. He hadn't thought to bring his sword with him; his only thought when Emily arrived was Mia. The guard sniggered.

"Just as we thought," he said and his eyes shifted over to Emily, "It seems you were telling the truth after all."

"Emily?" Mia frowned, turning to the fairy, "You told?"

"It took a little persuading," the guard holding Emily smirked wickedly, "but she finally told us what we wanted to hear. It seems you've been unfaithful, Princess."

"I don't know how they found out," Emily blurted out. "Your father had his suspicions and…"

"You've said enough," the guard clamped his hand over Emily's mouth, shutting her up. He looked to Mia, "Your father and the Prince wish to speak to you and your _secret love_ in the throne room."

Mia was dragged out of her room and then pushed down the hallway, left to walk on her own with the guard watching her from a few paces back. Kevin rushed over to her, pushing past the guard. He took her arm, holding it gently.

"Mia…"

"I guess now's the time," she said, taking his hand. She glanced to the guard holding Emily, "Let her go."

"She has poisoned you, Princess. She has not done her job and for that she must be…"

"Let her go," Mia growled again. The guard exchanged a look with his partner before giving into the princess' demands. He let go of Emily, pushing her into Mia. The princess caught her but noticed her arms were still bound. She glared at the guards and once Emily was steady on her feet she held out her hands, "Keys."

The guard reluctantly held out a set of keys, which Mia snatched and used to unlock the cuffs around Emily's wrists. Before they could hit the floor, Emily jumped into Mia's arms.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered. Mia hugged her back and then let her go. Kevin took her arm again and let her to the throne room. Emily followed, sticking close to Kevin and Mia until they made it to the throne room. Mia watched as Emily raced towards Serena and leaped into her sister's arms. Serena caught her and seemed very relieved to see Emily.

Mentor stood up from his throne and Jayden put his hand on the hilt of his sword. He glared at Serena.

"She fails your King and his daughter and your reward her?" Jayden asked.

"I'm telling you," Serena's eyes focused on the King, "Mia's heart is set on another man. A man who makes her happy. You want the princess to be happy, do you not?"

"You've always told me that happiness comes from aiding those in need," the King growled. He looked to Mia, "How is this serving your Kingdom? You wish to marry a Knight instead of a Prince?"

He gestured to Jayden and Mia looked over. She had to admit, the red Ranger looked good dressed as a Prince, but he there was still no completion against Kevin. She took his hand and squeezed it.

"Mentor… dad, father, whatever, you can't…"

"You are my daughter!" Mentor roared, "I know what is best for you! The ball will happen tonight, the announcement will be made, and by tomorrow evening you will be married to the Prince."

"Tomorrow?" Mia gasped.

"King, please think this through," Serena begged, letting go of her sister to approach Mentor. She touched his arm, "I do not doubt you know what's best for your daughter, but you must listen to her."

"Nonsense!" Mentor growled, raising his hand and striking Serena across the cheek, sending her to the ground. The guards, the servants, and everyone else in the room gasped. Even Mia, who barely knew what the King was like, was shocked by this. Kevin wrapped his arm protectively around Mia just before she noticed a man approaching her and Kevin. He had a book his in his hand and he seemed to be the only person in the room smiling. He glanced at her for a moment.

"The King has never harmed anyone with his own hands."

"Serena kept him in line," Mia nodded. "She would convince him that violence was wrong and hurtful."

"Precisely," the stranger said, "And it's such a shame I had to break the King's streak of kindness, but there was no way I was letting you have a happy ending."

Mia frowned and looked to the stranger suspiciously. Her eyes fell on the book in his hands and then she noticed he seemed to be the only person in the room who was enjoying the drama and suffering.

"Nighlok…" she growled.

"Let's see you enjoy your happily ever after when your father and the prince order the death of the man you say you love," the humanoid Nighlok grinned before stepping out of the room. Mia watched him leave, worry bubbling in her stomach.

While Mia was distracted with the Nighlok, Serena crawled to the wall and leaned against it, holding her hand to her cheek as it throbbed in pain. Emily knelt by her side while Michael pushed his way past the guards holding him back and fell next to the two fairies.

"Are you okay?" he asked Serena first and when she nodded her head he turned to Emily, "They did not hurt you too badly, I hope."

She looked to the ground. "They would not stop until I told them everything."

"Stop what?" Michael asked. Emily glanced over her shoulder and winced as she sprouted her tattered wings. Michael hissed in pain for the young fairy. He had tended to minor breaks in her wings enough to know that a small tear was painful for fairies. He couldn't imagine the pain she had to endure at the guards' hands if they had done this. He took her hand gently in his and smiled, "No one blames you for talking, Emily. You did what you needed to do."

Near the throne, Antonio leaned into Jayden and whispered in his ear, "The Princess belongs to you, Jay. She was promised, by her father, to you. Do not let some Knight steal her away."

Jayden nodded his head and looked to the King, "I demand the wedding go forth as planned."

"No!" Mia shouted, turning to her father and the Prince. Jayden sneered at her.

"Your fairy has corrupted you," he said and upon the King's signal a guard ripped Mia from Kevin and held her tightly. "She has not lived up to her responsibilities and her failings have poisoned you."

"I have always told Mia to follow her heart," Emily said as a guard began to approach her. "I… I…"

Mike jumped to his feet and kicked the guard in the chest, knocking him back. As the guard hit the ground, Mike ripped the sword from his hands and stood defensively in front of Emily. He looked over to Kevin and nodded his head.

"Do what you think is right," he told the knight.

The King growled in frustration, "The best man shall marry my daughter!" he cried out and one of his servants rushed to hand Kevin a sword. Mia could easily tell Kevin was already at a disadvantage. His sword looked like it would barely be able to cut through butter, while Jayden's was sharp and well-kept. The Prince hopped down from the elevated platform, away from the thrones, and landed on the floor level with Kevin. He drew his sword with a smirk.

"I may not be a knight," he said, "but I have bested many men with ease."

"Kevin," Mia struggled in the guard's arms but he held her tight, "don't do this."

Kevin looked to her and whispered he loved her before raising his sword. Metal clashed with metal and Mia screwed her eyes shut. While she was trapped in a completely different world, her friends were all very similar to the ones back home. Kevin was an amazing swordsman, but Jayden was better. Mia was almost certain things were no different here.

Though her eyes were shut, Mia wasn't completely blind to the duel going on. She could hear metal clashing and the grunts of the men as they fought for her love.

Suddenly, she heard the unmistakable sound of Kevin's scream and she opened her eyes. Jayden stood victorious over Kevin, who clutched his bleeding stomach in pain. Mia tore herself away from the guard and fell to his side.

"Kevin…"

"On your feet, Princess," Jayden smirked, returning his sword to its scabbard, "I have won. You love me."

"No I don't," Mia placed Kevin's head on her lap and looked down at him with a smile, "I love you."

Kevin smiled back up at her and reached his hand up to touch her face. Mia took his hand in both of hers and kissed it.

"I do," she whispered.

"Until death do us part," Kevin breathed with difficulty. Mia shook her head and leaned forward so her face was only inches away from his.

"Death will not separate us," she kissed his lips and as she pulled away the tears streamed down her cheeks. Jayden watched the scene in disgust and turned to the King.

"Control your daughter!"

Mentor nodded and was about to call his guards to tear Mia and Kevin apart when the Princess stood. Mia glared hatefully at the King and Prince.

"Do what you wish," she said, "Force me to marry a man I don't love! Do whatever makes you happy! You've ruined my chances at a happily ever after."

"King, please," Serena looked up at Mentor pleadingly, "you know in your heart what is right."

"No!" Antonio shouted, stomping his foot on the ground, "The Prince and Princess will marry! It is tradition! It is expected and it is what everyone wants."

Jayden furrowed his brow and turned to Antonio, "It is not what I want," he said. Antonio looked to his Prince quizzically.

"Pardon me?"

"Why would I want to marry a woman who will never love me back?" Jayden asked. He looked over at Kevin, "Even defeated, the Princess fell to her knees in front of him. She looks at me with hate and pain."

"But Jay…"

"No buts! Come Antonio. I will not live a life of misery! I will seek happiness elsewhere."

Jayden stormed off, with Antonio on his heel. Mia smiled, knowing that with Jayden gone, she couldn't be forced into a marriage with a man she did not love. She fell back to her knees and touched Kevin's hand.

Serena got to her feet and walked over to the King, "King, all her life, you have only wanted her happiness."

Mentor looked to Serena, "But the happiness of the people…"

"Perhaps there is another way we can end this feud," Serena suggested. "Please, King, before it is too late."

Mentor looked to Mia sadly as she sat next to Kevin's lifeless body. He knew, deep down, that Serena was right. She was always right. He nodded his head.

"Do what you must."

"I am your godmother," Serena smirked and gestured over to Emily, "my sister watches over your daughter."

"Your sister…"

"Will take good care of your daughter," Serena nodded.

Mentor sighed, "Emily!" he called and the young fairy rose to her feet nervously. Mike stood before her protectively. The King pointed to Mia and Kevin, "Do what you must, before it is too late."

"I… but I…"

"When the Princess takes over the throne, so will you," Serena smiled, "Remember what I taught you."

Emily nodded and raced over to Mia and Kevin's side. Mia watched nervously as Emily placed her hands on Kevin's chest. Silence fell over the room and Mia wondered what was happening. She had gotten used to this fairy tale life, but it was still rather unpredictable. She had read many fairy tales as a little girl, but living it was a different experience entirely.

After a moment, Mia's eyes widened as Kevin inhaled deeply. His eyes opened and he sat up. Mia threw her arms around him.

"You're okay!" she cried into his shoulder. Kevin hugged her with one arm with his other hand touched his wound. To his surprise, it was gone.

Serena looked to the King and held her hand out. He sighed and passed over his crown. With a skip in her step, Serena hopped over to Kevin and placed the crown on his head. She then backed away from the happy couple as Mia pulled Kevin in for a deep kiss. She glanced over to the King, "You're doing the right thing."

He nodded his head.

"Shall we make our vows official?" Kevin suggested to the Princess as he scooped her up in his arms, sweeping her off her feet. Mia wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled brightly.

Mike knelt down next to Emily, who seemed exhausted after using her newfound powers for the first time. He placed his hand on her shoulder and smiled, "I always told you that you were an excellent fairy."

"I have powers," Emily whispered, "but no idea what to do with them. And my wings are broken and…"

"You're still beautiful," Mike gently placed his hand behind her neck and pulled her into a soft kiss. Emily was hesitant at first but after a couple of seconds she gave in.

As Kevin held Mia in his arms he noticed the kiss between his friend and Mia's fairy and he looked to his soon-to-be-wife questioningly, "But she…"

"Kevin, everyone deserves to be happy," Mia smiled. "Deep down, the king knows this is what he's always wanted, Jayden's going to find someone else who'll love him back, Mike and Emily can do what they want and we'll live happily ever after."

Kevin nodded, "I love you," he set her back on her feet and wrapped his arms around her waist. Just as he was about to lean in for another kiss, Mia started to feel faint. She pulled away from him slightly and wobbled on her feet.

"Mia?" Kevin reached out to steady her and he caught her in his arms as her knees buckled. He held her and tried to wake her, "Mia? Mia!"

-Samurai-

"Mia!"

Her head was pounding but she could still hear Kevin calling her name and she smiled, expecting to look up and find her brave knight. But instead of finding a knight, she saw a man in blue spandex without his helmet. It took her a moment to figure it out, but finally she was home. She bolted upright and threw her arms around Kevin.

He hugged her tight; relieved to see she was okay. He and the other Rangers had been fending off the Nighlok when she suddenly appeared from the book and hit the pavement. While the Rangers finished off the monster with their Zords, he was by her side, making sure she was okay.

After a moment she pulled away from him and looked into his eyes, "You won't believe what just happened."

"Are you okay?" Kevin asked. "Did the Nighlok hurt you?"

Mia shook her head and smiled, "We lived happily ever after."

"What?"

"I'm sure of it! That's how I came home."

"Mia, what are you…?"

Mia interrupted him with another kiss, "I'll explain it all with the others. I love you."

"I love you too, Mia," Kevin squeezed her lovingly.


	57. Mia's Real Happy Ending

"… and then the Princess and her brave Knight lived happily ever after," Mia smiled as she recounted her tale of her fairy tale adventure inside the pages of the Story Book Nighlok, but she left out the part about the Rangers all having a role in her fairy tale, just for fun. It would be her little secret. The other Rangers, Serena, and even Mentor were sitting around her in the common room, completely engrossed in the story Mia was telling.

"Makes sense," Serena said, "the book of Nighlok did say you could only come out if you got your happy ending."

"Did the Princess and the Knight get married?" Emily asked with a slight bounce, having forgotten about feeling sick after her sugar crash. "What about the fairy princess and the knight's friend?"

"They'll make their own happy ending," Mia smirked. "I'm sure the Princess and the Knight are going to lift the fairy's ban on love so they too can find true happiness."

"Should I be jealous?" Kevin asked, looking to Mia, "About this knight you nearly married, I mean."

"Kevin, I love you," Mia smirked and leaned in to hug him. When she did, she kissed his cheek and whispered into his ear, "Don't tell the others, but my knight was you."

"What about the Prince and his friend?" Antonio asked. "What happened to them?"

"I'm sure they found love as well," Mia shrugged. "Guys, I'm only mortal. I only know what I know. But if I needed a happy ending to get out of that fairy tale, I'm sure everything worked out for everyone."

"Did the fairy princess' wings heal? That must have hurt!" Emily said

"Did the fairy godmother ever hit the king back?" Serena frowned, still stuck on that one piece of the story. "I would have punched the guy right back, crown or no crown."

"He was only trying to do what's right," Mentor quickly came to the King's defence. "He wanted what was best for his daughter and his Kingdom."

"Still no reason to hit his fairy godmother," Serena pouted.

"What about the fairy princess' wings?" Emily asked.

Mia groaned and buried her head in Kevin's shoulder as the others obsessed over her story. She did wish she had an answer to all their questions, having grown attached to the characters in her land of happily ever after, but she didn't. She could only assume that like all fairy tales, everything found a way to work itself out.

While the others obsessed and Kevin held Mia, relieved that she was okay, Mike leaned in behind Kevin and looked at the pink Ranger.

"The fairy tale people," he said, "they were us, weren't they?"

"How do you know?"

Mike shrugged his shoulders, "Mentor's kind of like the King. A little less obsessed about marrying you off…"

"Thankfully."

"But I guess it works. The prince and his servant, two men who seem to always stick together," Mike pointed over to Jayden and Antonio, "Jay was prince, right?"

Mia nodded her head.

"Sister Fairies," Mike gestured to Serena and Emily, "One who was smart and skilled enough to serve the King, and the other, well…"

"Obviously Emily?"

"Duh," Mike nodded. "And then there's the Knight you fell in love with, obviously Kevin, and his loyal friend, me."

"How did you figure that out?" Mia asked. Mike shrugged his shoulders but smirked.

"Come on, Mia. Fairy tales weren't just written for girls. I did have a fairly normal childhood. I know a thing or two about happily ever after."

"Don't tell the others," Mia whispered. "I wanna see how long it takes them to clue in."

Mike sighed loudly and looked around the room as he sat up straight, "I don't know. If I learned anything about this group after that engagement game Emily and I played, these people are pretty slow."

"Hey!" Antonio frowned.

"Where did that come from?" Jayden asked, looking a little insulted. Mike shrugged his shoulders with a playful smile.

"It's the truth," he got up from his stool, "C'mon, Tinker Bell, bedtime."

"Tinker Bell?" Emily frowned, "Mike, it's not Halloween anymore!"

"I'm not referring to your Halloween costume," Mike chuckled as she jumped onto his back. As he carried her out the room he looked to Mia and mouthed: "Love them to death, but you see what I'm talking about?"

"Seriously," Serena looked to Mia, "Does godmother punch the king or not!"

Mia pulled out of Kevin's arms, took his hand and led him out of the room, "I've had a long day, and unfortunately my story wasn't Sleeping Beauty. Don't wake us up in the morning unless Xandred's finally decided to come out and play."

Serena, Mentor, Jayden and Antonio watched Mia and Kevin leave with their questions still unanswered. Mentor was easily able to shrug it off and head to bed after the long day. Jayden quickly decided the questions weren't worth losing much sleep over and went off to his room. Antonio looked to Serena.

"Do you think the Prince and his servant got a happily ever after?"

"Are you jealous?" Serena chuckled.

"It's not fair to them," Antonio nodded. "I mean, I'm happy Mia didn't marry the Prince. He obviously wasn't good for her. But Mia got her knight, the fairy and the knight's companion got each other. Who did the prince and the servant get?"

"Each other?" Serena suggested with a shoulder shrug, "I don't care, to be honest. All I want to know it…"

"If godmother was anything like you, I'm sure, somewhere down the road, she punched the king."

-Samurai-

Kevin pulled down the blankets on the bed as Mia got into her pyjamas. His eyes strayed to her and a smile crossed his lips. There had been no doubt in his mind that she could take care of herself alone in the Nighlok, but he had been so worried for her it had almost driven him mad. He wanted to be able to help her and see for himself that she would be okay. This Nighlok may have given Mia her dream of a fairy tale life, but it had been a nightmare for Kevin.

Mia tried to crawl into bed, but Kevin grabbed her around the waist and fell onto the bed with her. He lied on top of her and leaned down to kiss her.

"Kevin," Mia giggled as he kissed her neck, "you were the man I loved. Whether you were a knight, or a Prince or a peasant, I would have chosen you. My fairy tale, my happy ending, is only perfect if it's with you."

"I was just so worried," he told her. "You were all alone and we couldn't…"

"Whoa, slow down there, Dragon Slayer," Mia put her hands to Kevin's chest, "I was the Princess, not a damsel in distress. You're the one who died!"

"Nearly died," Kevin reminded her. "Fairy Princess saved me, remember?"

"Of course I remember," Mia chuckled, "it's my story."

Kevin rolled off of Mia and onto his side of the bed. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her in close.

"So, was your happy ending all you thought it would be?" he asked.

Mia looked up and shook her head, "Almost, but that's the thing about fairy tales: they aren't real."

She held her up left hand and looked at her ring. It hadn't come with her inside the storybook and she was glad to have it back. She showed the ring to Kevin and looked up to kiss him.

"Once we defeat Xandred, then I'll get my real fairy tale. My real happy ending."

"One day soon," he whispered in her ear.

-Samurai-

Serena wasn't as tired as the other Rangers, but she still retreated into her bedroom for the night. The advantage to finally having her own room in the Shiba House was that she had privacy. She was no longer sharing a room with Mia and Emily or Mike and Emily. She had a space to herself and could do what she wanted.

She could also organize her room the way she wanted, and with a baby on the way she kept thinking about how she wanted the room set up for when the baby arrived. She had a space picked out for the crib, which she could no longer afford, but she still needed room for a changing table.

With a plush Nemo in her arms and her baby's blanket draped over her shoulder, she looked around the room, trying to find the best spot to put the table once she bought it. She wanted it near the crib so she wouldn't have to move around too much, especially in the middle of the night, but the only spot available near the crib was also near her bed and she didn't want any lingering smells haunting her in her sleep.

Just as she was contemplating another spot for the table she felt a slight pain and placed her hand over her stomach. It faded almost as quickly as it appeared, leaving Serena to assume it was just a cramp or even gas, but when she turned to head to her bed to sleep it off, it came back again, stronger than the last time. She clutched her stomach and crouched down, waiting for the pain to pass but it didn't. It grew worse as the seconds ticked by. She wanted to call for help, but the pain hurt so much she couldn't.

When she lost hope of getting help and thought she would be dealing with this on her own, she heard Scruffy barking on the other side of her door. Serena didn't quite understand how, but it was almost as if Scruffy knew she was pregnant and he was looking out for her. On most nights, he could come to her room and stay by her side as she got ready for bed. Some nights, especially when the pregnancy was giving her trouble, Scruffy would sleep in her room with her.

Tonight seemed to be one of those nights, but Serena had closed her door so he couldn't get in. Being a dog, he did the only thing he knew how to do. He barked. He barked and barked but Serena couldn't move so she couldn't calm him down. She tried to call his name but instead groaned in pain as the cramping in her stomach intensified.

Scruffy's barking stopped and there was a knock on the door.

"Serena?" it was Emily.

"I…" Serena stammered out but it wasn't loud enough for Emily to hear.

"Serena? Are you okay?"

Suddenly, the pain began to cease and Serena felt like it had never happened. She stared down at her stomach curiously.

"Serena?"

"I'm fine, Emily," she called back, pushing herself to her feet. She walked to the door and opened it. Scruffy raced into the room while Serena smiled at her sister. She didn't want to worry Emily, especially if there was nothing to worry about anymore.

"Next time, don't let him bark. He woke us up," Emily said as she shot Serena a look that told her she wasn't completely convinced.

"Sorry. I was distracted."

"By what?"

"Don't worry about it."

"Okay," Emily looked at Serena suspiciously and then looked to her stomach, "Night, night, Junior. Let mommy sleep tonight."

"Good night, Aunt Emily," Serena smiled before closing the door and turning back to her room so she could go to bed and forget about what had just happened.

But when she turned around she saw Scruffy standing right on the spot where she had fallen over in pain. He was looking up at her, almost as if he was worried, and he didn't seem to want to move.

"I'm fine, Scruff," Serena said. She pointed to her bed, "Up."

Scruffy hesitated for a moment before jumping up on her bed and laying down at the foot. Serena crawled in and pat the space next to her body.

"If it makes you feel better," she whispered as Scruffy crawled up and lied down next to her. She wrapped her arms around the dog, "You're a big goof, you know that?"


	58. Pregnancy Problems

Serena thought the pain in her stomach was only a onetime thing. She assumed it had only been some strange occurrence from the night before and that it wouldn't come back. But she had been wrong. Painfully wrong.

While the others were outside training, enjoying the outdoor dojo as much as they could before the cold weather arrived; Serena was inside, alone, on the couch, curled up in pain. It was so agonizing that, again, she couldn't cry out for help. The others were outside and they wouldn't be back in for another couple of hours, at best. She only had Scruffy by her side, but there wasn't much the dog could do. She was clutching on tightly to his collar so he couldn't run for help, and he was just a dog so he couldn't do much to help on his own.

The tears were streaming down her face by the time the pain began to cease. She let go of Scruffy's collar and he instantly ran for the door, clawing and barking to be let out. On the couch, Serena was feeling very light headed, like she was going to pass out and as she listened to the dog's cries for attention her world slowly faded to black and her head hit the couch cushion.

By the door, Scruffy finally grabbed the attention of the other Samurai as Mike came to open the door. Thinking Scruffy wanted to be outside, for whatever reason, he stepped out of the way, clearing a path for the dog to run, but Scruffy turned around and raced inside to the common room.

"Dumb dog," Mike chuckled to himself before Scruffy started barking again. He furrowed his brow and followed the dog until he reached Serena on the couch. She seemed to be sleeping and Scruffy's barking would only wake up her.

Mike grabbed a blanket from under the table and laid it across Serena as she slept. He then grabbed Scruffy by the collar and started pulling him away.

"Let her sleep," he said. Scruffy whined and refused to walk but Mike was stronger. He dragged the dog across the house and outside so Serena could rest in peace. Once the door was closed and Scruffy couldn't run back inside to make noise, Mike let go of his collar and left him by the door. He walked back to his training partner, Antonio, with a shake of his head.

"Stupid dog, huh?"

"Didn't he do that last night too?" Antonio asked, handing Mike back his training sword.

"Emily had to get up to quiet him down," Mike nodded. "Apparently he was barking outside Serena's door. He wanted to go in."

"And now?"

"I don't know," Mike shrugged, "I thought he wanted to come out with us, but as soon as I opened the door he ran to Serena and started barking again."

"Maybe he likes Serena better and he's just rubbing it in," Antonio chuckled. Mike rolled his eyes and whacked the gold Ranger with his sword.

Jayden glanced quickly over at Antonio Mike before feeling a stinging pain in his arm. He looked down at Emily with a frown.

"Ow."

"Sorry."

"Don't apologize," he smiled, "I was distracted. Point for you."

"Yay," Emily smiled excitedly before realising that gave her the win. She began to bounce up and down, "I win! Ha! I told you I could."

"Good job, Emily," Jayden said, somewhat distracted. He was proud of Emily, even though he had been a little easy on her. He had wanted her to win after realising that she had been the only one to never best him in training. He knew it was probably wrong to take it easy on her, but she had improved a great deal over the year and he wanted to reward that. A little encouragement wouldn't hurt her while always losing would make her feel like a loser.

But as happy as he was, he couldn't help but feel like something was wrong. He had heard Scruffy barking the night before, which was out of character for the dog, and he could see that the dog was sticking close to the door, even though it seemed like he wanted to be outside. He had also overheard Mike and Antonio's conversation which was what had distracted him and gave Emily a fair point. He rubbed his arm, where Emily had hit him, and looked to him, "Why don't we break? You should still take it easy. The stitches did just come out."

"Okay."

"I'm going to get ice before your win is embedded in my skin for weeks," he told Emily and made his way inside. When he opened the door, Scruffy took off running into the common room. Jayden glanced to the freezer in the kitchen and then back to the common room. Figuring he could just wear long sleeves to hide the bruise, he walked to the common room.

Scruffy was nudging an awakening Serena with his snout. She was trying to push the dog away but he was whining and begging for her attention. When he saw Jayden enter the room, the whining grew louder.

"Shh, boy," Jayden gave the dog a quick pat on the head as he sat next to Serena. She repositioned the blankets on her lap as she sat up. "Are you okay?"

"I… I think so," Serena glanced down at the couch cushion, "I don't remember falling asleep, but…"

"I'm no pregnancy expert," Jayden said, "but your second trimester… aren't you supposed to have a little more energy? Isn't this the good trimester?"

"All pregnancies are different. That's what the doctor told me."

"Yeah, but…" Jayden trailed off when she saw Serena suddenly clutching her stomach and an expression of deep pain was painted on her face. Scruffy's whining started up again. Jayden placed his hand on her back comfortingly as Serena found she could finally breathe again and sat up straight. Jayden gave her a funny look, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah… I…"

"Don't lie to me," Jayden shook his head. "What was that?"

"Just cramps or something."

"Serena…"

"I'm fine."

"Cramps where."

Serena glared at Jayden, "My foot, I just hold my stomach because I think it's funny."

"Sharp pain?"

"Yeah. Jayden…"

"Appendicitis?"

"Already been removed," Serena assured him. "Look, it's probably nothing…"

"You remember coughing as a teenager?" Jayden said in a serious tone. "Do you remember not asking for help and where that brought you?"

"How do you?"

"You told us," Jayden placed his hand on Serena's forehead, "You're burning up."

"I'm fine, Jay."

"Well, your body is saying otherwise," Jayden argued and gently lifted her up from the couch. "Come with me."

"Where?"

"Doctor."

Serena pulled away from Jayden and shook her head frantically, "No way! I'm not going to the doctor! I'm fine, Jayden! I'm…"

Again, Serena doubled over in pain and clutched her stomach. She dropped to her knees and Jayden fell with her, keeping a close eye on the suffering mother to be. This 'cramp', as Serena called it, seemed worse than the one she had just experienced only minutes ago. He held her closely as the tears fell from her eyes and her body shook from the pain. She was even struggling to breathe properly.

"I'm taking you to the hospital," he told her gently as he tried to lift her up. Serena struggled as much as she could through the pain, making it difficult for Jayden to have his way. The fire Samurai groaned loudly, "You're stubborn. How about a compromise?"

Jayden got up and walked away from Serena, leaving her alone for a few moments. Thankfully, Scruffy never left her side so Serena never felt alone. After several moments, Jayden walked back in with Mentor Ji.

"Compromise," he repeated to Serena as he and Mentor knelt down next to her, "You let Mentor have a look at you and you will be totally honest with him."

"And what'll you do?" Serena asked, catching her breath again as the pain subsided, "Compromise."

"I won't tell anyone else about this unless Mentor says it's serious," Jayden smiled to Serena. "If you want to suffer, that's your choice, but there's life inside of you. You have to take care of it."

"Don't call my baby it," Serena whispered as Mentor and Jayden helped Serena to her feet and walked her to her room.

"Come up with a name," Jayden teased her as he set her down in her bed, "Then we'll talk."

Serena stuck out her tongue at Jayden as he left to give Serena some privacy with Mentor. He closed the door silently and as he turned around he spotted someone standing right behind him. He was slightly startled and frowned at the Samurai who scared him.

"Antonio, don't do that."

"What were you doing in my girlfriend's room?" Antonio teased.

Jayden rolled his eyes, "Pregnancy's just giving her a little trouble," he didn't want to say too much, but he couldn't lie and say Serena was feeling fit as a fiddle. "I was helping her into bed."

"I thought her morning sickness was going away."

"All pregnancies are different," Jayden said. He wrapped his arm around Antonio's shoulder and walked him back to the common room, "You and Mike done training already?"

"I won," Antonio grinned proudly, "Eight to two."

"Not bad."

"Not bad?" Antonio looked to Jayden wide-eyed, "I kicked his butt! Training with you really put me ahead! I could probably beat a Nighlok all by myself if I wanted to."

"Step by step," Jayden chuckled, "first you have to handle a Mooger."

"I can totally handle a Mooger," Antonio stopped walking and crossed his arms over his chest. He pouted, and Jayden couldn't resist apologizing, even if he did so while laughing.

"Sorry, you set me up for it, though."

"I did," Antonio agreed.

The two boys were just about to reach the end of the hallway when they heard Mentor calling for Jayden. The red Ranger spun around quickly as Mentor rushed over to him and placed a note in his hand.

"Do you remember where we took your father that one time he injured himself badly in battle?" Mentor asked and Jayden nodded his hand. His father had survived that time, but only just, thanks to a doctor who was a friend of Mentor Ji's and knew of the Samurai. Jayden remembered every second of that horrible trip into the city, fearing the worst would happen to his father the entire time.

"What's that for?" Antonio asked, pointing to the note.

"Take the note to the doctor," Mentor instructed Jayden. "Do you understand?"

"Is everything okay, Mentor?" Jayden looked up worriedly.

"What's going on? Is Serena okay? What's the note say? Why are you…?"

"Antonio, if you have any respect for me or Serena, you'll come with me and you won't ask any questions," Jayden looked his best friend in the eye. Antonio turned to Mentor Ji curiously before nodding his head.

"You'd tell me if you were… with her…"

"Ew," Jayden shook his head, looking slightly disgusted, "No."

"Alright then," Antonio said, "I won't ask any questions."

"We'll be back soon, Mentor," Jayden promised, grabbing Antonio's arm and pulling him away. Mentor sighed heavily and walked back to Serena's room. He saw her sitting up in her bed, holding her head in her hands.

"I made a big mistake… huh?" she breathed, looking up at Mentor.

"All children are a blessing and a curse," Mentor said, taking a seat at the end of her bed.

"This one's more of a curse, though."

"Perhaps, but the child is not to blame. You are and forever will be its mother. You must protect it."

Serena shot Mentor an angry look, "Why are you telling me that?"

"I just…"

"I know I look like mom," Serena snapped, "but Nighlok or not, I'm never walking away from my son or daughter."

"I'm sorry."

"You should be," Serena leaned back in her bed and placed her hand over her growing stomach. She rubbed it gently and glared at Mentor. He sighed loudly.

"Would you like me to get Emily…?"

"No," Serena shook her head, "No one needs to know until I know for sure. I don't want to worry them."

Mentor nodded his head slowly and turned to leave the room, "It'll be a few hours before Jayden and Antonio return. I suggest you get some rest."

"If I can sleep," Serena muttered, her face twitching slightly in pain. Mentor looked at her worriedly and she waved him off, "It's not bad. I'll call if I need help."

Mentor nodded and opened the door to leave. At that moment, Scruffy raced in and jumped up on Serena's bed. He lied down with her, cuddled up against her. Serena smiled.

"Good boy," she stroked Scruffy gently. "You'll keep me company until the doctor gets here, won't you, Scruff?"

"I'll keep the others distracted," Mentor said as he left.


	59. Taking Chances

Had it been anyone but Mentor Ji who sent them on this trip into town, Antonio would have been really suspicious he was about to fall into a trap. But Jayden was confident, and Mentor wouldn't send them to some creepy guy's house, even if it looked that way.

An awkward man answered the door and winced at the sunlight, like he had never seen it before. He was short, about Emily's height, but much, much slimmer. For a doctor, he also looked rather sickly, but it didn't seem to bother Jayden so Antonio let it slide.

Jayden handed the fragile looking man the letter Mentor had written up. The doctor read it over carefully, hummed, and then read it again.

"Your yellow Ranger…"

"Her sister," Jayden corrected before the man was misled, "there are two Earth Samurai in this generation."

"A half-Nighlok, you say," the man stroked his chin as he glanced down at the words in the letter. Antonio looked to Jayden curiously and all the red Ranger could do was shrug. The doctor opened his door wider, inviting the boys inside, "this really is interesting."

The doctor walked to a kitchenette and turned on the kettle while Antonio and Jayden stood nervously in the living room area, watching as the little man read the letter again and again. Antonio looked to Jayden after a few moments.

"Half-Nighlok?"

"You'll probably find out anyways," Jayden sighed, "Serena's not feeling well. That's all I can tell you."

"Like, pregnant not well or just not well in general?" Antonio asked. Jayden shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm not sure. Mentor looked over her. I don't know why we're here exactly."

"Sit down, boys," the doctor pointed to old and tattered sofas and when the Rangers sat down a cloud of dust flew up into the air. Antonio held his breath while Jayden waved the dust away.

"If you can't tell me what's up with Serena, can you at least explain who this guy is?" Antonio asked. Jayden nodded.

"An old friend of Mentor's. He's an actual doctor, so he's a step up from Mentor. Whenever the last generation were seriously ill, and it was Nighlok related, we couldn't take them to the hospital so we brought them here. It only happened once with my dad. This guy's a miracle worker."

"He better be," Antonio glanced at the doctor and then frowned at Jayden, "Wait, seriously ill? Nighlok related? Is Serena okay?"

"I don't know," Jayden shrugged, "but in this guy's hands, I'm sure nothing's going to happen."

The doctor approached the boys with some tea and held it out for them to take. Antonio was slightly reluctant, but Jayden trusted the man so he did as well. He took a quick sip and realised he liked this tea. With a smile he continued drinking as the doctor took a seat in a chair, raising more dust.

The doctor read over the letter one final time and then looked to Jayden, "You've grown."

"It happens," Jayden nodded. "You've probably noticed the Nighlok are back."

"I have. I assume this is one of the Samurai," he pointed to Antonio, "Green, perhaps?"

"I'm new," Antonio shook his head, "Gold."

"Ah."

"Doctor, I'd love to catch up with you on everything's that's happened since I was five," Jayden said, "but we're here for a reason. A pretty serious reason, apparently. Mentor Ji needs your help and…"

"I'm afraid I cannot help," the doctor said. "Never before has a human given birth to a Nighlok."

"This is pregnancy related," Antonio muttered.

Jayden took a deep breath and glanced at Antonio. He remembered the compromise he made with Serena and didn't want to break his end of the deal but he knew he was going to have to. He couldn't kick Antonio out of the room, and apparently the matter was serious.

"Doctor, Serena was doubled over in pain earlier today, and knowing her, I doubt that was the first time this has happened," as Jayden spoke Antonio looked to the red Ranger, slightly upset and angry. He cared for Serena just as much as anyone else in the house and wanted to help her if she was hurting or needed a hand. He didn't like how there were secrets floating around. Jayden ignored Antonio's looks and continued, "You can help, I know you can."

The doctor shook his head, "As I said, there has never been a woman who has given birth to a Nighlok. Humans and Nighloks have never been intimate before. I am as blind as you are."

"But you…"

"I cannot help," the doctor held up his hand, silencing Jayden. "Unfortunately we must let fate decide what will happen."

"What does that mean?" Antonio asked, a feeling of dread bubbling in his stomach. He wasn't too sure what they were talking about exactly, but it didn't sound good.

"Your friend is ill," the doctor said, "That is all I know. The child inside her is part Nighlok and will forever be cursed to live a half-human/half-Nighlok existence…"

"Quarter-Nighlok," Jayden correct. The doctor shook his head.

"It does not matter how big the part. It is there and it is growing. From this moment on, her pregnancy will carry great risks for herself and the child. If they both make it, consider it good luck."

"If they…?" Jayden's voice trailed off as he found himself unable to speak. Antonio's jaw quivered slightly as he held back tears. Now he knew what was happening and he didn't like it.

"It is up to you whether or not you choose to burden your friend with the news or not. How long she has to live before fate has its way, I am not sure," the doctor took the cups of tea as he got up from his seat and walked back to the kitchen. Antonio looked to Jayden.

"What do we do now?"

Jayden dropped his head in his hands and rested his elbows on his shoulders, "I don't know."

"Serena should know," Antonio said, "We can't…"

"Let's go, then."

-Samurai-

When the boys got home they went straight to Serena's room. Mia, Kevin, Mike, and Emily were all distracted by the TV. Mentor had allowed them a movie night to keep their minds off Serena and so they wouldn't notice she was stuck inside her room.

They told Mentor everything the doctor had told them. Serena was fast asleep, though her fever was causing her to sweat bullets. Antonio had never seen her looking so sick and frail; it scared him to pieces. When a hard, dry cough pulled her from her sleep, she saw the boys were back and asked them for the news. Mentor broke it to her as gently as he could, holding her hand the entire time and letting her know he was going to do everything he could to keep the worst from happening.

Serena was silent the entire time Mentor spoke, so when he was finished the room plunged into a deafening silence. The boys and Mentor stared at Serena, waiting for any kind of reaction from her.

"Are you okay?" Jayden finally asked and Serena shook her head, as if snapping herself from her thoughts. She looked up at him.

"You tell me."

"I know it's probably not something you want to consider," Jayden said, "but what about abort…"

"Get out!" Serena shouted, pointing her finger to the door. Jayden jumped back, holding his hands up.

"I'm just putting the option out there…"

"If there's a chance Junior can live, I want to take it," Serena growled, "I don't care what it means for me."

"Serena…"

"No!" Serena's body shook. "If something's going to happen to the baby, I want it to be fate. There's a chance we both come out of this alive and I want to take it."

"What if it kills you, though?" Antonio asked. "You can't leave the baby…"

"I trust you guys," Serena said. "All of you…"

Her hands strayed down to her stomach and she hugged it gently, "Don't ask me to hurt my baby. I could never…"

"You should talk this over with Mike and Emily," Mentor suggested. Serena shook her head.

"No," she stated firmly. "No, no, no…"

"Serena…"

"No!" she screamed and her voice cracked slightly before she erupted in a fit of coughs. Mentor sat with her, holding her gently as she coughed and grabbed her stomach while Antonio and Jayden stood back. This was a difficult position and they didn't know what to do.

Between coughs, Serena couldn't help but cry out as a sharp pain stabbed at her stomach. She leaned forward, doubling over. Jayden could tell she was in pain, a lot of pain, and it was likely only going to get worse as time went on. The baby would continue growing, and the Nighlok part of it was going to hurt Serena more and more until the birth or until fate had its way. Tears welled up in his eyes as he reached for the Samuraizer. He never thought he would be using this symbol again.

Another cry from Serena only encouraged him further as he began to trace his symbol in the air. Midway through, Antonio grabbed his arm.

"Jayden!"

Jayden looked to his best friend sadly, "She's hurting. It'll only get worse."

"Jay…"

Jayden shook his head, finished the symbol and struck Serena with it. Mentor held her in his arms and laid her back into her bed. She was resting peacefully now and her hands fell away from her stomach. Mentor tucked the blankets around her and looked to Jayden.

"How long do you plan on keeping this up?" he asked. Jayden sighed loudly and shrugged his shoulders.

"You heard her," he said, "She wants to leave it up to chance. I just don't want her to suffer the entire way through. This won't change the outcome."

"What outcome?" a small voice asked from the door and Mentor and the boys turned to find Emily with a full bowl of chips in her hand. She had been in the kitchen restocking the bowl for the second movie of the night when she thought she heard yelling and screaming from her sister's room. When she had come to check up on Serena, she found her sister sleeping and Mentor, Jayden, and Antonio standing around in her room. They didn't answer right away so she asked again, "Guys, what outcome? Why are you all here?"

"One thing you forgot," Antonio whispered to Jayden. The red Ranger sighed loudly and took the bowl of chips from Emily's hands. He handed it to Antonio.

"You tell them," he gestured out the door. Antonio nodded and quickly headed off. Jayden looked back to Emily, "Does Scruffy need to go on a walk?"

"No, I…"

"Would it hurt to take him on another, then?"

Emily shook her head so Jayden placed his hand on the small of her back and gently pushed her into the hallway.

"Go get him ready," he said. "I'll go with you."

Emily was hesitant but she did as she was told. When she was out of the room, Jayden looked to Mentor.

"They aren't going to take this well."

"In a week you will remove the symbol," Mentor told him. "This will be easier for them to handle if we take it piece by piece. It won't hurt them if there's an end in sight."

"That's exactly what's going to hurt them," Jayden sighed loudly, "but one week, I agree. Take care of her, Ji."

"Do not walk too far," Mentor advised Jayden as the red Ranger left, "She may run off and it's best if she runs home."

"I'll keep the House in sight," Jayden ran his hand though his hair and sighed, "This sucks…"


	60. A Bad Night

Mike leaned back against the couch, his eyes watering with tears as Antonio filled him, Kevin, and Mia in on what was happening with Serena. Kevin was pacing back and forth, as he usually did when he was worried. Mia was rubbing Mike's back comfortingly with one hand while the other gently squeezed his. She knew the news would deeply upset him. Mike, in return, knew this was upsetting Mia as well, but was happy there was someone in this room that was keeping him from punching holes in the wall.

"Where's Emily?" Kevin finally asked, looking to Antonio, "Please tell me you're not keeping this from her."

"Jayden's talking to her," Antonio shook his head, "We're not hiding anything."

"Serena was," Mia whispered, "Why wouldn't she just tell us she was in pain? She can't do this every time she feels sick."

"The important thing is that we know now," Kevin stated to Mia. The pink Ranger sighed and nodded her head. She knew he was right.

Mike looked up at Antonio, "Did Jayden really have to use the symbol on her?" he asked. "Does she have to…?"

Antonio nodded his head sadly, "You didn't see it, Mike. She was hurting pretty bad. The part-Nighlok growing inside of her, knowing this could kill her and the baby, not knowing what exactly to expect… at least right now she's not feeling any pain."

"How long?" Mike asked, "How long are we keeping her like this?"

"I don't know…"

"Will the baby be okay?"

"I don't…"

"Antonio!"

"Mike!" Mia cried, catching Mike's arm as he jumped to his feet, ready to lunge at the gold Ranger. Antonio wasn't to blame, but Mike was angry. She stood up next to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, offering him a comforting hug, as well as insuring he couldn't jump away.

Kevin just looked to Antonio sadly, "You can't blame him."

"I know," Antonio nodded. He turned to Mike, "Look, I've been doing a lot of reading for Serena, reading beyond normal pregnancy development… just in case something like this were to happen, you know... I read babies continue to develop even if the mother's unconscious. The body doesn't need the mind to work. It should be fine."

"And Serena?" Mike asked.

"The symbol didn't hurt Kevin or Emily when Jayden used it on them," Antonio pointed out. "She should be fine. Hopefully, by the time she wakes up, we'll have this all sorted for her and she won't have to worry."

"Sorted how?" Mike growled. "How are we going to stop this from happening?"

"If we could have stopped the baby from being a Nighlok we would have done so already," Mia breathed sadly.

"There's got to be something," Kevin shook his head.

The front door opened and the four Rangers turned. They say Jayden leading in a rather stiff Emily. He was helping her to walk because, from the looks of things, she seemed to be frozen in fear. Jayden walked her to the doorway of the common room.

"Look, Em," he said softly, "Mike, Mia, Kevin, and Antonio. They're still here. They aren't leaving."

He let go of her as Mike approached and gently took her into his arms. Jayden looked to Mia, Kevin, and Antonio.

"I expected worse but she's not taking it well."

"None of us are," Antonio said as he looked to Jayden sadly, "what do we do?"

"What we always do," Jayden answered, "We'll figure it out. Mentor and I agreed on one week. We'll leave Serena painless for a week while we try to come up with something. This time, one week from now, I'll undo the symbol, we'll explain everything we've done, and we'll let her make a choice with Mike and Emily. Whatever they choose, we support, even if we don't like it. Understood?"

"Loud and clear," Antonio, Mia, and Kevin nodded just before Kevin's phone suddenly went off in his pocket. He forgot to set it to vibrate so the loud, upbeat tone brought a few giggles and smiles to the frowning faces as he fumbled for the phone. When he grabbed it, but before he answered it, he checked the number. A deep frown was etched on his face as he looked over to Mia, "It's… it's my dad."

"Answer it," Mia told him. "He knows the rules, so if he's calling it must be important."

Kevin nodded his head and followed his fiancée's advice. He cursed the timing. Good or bad news, he wasn't ready to hear it. Good news wouldn't lift his spirits in the slightest, and bad news would only make a bad day worse.

"Dad, what's wrong?"

"Kevin, this isn't your father," a woman's voice on the other end said. Kevin would have been worried, but the voice was calm and strangely comforting. It wasn't his mother's voice, but it did sound familiar.

"Who is this?" he asked. He felt Mia taking his hand. She had seen the worry in his expression.

"Is Emily there?"

"What?" Kevin pulled the phone away from his ear and checked the number, making sure he had been right about who was calling. He saw he was; this was his father's phone calling him. "Who are you?"

"Emily," the woman repeated, "can I please talk to my daughter?"

Kevin nearly let the phone drop out of his hand as he looked across the room at Emily. He shook his head and growled deeply to the woman on the other end, "No."

He shut his phone and tossed it over to the couch as it started to ring again. Mia looked at Kevin curiously before going to answer it. He grabbed her arm, pulling her back.

"Don't touch it."

"Kevin…"

"It wasn't my dad or my mom," Kevin told her. "They're fine."

"But then…"

The phone stopped ringing for a moment but then started up again. Mia turned to answer it again but Kevin held her back.

"Don't touch it. Let it ring. Let her wonder. Let her worry. Let her know what it feels like to be ignored and abandoned."

"Kevin…"

Kevin walked over to the couch, picked up his cell phone and smashed it into the ground. Antonio, Mia, Jayden, and even Mike and Emily watched on curiously and slightly afraid as Kevin collected the pieces and dumped them in the garbage pail.

"Now she won't even get the satisfaction of hearing a ring," he said as he dusted off his hands. He looked to the others, "My parents don't know how to contact the rest of you, do they?"

"The Shiba House has a…" before Jayden could finish the landline started to ring, startling the Rangers who had never heard it go off before. Kevin searched until he found the phone and unplugged it completely. He returned to the common room and dumped the phone in the garbage. He looked to Jayden, "Anymore I should know about?"

"Mentor's got…" Jayden looked to Mia as Kevin stormed off to find Mentor Ji. "Is he okay?"

"What did phones ever do to him?" Antonio asked, looking into the garbage pail. He whimpered slightly as Kevin returned with Mentor's cell phone in his hands. How he had gotten it from the older man, no one could guess. He tossed it, in pieces, into the garbage. Antonio sighed, "Those poor phones…"

"Kevin, what's going on?" Mia asked. She grabbed his arm and spun him around. Kevin just growled.

"I'll tell you later."

"Tell me now," Mia insisted forcefully. She looked at the others, "Do you guys mind…?"

"Look, that room has wallpaper," Antonio pointed across the hall to the dojo and grabbed Mike and Jayden by the arms, pulling them along. Emily watched them leave but didn't follow. Kevin glared at her.

"Get out!" he screamed. She jumped fearfully and raced out of the room to find Mike.

For his outburst, Kevin received a painful punch to the shoulder from his fiancée.

"You asshole!" Mia shouted as she pushed past him to go after Emily. Kevin grabbed her arm, pulling her back. She groaned loudly in frustration as he did this, wishing he would stop, "Kevin…"

"It was her mother."

Mia froze, "What?"

"Her mother called from my dad's cell phone and asked to speak to her," Kevin clarified, "As you heard, I said no."

"That's not your call to make," Mia frowned. "Kevin, you have to…"

"If she really wants to talk, she'll make herself reachable when Emily's ready," Kevin said, "If not, she's not worth upsetting Emily. We already have to worry about Serena and the baby."

"Kevin…"

"Tell her, then," Kevin gestured to the doorway, "Go on, Mia. If I'm wrong, if you really think it's best she knows right now, go tell her."

"Kev…"

"Go!"

"You're right," Mia lowered her head, "maybe in a few days… we'll see if she's still with your parents."

"Thank you."

"If she is…"

"She'll have a long way to go before she ever gets near Emily or Serena," Kevin growled. Mia nodded.

"For her sake, I hope she gives up," Mia reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone, "Do you remember your father's number?"

"Of course."

Mia gave him her phone, "Put it in."

Kevin did as he was told and programmed his father's number into Mia's phone. He kissed her forehead as he gave her her phone back.

"I love you," he whispered, looking down into her eyes. She smiled.

"I love you too."

Kevin kissed her again, this time on the lips, before leaving. Mia didn't look to see where she was going. Instead, she looked at the number he left on her phone. She knew he was right. If Emily's mother really wanted to talk to Emily, for whatever reason, she could wait a few days. She wouldn't be worth the stress and worry if she did just pack up and quit, but Mia was a fixer. She couldn't just let this sit.

Besides, this was her phone and she could do whatever the hell she wanted with it. She called Kevin's father's number and barely had time to hear a ring before someone picked up and a woman's voice answered, "Emily?"

"Close," Mia growled. "What the hell do you want?"

"Please, put Emily on the phone."

"Emily's an emotional wreck," Mia didn't care what Emily's mother took from that. She didn't care if she thought Emily was dead. She deserved to suffer and worry in Mia's eyes.

"Please…"

"We're not waiting for you anymore," Mia snapped, "You're waiting on us. You're going to wonder what the hell happened. Your daughters are going to leave you."

"Mia? Please, I just…"

"Make yourself reachable," Mia growled. "I want them to be able to call you."

"I will, I…"

"That doesn't mean you'll hear or see them again," Mia said.

"She's my daughter…"

"_They_ will decide if _they_ want a disgusting, cowardly, selfish bitch back in their lives. And so help you God if you aren't there if they ever decide to call."

"I…"

Mia smiled to herself happily as she hung up the phone. She couldn't be bothered letting Emily and Serena's mother defend herself. The phone call was the last thing Emily needed right now, but it sure felt good for Mia, it had almost completely taken her mind off the fact that Serena was in a symbol-induced coma.

Almost.

Mia tucked her phone back into her pocket and looked down the hallway sadly. She started walking around the house and finally found Emily sitting with the boys in the dojo. She held out her hand.

"C'mon, Emy," she smiled, "I'm sure Serena can hear you. Why don't we tell her about our movie night and how Mike spilled soda all over his shirt?"

Emily looked at Mike and he nudged her gently, urging her to follow Mia. The yellow Ranger took the pink Ranger's hand and followed her to Serena's room.

Mike sighed loudly when she was gone, "This isn't fair."

"She's not suffering," Antonio reminded Mike. "At least there's that."

"Whatever," Mike leaned back on his arms, "I don't see a bright side to all this."

"She'll suffer" Jayden said, "but there is a chance she'll live. The baby too. If they can make it to the birth…"

"Five months and a little bit away," Mike shook his head. "Face it: chances are slim to none… Dayu should have just killed her the first time."

"Mike…" Antonio breathed but he didn't have much else to say. He turned to Kevin who was sitting in the corner and playing with a small dust bunny, "Run out of phones, amigo?"

"What?"

"You're quiet."

"I'm just worried," Kevin looked down to the floor.

Jayden took a deep breath, "Look, guys, maybe I was wrong. Maybe we won't figure this out. But we'll be okay, right?"

"Yeah, Jay," Antonio nodded as placed his hand on Jayden's shoulder and squeezed, "We'll be okay."

"This is going to be the longest week of my life," Mike sighed heavily as he let himself fall to the floor. He rubbed his face with his hands, "If there is a god, any kind of god, please don't take her."


	61. Origami

"Jayden, sit."

"But, I…"

"Sit," Mia growled and pointed to his chair at the table. Jayden grumbled and took a seat, joining the others for breakfast instead of heading to the dojo to train. Everyone was up, eating breakfast together, taking comfort in each other's company after what had happened the day before.

As expected, Serena was unconscious. Jayden knew that meant that she would still be in pain if he hadn't used the symbol and that thought was burned into the back of his mind. He wanted her to sleep for the week so she could be in peace, but he also wanted her to wake up. His symbol would wear off when the pain did, which would be a good sign. The fact that it hadn't yet meant she was sleeping peacefully, but she would be in pain. This had kept him awake all night and it was the reason he wanted to train now. He wanted to get his mind off the older Samurai.

Kevin had been nice enough to make everyone breakfast, catered to their liking. Looking over at the sad faces at the table, he wanted to do anything he could to make them happy. Antonio, Mike, Jayden, and Mia were eating like any other morning, while Emily poked at her eggs with a fork, occasionally taking a bite. Kevin's heart broke for his little sister as he watched her and wished she had someone else to lean on aside from the same group of Samurai. Now was the time she, and Serena, needed a mother. Fate was being especially cruel to her.

"Sit up straight, Emily," Mia said to the yellow Ranger and Kevin chuckled slightly. At least there was Mia.

Emily shook her head and pushed her plate away, "I'm not hungry."

"Finish what's on your plate. Kevin didn't give you a lot to start with."

Emily looked frustrated with Mia, so when the pink Ranger turned her back for a moment, Antonio reached over to Emily's plate and dumped her food onto his own. He blended it with the food he had left. He hoped Mia wouldn't notice. Kevin, Jayden, and Mike snickered as they saw this. Mia turned back around. She looked to Emily's plate and saw it was empty.

"That was fast."

Emily shrugged her shoulders, "Can I go now?"

"I guess."

"Why can't I go?" Jayden sulked, crossing his arms over his chest. Mia rolled her eyes.

"Whatever."

Jayden grabbed his plate, got up from the table, and made his way to the dojo. Mia sighed as she turned to Kevin and shook her head. He took her hand in his as he continued eating.

"Wait a minute," Mia frowned, her eyes now fixed on Antonio's plate. The gold Ranger looked to her innocently.

"What?" he asked through a mouthful of eggs. Mia pointed to the toast with strawberry jam.

"You didn't have toast and jam."

"Yes, I did," Antonio lied. "Two slices. I ate one and…"

Mia could see right through his lie. She always could. Antonio tried to quickly stuff the toast in his mouth, but Mia ripped it away, got up from the table and went to find Emily.

"They're both stubborn," Mike whispered, setting his fork down on his empty plate. "Something tells me that toast is going to be torn apart before it's eaten."

"How was she last night?" Kevin asked in regards to Emily. Mike shrugged his shoulders.

"She slept," he answered, "I didn't."

"Why not?"

"Did you?"

Kevin shook his head, "I've got more to worry about."

"More?" Mike frowned. "Dude, I get you care for Serena, but she's my sister, Emily's my fiancée, and the baby's my family…"

Kevin looked to the doorways before leaning in closer to the table. Antonio and Mike leaned in as well, understanding that there was something he seemed to want to share. Kevin took in a deep breath, "Remember the phone call yesterday?"

"The one right before you trashed all the phones?" Antonio asked, "I'm not fixing them for you, you know."

"Is your family okay?" Mike asked. Kevin had told Mia the day before that his parents were fine after the phone call, but Mike knew how easy it was to lie.

Kevin nodded, "My parents are fine… well, burdened, I guess, but fine."

"Burdened?"

"Emily's mother must have…" Kevin leaned in a little closer to the other boys, "she must have found my dad. She's probably with my parents now."

"How do you know this?" Mike asked.

"Because, it wasn't my dad on the phone, it was her mom."

"What's the number?" Mike slammed his fists into the table as he jumped up. Rage flashed in his eyes. He went to grab his cell phone but Kevin shook his head.

"Mike, no…"

"She broke Emily!" Mike shouted. "I'm not letting her…"

"What are you going to do?" Kevin ripped Mike's phone from his hand. Antonio worried he was going to smash it, but the blue Ranger did no such thing. He reached over and set it down on the counter.

"Until I can see her, I'll give her a verbal beating."

"Mike…"

"Shut up, Antonio. You're not part of this."

"Neither are you," Kevin stood up so he was level with Mike, "This is Emily and Serena's mother. They'll do what they want, whether we like it or not."

"Serena's not doing anything!" Mike shouted. "She can't make decisions! She's laid up! I'm all Emily has to lean on now! I'm…"

"You give her a fancy ring and you think the rest of the world stops caring about her?" Antonio asked. He gestured to himself and Kevin, "We're all here for her and Serena. We're all family."

"This is too much for Emily right now," Kevin said. "I would have told her right away, I swear, Mike, but she can't handle a hit from all sides. She can barely handle this one."

"None of us really can," Antonio chipped in. He grabbed his plate and set it on the counter before he left.

"So give me something to beat on," Mike said, looking to Kevin. "Jayden's got his punching bags in the dojo. Where's mine?"

"Not at my house," Kevin shook his head. "Emily, and hopefully Serena, will decide what to do. You'll be there for them when they make up their minds, right?"

"You're not telling her."

"Not now," Kevin said. He gave Mike his phone back, "but we'll have to."

"You son of a bitch…"

"Mike…"

"Screw you."

-Samurai-

"There you go," Mia smiled softly as she picked up and held out an origami monkey for Emily. She was keeping the younger Samurai entertained as they sat in Serena's room and kept an eye over her while Mentor took care of himself for a few moments. Emily finished her toast and took the monkey from Mia.

"That's cool."

"You know how I used to work in a day care?" Mia asked and Emily nodded her head, "I used to teach them how to make origami. I can teach you."

Emily nodded her head and smile so Mia set off to find some more paper. Antonio walked into the room at this point and looked at Emily.

"I thought you would be here," he said as he took a seat next to her on the floor. "How are you holding up?"

Emily looked to Serena on the bed and then down at the monkey, "Okay."

"Jay told you this was only for a week, right?"

"Yeah," Emily nodded, "but it's not going to make her better… and if we can't figure it out, I lose a week with her."

"We'll be okay," he assured her and pointed to the monkey, "Did you make that?"

"Mia did," Emily smiled. "She's going to show me how. Wanna learn?"

"Sure."

There was a knock on the door and Gold and Yellow saw a sweaty Jayden walking in. He sighed.

"Training didn't help."

"Do you know how to make origami?" Antonio asked. Jayden nodded his head.

"Of course."

"Then sit," Antonio pointed to the floor, "You'll help Mia teach us."

Jayden did as he was told and sat on the floor before there was another knock on the door. Mike walked in and noticed the three Samurai sitting together.

"Am I missing something?" he asked as he took a seat next to Emily. She held up the monkey.

"Mia and Jayden are going to teach us how to make origami."

"Sweet," Mike grinned, wrapping his arms around Emily, "Dad never had time to teach me."

"Mike, look, I…" Kevin started as he walked into the room but he noticed everyone except for Mia and Mentor was there as well. He sighed, "What's going on?"

"Origami 101," Jayden smirked. "You know?"

"Yeah."

"Then sit down," Antonio smiled, patting a spot on the floor. Kevin shrugged his shoulders and took a seat. He had nothing better to do anyways.

Mia finally walked back in with a handful of paper and saw her team all sitting on the floor.

"I'm going to need more paper, aren't I?" she asked with a smile. The boys and Emily nodded their heads.

"We'll start with what we have now," Jayden suggested as Mia took a seat. "We'll see how far we get with this."

"Want to learn the monkey, Emy, or something else?" Mia asked, taking her share of the papers she brought so she could teach Emily, while Jayden took his part to teach Antonio.

Mike glared at Kevin but then let out a deep breath.

"Can we make an alien monster?" he asked. Kevin nodded his head.

"Something of the kind," he took the rest of the paper.

On the bed, a very tired Serena opened her eyes slowly. She didn't remember much aside from pain before blacking out, but didn't care to try and remember. The pain was gone for now and that was all she cared about. She touched her stomach softly as she looked down along the bed and saw her sister and the other Rangers on her bedroom floor. She could only see a few of their faces, but from what she could see there were all smiles. She tried to push herself up so they would know she was awake, but she didn't have the energy. She barely had enough to stay awake. Her heavy eyes shut before anyone could see they had been opened and she drifted off again, before the pain could have a chance to come back.

"My origami monster's going to beat your origami monster," Antonio chuckled as Jayden showed him where to fold his paper. He quickly glanced at Mike who was shaking his head.

"C'mon, Kevin, our monster needs to be better!" Mike said.

Mia rolled her eyes and smiled at Emily, "Boys, huh?"

"Is this right?" Emily looked up. Mia examined the folds in the paper and nodded.

"Perfect."


	62. A Mother's Choice

Several days passed without much to report. The Rangers and Mentor tried doing what they could to come up with a solution for Serena but to no avail. There was nothing to research, nothing to test their theories on, nothing they could do.

They were all in and out of Serena's room as the days went by. No one had ever seen her awake, but Serena would wake up for brief moments. Her body was always too weak to get up or call for them. Even if they were in the room with her when it happened, if they weren't looking right at her, they would miss her, and she would fall back into a deep slumber.

As the week reached its end, Jayden and the others gathered in her room so he could undo the symbol, unaware it had already worn off. Jayden was therefore surprised when he couldn't remove the symbol. He checked his Samuraizer.

"It's… it's not working."

"What do you mean?" Emily asked. "It has to work. She's not awake! Make it work!"

"Emily…"

"Wake her up!"

Suddenly, the origami people Emily had made and placed on her sister's night table were blown over. Several of them fell to the ground. Mia saw this and frowned as she touched Emily's arm.

"Did you leave a window open?" she asked. Emily shook her head. The boys did as well. Mia furrowed her brow and walked over beside the bed to pick up the fallen people. As she set the origami back up on the night table she turned and saw Serena's eyes were open. She fell next to the bed with a smile.

"You're awake," she said. The boys and Mentor raced to the bed, standing around it, while Emily climbed up and sat next to her sister. Serena nodded her head.

"On and off," her voice wasn't very loud but she could be heard. She looked to Emily and Mike, "the baby…"

"We heard," Mike said, "everything's going to be fine."

Emily took her sister's hand but it felt warm. Dangerously warm. She touched Serena's forehead, "You're burning up."

"I'll be fine, Emy."

"But…"

"Can you do me a favour?" Serena asked.

"Anything."

"Call dad and ask him if he still has your crib in the attic."

"Serena…"

"I can't afford one," Serena said. "I might as well use an old one."

"But…"

"I'll need it, Emy."

Emily sighed and squeezed Serena's hand before getting up and walking out. Mike followed her.

Mia looked to Serena sadly, "You can't protect her," she felt like a hypocrite. She hadn't yet told Emily about the phone call because she wanted to protect the yellow Ranger.

"Not protecting her," Serena closed her eyes, "I defeated death once. I can do it again."

"Serena, Dekker saved you that…"

"I can do it again," she snapped.

"We'll do everything we can to help," Antonio promised her.

There was no response from Serena. Just a dead silence.

"She's asleep," Mia assured the boys and tucked Serena in comfortably before getting back up to her feet. As she signalled for the boys to leave the room, the door was forced open and Mia was suddenly knocked off her feet as a weight hit her from the front. When she could finally process what had happened she saw Emily curled up in her chest. She wrapped her arms around the yellow Ranger, "Emy, what's up?"

Not a word from Emily, just an uneasy silence. Mia gently grabbed Emily and pushed her away. She looked at the yellow Ranger, "Emily, are you okay?"

There was no answer and no expression on her face, but her eyes screamed panic. Mia wrapped her arms warmly around Emily again and finally heard a very soft whisper, "She's back."

"Who?" Mia asked. She looked up at Kevin and the blue Ranger raced off to search the house for what could have upset Emily. He heard footsteps behind him and glanced over his shoulder. Jayden and Antonio were right behind him.

"Find Mike," Antonio said. "He'll know."

Kevin nodded and turned the corner. As he entered the common room he skidded to a stop. Antonio and Jayden crashed into him, unable to stop as suddenly.

"Hey," Antonio rubbed his nose, which had collided with Kevin's shoulder blade, "Brake lights, please."

Kevin stepped forward and Antonio and Jayden finally looked up, peeking over his shoulders. They saw a dark-skinned man standing in the middle of the room.

"Dad?" Kevin asked and Antonio and Jayden exchanged looks. Kevin's father nodded and stepped out of the way. The three boys gasped, seeing Emily's mother sitting on Emily's stool. Antonio stepped forward and pointed to the door.

"Get out," he barked to the woman. She shook her head.

"She won't leave," Mike said from a corner of the room as he cradled his jaw. "I tried."

"Do you want ice?" Emily's mother asked. Mike sneered and shook his head.

"Doesn't hurt as much as Emily's silence after you left."

"Mike," Jayden scolded.

"I deserved that," Emily's mother argued. Mike scoffed.

"That was too good for you."

"Dad," Kevin looked to his father, "Please tell me you have no idea what she did."

"I do," Kevin's father sighed. "She told me what happened. I couldn't convince her not to come, so I came to convince her to leave."

Emily's mother stood up, "I want to talk to Emily."

"No," Kevin shook his head. "Grab your shit and get out."

"I made a mistake."

"I'll say…"

"I should have talked to her. I should have…"

"Shoulda, woulda, coulda," Kevin said and pointed to the door, "Get out."

"Please," tears filled her eyes, "I know what I did was bad. I know…"

"Get out!"

"Ellie," Kevin's father looked to her, "I think we're done."

"No," she shook her head, "Please just let me see her."

"Fine," Jayden said much to the surprise of everyone else in the room. He gave his team a quick look, letting them know he would take over. Ellie raced over to Jayden and took his hands.

"Thank you."

"You're not going to like this," Jayden said with a glare before leading her through the house to Serena's room. Before he let her in, he peeked inside. He closed the door so she couldn't sneak a glance and glared at her, "Look and don't say a word unless you're told otherwise. If you breathe too loudly, you'll never see either of them again."

Emily's mother nodded her head and Jayden opened the door. He walked in with her but stopped her after a couple of steps. He gestured for her to stay put as he walked over to Mia and Emily. Mia was holding Emily tight in her arms. Emily's back was turned to the door and her face was buried in Mia's shoulder, so she couldn't see her mother standing in the doorway. Mia, though, did see, and frowned to Jayden.

'_What the hell?'_ she mouthed to the red Ranger, having already been told that Emily's mother was here. Mentor seemed equally as disappointed in Jayden as he tended to Serena, making sure she was comfortable as she slept.

Jayden ignored both of them and walked around Mia. He knelt down and touched Emily's head gently.

"Em, your mom wants to talk to you."

Emily shook her head, unaware the mother she was rejecting was in the room. Jayden looked up at Ellie and shrugged, telling her there was nothing more he would do for her.

"Not without Serena," Emily whispered. Ellie looked hopefully to the bed, where she thought her eldest daughter was only sleeping. Mentor sighed.

"She may not wake up for days, Emily," he told his youngest. He looked to Ellie and walked her out of the room. He closed the door and glared, "I am disappointed in you."

"What happened?" Ellie asked. "Why won't she…?"

"She is ill."

Ellie's heart shattered, "No…"

"I suggest you leave," Mentor pointed down the hallway.

"I… I can't…"

"You've done it once before."

"I… Mentor Ji, I…"

"I have tried everything."

"But…"

"She is safe in my hands. I will take care of her from here on out."

"Mentor…"

"Eleanor, leave."

Ellie bowed her head in shame, "I made a mistake."

"No one can fix it but you. If you want to make things better, you better start figuring it out. If not, the best thing you can do is leave."

"But…"

Mentor didn't say anything as he turned around and walked back into the room. Ellie leaned back against the wall and slid to the floor. She buried her head in her hands, "I'm so sorry…"


	63. Mother's Love

Under the circumstances, Kevin's father Patrick knew he shouldn't have been enjoying his visit here at the Shiba House. By bringing Ellie back to the team, after everything she had done to her daughters and the other Samurai, he felt like he had brought misery personified. But he couldn't help but admit that there was a part of him that loved the chance he had at catching up with his son. It had been so long since he had seen or heard from Kevin and he missed his young man terribly.

Kevin was setting up a spot in the dojo for his father to sleep. There were no more beds available so Patrick had to make do with what he was he was offered. While Kevin got a mat, pillows, and a blanket ready, he told his father about everything.

Everything except Mia.

He wanted nothing more than to shout to the heavens that the beautiful pink Ranger his father had only gotten glances of would one day be his wife, but he didn't know how to say it. When he left his father, he wasn't in any kind of relationship and now he was engaged. There was a lot to cover and he hoped, if he couldn't tell his father soon, Mia would help him out.

"So, you still haven't completely programmed all the Stones into the Black Box?" Patrick asked his son as Kevin finished telling him all about their adventures with the Black Box he still loathed. Kevin nodded his head.

"Mia, the pink Ranger, and Jayden still have their Stones to program. We're not really planning on programming them anytime soon."

"After hearing that story, I don't blame you," Patrick nodded. "You seem to be much closer to your teammates than I ever was with mine."

"Yeah, much," Kevin smirked as Mia walked by the dojo, too distracted to stop and say hi. She had promised she would meet Kevin's father properly before the end of the night, but at this moment she was helping Mike and the other boys with Emily.

"Danger does that to people," Patrick said. "It brings us all closer together. I don't talk much with my team, but if any of them needed me, I would be there in a heartbeat."

"That explains what you're doing with Emily's mom," Kevin looked to his father. Patrick lowered his head.

"I don't condone what she's done," he said. "In fact, I hate what she's done. But I remember who she was. She must have a good reason for…"

"No," Kevin shook his head. "Dad, you have no idea the kind of hell her leaving put Emily and Serena through, or how it hurt all of us. Emily didn't talk to anyone for a week when she first heard. She's always so upbeat and hopeful and hyper and innocent. She almost lost that. Without us, she would have lost it."

"You're stuck taking care of her?" Patrick asked.

"Not stuck…" Kevin sighed. "Look, dad, it's hard to explain. Serena's pregnant with her half-Nighlok ex-boyfriend's baby and Eleanor just…"

"Slow down," Kevin's father held up his hand, "Half-Nighlok?"

"That's why she's sick, apparently," Kevin nodded. "Dekker was a half-Nighlok who Serena fell in love with. It was actually pretty cute for a while but then he changed and now she's…"

"Pregnant with a Nighlok's child?"

"Crazy, huh?"

"Very. Does Ellie know this?"

Kevin nodded his head and sighed loudly, "She does… and I guess it was probably a lot for her to take in at once… still, it's no reason to run away."

"I'm not saying it is," Patrick said. Kevin tapped the pillow lightly, signalling to his father that the bed was made. Patrick smiled and wished his son goodnight. Just as they were about to head to bed, Mia walked in.

"Sorry," she said, looking to Patrick and Kevin, "I would have been here sooner but…"

"Em's a handful?" Kevin chuckled.

"Serena hasn't woken up yet, Emily's upset… it's a bit of a mess. We got her to sleep, though and now I'm here," Mia explained. She held her hand out to Patrick, "I'm Mia."

"Patrick. You look just like your mother."

"Thanks," Mia blushed slightly.

"How is she?"

"I… uh…"

"Right," Patrick chuckled, realising his mistake. Mia hadn't heard from her parents in a year because of the Samurai rules. She wouldn't know how they were doing.

"Last I saw she was doing well," Mia brushed away some of her hair from her face with her left hand. She hadn't meant to do it on purpose, but this action caused Patrick to notice the ring on her finger. He smiled.

"It must be hard," he said, "leaving so many people behind; for all of you."

"You know how it is," Mia nodded.

"Have you told him why you left?" Patrick pointed to the ring. "Does he know you're a Samurai?"

Mia glanced over at Kevin as she realised he must not have gotten the chance to really introduce her to his father. She smiled at him as she answered his father, "Yeah, he knows."

Patrick caught the smile and turned to Kevin, realising there was a smile on his son's face as well. He was a rather smart man, so it didn't take him long to put two and two together.

"You…"

"Mia and I started dating a few months after we got here," Kevin explained to his father. "I asked her to marry me not too long ago and…"

"I said yes," Mia flashed the ring. Patrick smiled warmly and wrapped his arms around Mia.

"Welcome to the family, then."

-Samurai-

Ellie had been kicked out of the Shiba House. Though no one had said it directly, their actions spoke volumes and she knew she wasn't welcome. Her own daughter didn't want anything to do with her, so she couldn't expect the others to put up with her. She didn't blame them. Any of them. She knew what she had done and she would never forgive herself for it. But she wanted to try to make things right again.

When she had heard Serena was pregnant with a Nighlok's child, she couldn't handle the news. She couldn't imagine what kind of life her daughter would be forced to live. Raising a child without a father was hard work, it was hard raising a child with both parents willing to do the work, but being a single parent to a part-Nighlok child was unimaginable. It had never been done before and left Serena's future as mysterious and scary as it had been when the doctors told her that her illness was terminal.

But there wasn't only that. Another reason Ellie couldn't handle the news was because of who the Nighlok was. She heard all the stories of what Dekker had done. She cared for the other Rangers, they were the children of her former teammates, but the things Dekker had done to Emily were what she really cared about. Kidnapping, beating, attacking, and hurting Emily were unforgivable, and yet, Serena still let that monster take her heart. She let him get in close, too close, building almost a direct bridge right back to Emily. Not only was Serena in danger, being so attached to a monster, but she was putting Emily's life at risk as well. Ellie wouldn't stand by that and, unfortunately, at the time, she couldn't forgive Serena for that.

So she had said goodbye to everything she ever loved and walked away, hoping she would forget. But she never did.

She found a job in the city, a job unlike any other she had ever worked so there would be no reminders of her past life, but as she got to know her coworkers better they started asking her about her family. When they asked her if she had any kids, her first response would always be a yes, and then she would have to change it to a no. Curious people always asked about the answer switch and she would have to come up with a lie. They would buy it, but it kept Ellie from forgetting.

One day, while on a lunch break, one of the women who Ellie worked with was talking to another woman about the Samurai Rangers. The first woman turned the conversation over to the Samurai Rangers' identities. No one knew yet, but from what little information they had on the people underneath the spandex, they could gather that the heroes saving the city were young. The first woman asked the second woman, who had a child about the Rangers' assumed age, if she would be proud or angry at her daughter for putting her life in danger to save the planet.

"Both, I guess," the second woman had answered, "I would be proud because that would make my daughter a hero, but I would also be a little angry. Not at my daughter, though, just angry. Every time she would run out I would be angry because there's always chance that the Rangers don't all survive the fight. I would worry constantly that it would be her last fight, and that would make me angry with the monsters. My daughter's everything to me. If I had to, I would give up everything to see her safe. I'd take every hit and every blast for her. Unfortunately, I doubt this body looks good in spandex."

Ellie remembered having to excuse herself from the lunch room at this point. Her co-worker, without knowing it, had just reminded her what it meant to be a mother. Raising and loving a child was the ultimate sacrifice. The child's needs always needed to come first, even at the expense of the mother. A loving, caring, all around better mother than Ellie, would have never abandoned her daughters, no matter how much one of them had disappointed and hurt her.

And now, Serena was ill again and Ellie would never be invited to see her. But Ellie wasn't going to let anything get in the way of making amends. She would never, ever do anything that would upset her daughters again. Walking away now would be admitting defeat and it would send the wrong message. She was here to stay.

It was late, very late in the night. The Shiba House was all locked up, but that had never stopped Ellie from getting in before. She snuck her way inside and walked through the hallways, hoping to find her daughters so she could talk to them. She wanted to know how she could earn their forgiveness, even if she knew she didn't deserve it. Only they could help her.

She found the door to Emily's room and quietly stepped inside. For some reason, only Emily was asleep in the bed. Mike was nowhere to be found. Sticking to the shadows, just in case he came back, she walked over to the bed. She smiled down at her sleeping Emily and gently brushed a few curls away from Emily's face. Her youngest still looked like the little baby she had brought home from the hospital, in her eyes, at least. She leaned down and kissed Emily's forehead.

"I love you," she whispered and soaked up the tears dripped down her cheeks before they fell onto Emily's face. She was afraid that if Emily woke up, she would be kicked out of the house. Now that she got to see her daughter, she didn't want to leave.

She was about to take a seat on the bed when she heard someone approaching the room. She cursed under her breath and dove back into the shadows, hiding just in time as the door opened and Mike walked in. He closed the door right behind him and Ellie grumbled silently. This would make her escape a little harder. She was forced to watch as he crawled into her daughter's bed, waking up her little Emily. He wrapped her in his arms as she cuddled him, and, in the moonlight, Ellie noticed something on Emily's hand was shining. She stared at it for a moment and realised it was a ring. Emily wasn't one to wear rings. Working on a farm, dirt would always get caught under jewellery and rings and bracelets would snag onto everything. So, if Emily was wearing a ring, it had to be important. Further inspection led Ellie to notice that the ring was on Emily's left hand.

"I… I missed it," Ellie whispered softly as she realised what the ring meant. Her back hit the wall and she sighed, "I wasn't there for her. I won't ever celebrate with her."

She stood in silence, disappointed in herself, until she was sure her daughter and now son in-law were asleep before sneaking out of the room.

As she closed the door quietly she thought she heard someone walking up behind her. She held her breath as she turned around and saw Patrick glaring at her.

"You were good at breaking in, but you always did get caught, remember?"

"Pat…"

"We're going home, tomorrow," Patrick told her. "You can stay with us while you figure yourself out, but you're not staying here."

"No," she shook her head. "I'm back for good…"

"Ellie, the Rangers are happy," Patrick said. "Aside from this bump with Serena, they've found happiness. They're a team, they're friends. They're a family, one that's not going to break. You're only going to hurt them if you try to break your way back into their lives."

"But…"

"You can take the couch if you need somewhere to sleep," Patrick pointed to the common room. "My daughter in-law told me they're really uncomfortable. You know that's probably the best place for you to sleep right now."

Ellie lowered her head, "I want to make things right."

"You can't. You screwed up."

"Please, Pat. Help me."

"No."

"Patrick."

"Eleanor…"

"Pat…" Ellie trailed off this time when she thought she heard a pained groan and a cough coming from the direction of Serena's room. Maternal instincts flared and without another word to Patrick she took off running. She stormed into the room and knocked the door of its hinges in the process as she arrived just in time to watch Serena cough up blood. She shoved Mentor Ji aside and sat next to her daughter. Serena looked up from her bloody hands, which had caught the red fluid when she coughed, and saw her mother. Shock appeared on her face as her eyes widened.

"We'll get you better, first," Ellie assured her daughter and placed her hand on Serena's back, rubbing small counter-clockwise circle while she pulled off her sweater and used it to clean the blood from Serena's hands. She looked up at Mentor, "What's…"

"It's the pregnancy," Mentor said. "Jayden and Antonio have been to the doctor. There's nothing he can do."

"Bullshit," Ellie spat as Patrick entered the room. He saw the blood on Serena's blankets and looked to Mentor.

"Should I call…?"

"Stay there," Ellie told him. She turned to Serena, "I'm going to help you."

"Go away."

"I'll get help, but first you need to be comfortable," Ellie gently laid Serena back into her pillows. "What do you need? Anything."

"For you to…" Serena was interrupted as she coughed again, sat up, and expelled more blood. Ellie wrapped her arms around Serena, but with what little strength Serena had left she pushed her mother away.

"I want Emily," Serena said to her mother, "Emily and Mike."

Ellie looked sadly to her daughter and then to Mentor, "Take care of her."

Mentor nodded, "Of course."

Ellie turned to Patrick, "Wake up Emily, Mike, and whoever else Serena wants."

"Ellie…"

"I'm getting that doctor," Ellie muttered. She bumped past Patrick on her way out. The former blue Ranger groaned loudly and exchanged an exhausted look with Mentor. Ji just sighed.

"You'll need to follow her."

"This'll be a long night," Patrick said before turning his gaze to Serena, "Do what Mentor says. If you're anything like your mother…"

"I'm nothing like that bitch," Serena whispered. Her teary eyes shifted to Mentor, "Where are they?"

Mentor signalled for Patrick to leave, "I will get the others. You go after Eleanor."


	64. Tough Decisions

Patrick jumped over roots and ducked under branches as he followed Eleanor through the forest. The more they walked, the more he started getting an idea of where they were going. She had mentioned getting the doctor, and as far as Patrick knew (and he knew a lot), there was only one doctor who would be able to help.

As they stepped out of the forest, they arrived in an old, rundown part of town. Aside from a few abandoned buildings, there was only one house.

"Ellie…"

"Whether she wants my help or not, I'm doing everything I can to make her life easier," Ellie said to Patrick as she pounded her fist on the door. She looked to the taller man, "I'm not letting them suffer anymore."

"You aren't the best person to help."

"I'm their mother."

"You gave that up," Patrick reminder her just before the door opened and a small, fragile looking man stared up at the two of them. Ellie assumed this was the doctor Mentor always referenced too bad in her Ranger days and grabbed him by the shirt. She pulled him into his house and shoved him onto the couch.

"Doctor Harada?" she asked but didn't wait for a response, "You're the emergency doc? When Mentor Ji can't handle a problem he asks for your help?"

"You know Mentor Ji? That means…"

"Samurai Ranger blue and yellow," Patrick explained calmly as he pointed to himself and Ellie. "We're here for…"

"Serena," the doctor nodded his head and looked up at Eleanor, "your daughter."

"Help her."

"I can't."

"Bullshit!" Ellie shouted, grabbing the doctor by the shirt again. Patrick interfered as he pulled her away and stood between the angry earth Samurai and the doctor.

"Let me do the talking, Elle," he said gently as a way to calm the angry woman. She crossed her arms and huffed. Patrick took this as a sign that she would let him take over so he looked back at the doctor, "You know Serena's condition, then?"

"It is intriguing," the doctor nodded. "Unfortunately, there seems to be nothing I can do. This was never expected and it's never happened before. A child would have just as much luck coming up with a cure than I would. It's not worth…"

"A young woman's life is at stake and the life of a poor, innocent…"

"A Nighlok, in any way, shape or form is never poor and innocent," the doctor quickly interrupted Patrick. "All Nighlok will eventually give into their true nature and will cause harm to humanity. Perhaps, fate will work in our favour by eliminating…"

"You're just as bad as she is!" Patrick pointed to Ellie and then threw his hands up in the air and groaned loudly. He paced the room for a moment as he tried to think. Things were not looking good.

"The duty of the Samurai is to keep the world safe and rid our planet of all Nighlok. Generations of Samurai will have died in vain if that child…"

"So, it's not that you can't help, it's that you won't…"

"It is both."

"My daughter's not well," Ellie started up again. "She's suffering, Harada, and if she dies…"

"A lot of people are going to be hurt," Patrick interrupted. "If you know anything that can help..."

"I do not."

"You have to," Ellie tried to lunge for the doctor but Patrick grabbed her. "You're scum!" she spat to the doctor.

"That's rich," Patrick rolled his eyes. Eleanor ripped herself from his hands.

"At least I'm trying to help."

"You're only hurting her more!" Patrick shouted as he lost his temper just a little. Ellie looked to him, deeply upset by his words. He lowered his tone and sighed, "You're upsetting her, Elle. She obviously didn't want you around. When you walked away…"

"I'm sorry!" Ellie burst into tears. "I screwed up, I get it! I'm a horrible, horrible mother! I want to change, I want to help, but no one's letting me."

"Do you blame them?" Patrick asked. He grabbed her arm, "Let's go. There's nothing we can do here."

"Doc knows something," Ellie turned to the doctor and leaned over him, "you're going to tell us."

"I use my knowledge to help the Samurai," he held up his hands, "no one else. Never will I assist the Nighlok in any way."

Ellie growled and bit her lip to contain her rage until a thought occurred and she smiled.

"Doc, if I were to get hurt right now, would you heal me?"

"Yes," the doctor nodded without hesitation. Ellie grinned.

"I trust Serena's going to raise that child properly, and when the child is my age, Nighlok or not, it'll be a better human being than I am. If you would treat me than you have to do anything you can to save my daughter and her baby."

"She is a monster," Patrick nodded his head. "There's more humanity in the baby than in her right now."

"Don't push it," Ellie hissed.

The doctor sighed loudly and slipped past Ellie. He walked to his bookshelf, collected a few books and a notepad.

"Show me the way," he said to the Samurai.

-Samurai-

"Here," Antonio whispered as he carried a bundle of blankets into Serena's room. Everyone was gathered after Mentor had woken them up and told them what had happened. While the others tended to Serena to the best of their abilities, Antonio had gone to wash the blood of Serena's blankets and he was bringing back new ones for her to sleep in. He laid them over the bed and tucked Serena in.

Mike was sitting in a chair next to the bed. He held his hands together tightly as he watched Serena toss and turn from the pain. A part of him wanted Jayden to use the symbol again, but another part of him wondered if that was a good idea. They didn't know how much time she had, and didn't want to miss her last few moments.

Of course, there was an alternative solution that had crossed his mind. He had no idea Jayden had thought of it before. He figured an abortion could also put an end to Serena's suffering. Normally he was dead set against it. It killed an innocent life and hurt the mother for the rest of her life, but there seemed to be nothing else they could do. At least, if they killed the baby now, they were sure to save one life. By leaving it up to chance, they risked losing both the baby and Serena. No one wanted to risk that loss.

"No one would blame you if…"

"I'll rip your tongue out if you say it," Serena could guess what Mike was about to say and through the pain she muttered her response. Mike sighed heavily.

Jayden shook his head, "We talked it over with her already," he said. "We're taking the risk."

"Serena, you have to think this through," Kevin hated to agree with Mike, but this decision needed to be considered strongly, "Imagine how bad this will be in a few days from now, or even a few months. You're already…"

"Not even thinking about it."

"So you're just giving up?" Emily asked her sister sadly. "You're just going to let this win."

"It's not giving up. It'll hurt, but there's a chance we might both live."

"But…"

Serena sat up, doubled over in pain as another cramp, stronger than any she had ever felt before, overwhelmed her and she screamed in pain. When it lasted more than a few seconds, Mia wrapped her arm around Emily and Mike jumped up from his seat to lean over Serena.

"C'mon, Emy…" Mia wanted to pull Emily out of the room. The pink Ranger felt distressed, she couldn't imagine what this was like for Emily. Her brave, strong, invincible older sister was crying out in unimaginable pain and there seemed to be no end in sight.

"I'll watch her, Em," Mike promised.

Emily tried to pull away from Mia, "No! Let me go!"

"Emily…"

"NO!"

"Come on, Emily," Kevin grabbed Emily from Mia and lifted her up so she couldn't pull away. Emily kicked and screamed as Kevin carried her out of the room over his shoulder and Mia followed.

While Mike did his best to comfort Serena and keep her calm, Antonio and Mentor watched as Jayden slammed his fist into the wall, punching a hole. It was clear he was upset. He was the leader; he was supposed to protect his team. But as it stood, all he would do was offer empty promises. No matter how many times he said it, he wasn't sure things were going to be alright. He wasn't even sure they could ever recover from this.

When he let all his anger out, he panted loudly. Every muscle in his body suddenly started to ache from all the tension. Suddenly, he felt two arms wrap around him and looked to see Antonio hugging him.

"Don't lose hope," the gold Ranger whispered. "It's all we have."

As Jayden began to calm down, so did Serena. She leaned into Mike, breathing loudly as the cramps and all the pain disappeared and she began to feel normal again. She was extremely tired, but she was feeling fine.

"It's over?" Mike asked as he laid her down to sleep.

"For now."

"Then rest," Mentor told her. "We'll take care of everything."

Serena nodded, but before she closed her eyes she turned to Jayden, "Do the symbol, please."

Jayden furrowed his brow, "What?"

"Do the symbol. I don't want to do this again."

"Serena…"

"Do the symbol and only let me wake up when you've figured it out. If you can't, I… I don't want to suffer. And if you have to choose, choose the baby."

"No, Serena…"

"Choose the baby!" Serena shouted. "It's not the baby's fault! It doesn't deserve this."

"Do as she says, Jayden," Mike said without taking his eyes off Serena. "Use the symbol and if worse comes to worse, choose the baby."

Jayden pulled out his Samuraizer sadly, "Are you sure?"

"Take care of yourselves, okay?" Serena asked. "I want you all fit and happy when I wake up."

"You'll be home for Thanksgiving, I promise," Mike said as he kissed her forehead. "You'll be eating turkey with the rest of us, telling us funny stories about Emily being chased by a turkey or something like that. And junior will be there with you."

"We promise," Mentor nodded. Serena smiled and closed her eyes. This was Jayden's signal to start.

Antonio held his best friend's hand comfortingly as Jayden traced the symbol and struck Serena. He watched her fall completely limp into her bed. Mike tucked her in warmly before getting up.

"I should tell Emily."

"Tell her what?" Mentor asked, at which Mike turned to give him a curious look. He gestured to Serena, "Nothing has changed."

"Mentor, she might not get the chance to say…"

"Were you lying to Serena, Michael? Will we not find a way to help her?"

"We'll try, but…"

"We will," Mentor said with a firm nod. "We will help her and she will wake up."

He looked out the window as a moving shadow caught his eye. He saw three figures and recognized them almost immediately as they approached the door.

"The doctor is here," he said with a smile.


	65. Frustrations Grow

Taking care of Emily was one of the hardest things Mia ever had to do. She could barely sit through it, though she knew she had to. Her mind kept wandering back to Serena, whom she had grown so close to over the months she considered her a true sister, ignoring the lack of genetic relation completely. She worried deeply about Serena's condition and wished there was something, anything she could do to put an end to Serena's suffering and give her the best possible future with the baby. But she couldn't help. There was nothing she could do and it killed her.

She hated how hurt Serena was, but also how much this was hurting her team, whom she considered to be family as well. Jayden was taking this rather hard. He was the leader, he always felt responsible for the safety and well-being of every single person in his house. It was a lot to ask of him, and sometimes it was too much, but he usually handled himself pretty well. He was like Mia in a lot of ways, though, and one way was that he always wanted to help and always wanted to keep his family happy, regardless of what it cost him. Mia knew that if she felt terrible, so did Jayden.

Then there was Antonio, who always tried to appear brave and strong, but he too was falling apart. He had a deep love for all of his friends. Part of that love was a love of teasing Serena, but there was never a doubt in anyone's mind that he would go to hell and back for anyone in the Shiba House. It was evident in his eyes that he wanted to help Serena and he would gladly take her place, but he couldn't. All he could do was sit and watch as she suffered, support Jayden so the leader of the Samurai didn't lose it completely, and crack a joke or two occasionally to try and keep the team from breaking apart and giving in.

Mike was in a really bad shape. Mia knew how much he had grown to care for Serena. At first, it had been mainly because she meant so much to Emily. Serena was such a big part of her sister's life, and if anything, big or small, happened to Serena, it would have a huge impact on Emily. It was now almost like Mike was in a relationship with both sisters, having to put up with two women instead of one. As odd as it sounded, Mia thought it was really sweet. Mike was completely devoted to Emily and would put up with and do anything for her.

Another thing that had to hurt him was the unknown fate of the child. Technically speaking, Mike was no more of an uncle than Mia was an aunt, but that didn't matter. The less-than-ideal family dynamic that awaited the child if it were ever going to be born was a life without a father. Mike was engaged to the child's only biological aunt, which meant that he would play on of the bigger roles in the child's life, serving as the father figure and main male role model. In a way, he had already adopted the child as his own little protégé, and there wasn't anything he wouldn't do for the baby, which was why this was hurting him so much. He couldn't do anything.

Mia and Kevin were suffering as well, but they had to keep it together. Mia knew the rest of the team considered them to be the "mommy" and "daddy" of the group, and if they lost it, everyone else would fall apart. Kevin was strong emotionally by nature, and it took quite a bit to break him down, which helped him immensely in situations like these, where he needed to keep calm. Mia was just as strong as long as there was something she could do to help. She was useless with Serena, so she shifted her focus onto Emily.

Unfortunately, that focus was no more pleasant, or easier to handle, than Serena's situation. As Mia stood by the dojo door, keeping it closed, she watched as Kevin tried to keep control of Emily. The youngest Samurai was having a fit and had lost it completely. Kevin had carried her, kicking and screaming, out of Serena's room and into the dojo, where the kicking, and screaming, and shouting, and punching, and hitting continued. Mia wasn't surprised by Emily's outburst. The earth Samurai was losing everything. She had learned her sister was likely dying and suffering greatly, and her niece or nephew was the cause and would likely die as well unless, by some miracle, someone figured out something. Her mother was back, which was a huge upset to the poor girl, and all Emily wanted was for something to go right. That didn't seem like it was about to happen anytime soon.

Tears streamed down Mia's face as she watched Kevin, who was basically wrestling with Emily and seemed to be losing because he wouldn't hurt her. He finally managed to grab her wrists and pulled her in, with her back pressed against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and pinned her wrists to her own chest, keeping her wrapped tightly so she couldn't hurt him or herself. Emily tried to shake him off, but Kevin was stronger. No matter how much she struggled, he wouldn't let go. The yellow Ranger, realising she was stuck, screamed for Mia's help, but Mia couldn't do anything until Emily was calm.

"Shh," Kevin hushed Emily as he rocked her gently and encouraged her to breathe calmly. Emily whimpered and cried out in pain for a few more moments before finally giving up. Her knees buckled but she didn't fall because Kevin was already holding on tight. He carefully spun her around and hugged her warmly as she sobbed into his chest.

"Don't give up, okay, Emy?" Mia whispered, finally feeling safe enough to approach the blue and yellow Rangers. Kevin wrapped one arm around her and pulled her in close so they were one tight unit with Emily. As Emily's cries started to calm, Kevin's arms loosened and he switched out with Mia. It was her turn to fix things. He stuck close and watched. Mia pulled away from Emily slightly, but never once broke contact. She looked her young friend in the eyes.

"I'm scared too," she said honestly, showing Emily the tears, the fear, and the dread in her own eyes. "I'm scared, I feel useless and I just want things to go back a few days, when everything was fine. But, no matter what happens, we'll be okay."

"Can you fix it?" Emily asked. Mia shook her head sadly.

"I don't know how. Not yet. But we'll do everything we can."

Emily nodded so Mia gently poked her stomach.

"Start by staying positive," she said, "smile. You'll help Serena by smiling. Stay strong for her."

As Mia worked her magic on Emily, which impressed Kevin every time, the blue Ranger heard the door sliding open and turned as Mike stepped in.

"Doctor's in the house," Mike whispered, his eyes shifting to the girls. "He's clueless, but he's here."

"Can he help?" Kevin asked.

Mike shrugged, "I'm not sure. I don't think he's sure. But it's better than us sitting on our asses and waiting, right?"

"Yeah," Kevin placed his hand on Mike's shoulder comfortingly, "it is."

Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. He never remembered anyone being told to get the doctor, nor did he remember Mentor Ji making any phone calls to bring a special doctor over. He looked around the dojo. With everything that had happened, he completely forgot about his special visitor. Looking to the corner, he saw his father's bed was empty.

"How did the doctor get here?" he asked Mike.

"He walked."

"I mean, I thought Jayden and Antonio said he couldn't help. Did he suddenly change his mind?"

Kevin noticed Mike's fists clenching tightly, "She got involved."

"Mike…"

"Your dad and that bitch went to get him."

"It was the right thing to do," Kevin assured the green Ranger. "Like you said, it's for the best. We would have been useless to Serena otherwise…"

"She shouldn't even be here. If she loved her daughters she never would have left. If she still loves them she won't stay."

"You can't say that, Mike."

"Emily obviously wants her gone."

"Obviously?" Kevin asked. "She hasn't tried talking to her mother… but she hasn't tried to kick her out. All you can do about this is make sure Ellie's not hurting Emily by staying close."

"She is hurting Emily."

"You don't know that. Emily will tell you what she needs and how she feels when she's ready. If being around her mother stresses her out, we keep them in different rooms. But unless Emily says, in her own words, that she wants her mother to leave, we let things happen."

"No."

"Michael," Kevin growled as his grip on Mike's shoulder tightened, "Don't interfere and go give your fiancée a hug. You both look like you need it."

-Samurai-

The doctor held up a vial of Serena's blood, which he had taken as a part of his examination. He was starting from scratch and needed to do everything imaginable to get a clear picture of what he would be facing. He didn't want to help the Nighlok in any way, shape, or form, but he had been convinced that this was the right thing to do.

He was the only truly experienced doctor in the house. He had taught Mentor everything the younger man needed to know to care for the Rangers on his own, but Mentor didn't have the knowledge to understand anything that he was doing. The doctor still believed it was wrong to help the Nighlok, and that they all needed to be destroyed. Fortunately, the limited knowledge of those around him meant he could do as he pleased. If all went well, he could cure the mother and leave the Nighlok to die.

He examined Serena's blood. It didn't take a genius to see it was slightly discoloured, but only the doctor knew why. He hummed.

"Hmm?" Jayden asked, watching the doctor work. "What does 'hmm' mean?"

"It means I've found something of interest," the doctor responded. "The Nighlok has already adapted to its new environment."

"It's a baby," Antonio corrected the doctor, "and what do you mean?"

"Sanzu water is polluting her system. The Nighlok is feeding off the water to grow."

"This isn't the first time she's been infected," Mentor Ji said. "Dekker used to travel with her through the Netherworld to take her places quickly."

"She was fine, though," Antonio added.

"Exposure and infection yield different results," the doctor replied. "I will have to run a few more tests, but maybe I can figure out why the Nighlok is poisoning your friend… aside from the obvious."

"The obvious?" Patrick asked. The doctor nodded.

"It is a Nighlok. Killing humans is what it is bred to do. You have nothing to worry about. I will save your friend."

"And the baby," Jayden shot the doctor a look, "You'll save the baby too, right?"

"We'll see what happens."

"Focus on the baby," Mentor told the doctor sadly as he looked down at Serena. "She wants you to focus on the baby."

"I will do what I think is best," the doctor said. He wrote down several notes on a sheet of paper in his book and then tore it out of the notebook and handed it to Jayden, "You remember when you were a boy and I taught you the name of all my tools while your father recovered?"

Jayden nodded his head, "Yes."

"Head back to my house and bring me every item on this list. Do not waste any time."

"I'll go with you," Antonio said. "You'll need help with all that stuff."

The doctor wiped his hands clean and turned to leave the room with Jayden and Antonio to fix himself a snack. Before he could leave, though, Ellie stepped in his way.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Until I have my tools with me, there is nothing I can do for your daughter," the doctor said and he pushed his way passed her. Ellie groaned in frustration and looked to Patrick and Mentor. She let out a heavy sigh.

Mentor pulled up a chair next to Serena's bed and took a seat. He would watch over constantly to make sure she was okay. He couldn't bring himself to leave her.

Patrick gently took Ellie by the arm, "C'mon. You can sleep with me in the dojo."

"I don't want to leave," Ellie shook her head and moved forward to be with her daughter. Patrick held her back.

"Serena wants you gone," he reminded her. "You shouldn't…"

"She needs me."

"No she doesn't," Mentor shook his head. "She'll be getting more than enough care and support from me and the other Samurai. As long as you do not upset Emily or the other Samurai, you are permitted to stay in the house until a solution is found for Serena, but you will not take advantage of her unconscious state. She does not want you near and you will respect her wishes."

"Mentor…"

"Patrick, you remember where we keep the spare pillows and blankets?" Mentor asked his former blue Ranger. The man nodded and pulled Ellie out of the room. When they were in the hallway, Ellie ripped her arm from Patrick's hold.

"You can't do this!" she shouted.

"You're being selfish," Patrick stated. "Where's the Ellie I used to know? Where's the kind, sweet Ellie who used to walk these halls?"

"I made a mistake! I know I screwed up, but I'm trying to fix it."

"Some things can't be fixed right away. Sometimes, you need to sit back and examine the problem before you do anything to solve it. If you really want to make amends with your daughters, the best thing you can do is wait."

Ellie sighed heavily and rolled her eyes. She knew Patrick was right, but sitting back felt so wrong. She was about to say something when Mia turned the corner. The two women's eyes met. Mia seemed hateful, while Ellie was simply returning the look to show she wasn't ready to give up and walk away.

"The dojo's good for you to sleep in," Mia switched her stare over to Patrick and it softened considerably. "You're invited to stay there as long as you need."

"I'll be staying until Serena's all better," Ellie said. Mia glared at the woman before turning back to Patrick.

"Kevin's really happy you're here, so if Mentor or Jayden have any problems because of the rules, I'm sure he'll talk them around."

"I would like to stay," Patrick nodded, "Apparently I have a lot to catch up on."

"Lunch tomorrow, then?" Mia suggested. "I'll need to get out of here by then."

"Sounds great," Patrick smiled. Mia returned the gesture before turning and heading to the common room. Patrick found this rather odd, given it was so late in the night and his daughter in-law seemed rather tired. "Where are you going?"

"We built a fort in the common room," Mia smiled, stopping to talk to Patrick. "My grandmother used to do it for me when I got scared, usually during thunderstorms. I don't think she'll mind if we break tradition this one time."

"A fort?"

"It's like a turtle's shell," Mia pulled her Zord from her pocket; "It protects you when you're scare. You can hide away for a little bit, until the danger passes or you're ready to come back out and face the world. We'll be sleeping in it tonight."

"Sleep well, then."

"Mike snores, but we'll try," Mia smiled. "Good night."


	66. Ellie Asks For Forgiveness

Antonio loaded a box of medical equipment into the trunk of Jayden's car and sighed heavily as he looked to the red Ranger, who was bringing over the final box. He didn't understand why the doctor had made a list when they had basically taken every medical equipment from his house. He could have just said "grab everything".

But he didn't. It was a little odd, and Antonio would have let it slide, but it wasn't the first odd thing the doctor had done. For starters, he looked like a creepy old man: small, frail, and way too mobile for someone of his built. Antonio wasn't usually one to judge based on looks, but there was something off-putting about the doctor's first impression.

His refusal to help Serena also came as a bit of a shock. Now Antonio understood it was because he didn't want to help the Nighlok, but it was still rather unsettling how the only doctor on the face of the planet who could help Serena, refused.

Finally, there was the fact that he was constantly referring to Serena's baby as a Nighlok. It wasn't untrue. The baby would always be connected to the Nighlok thanks to Dekker, but there was a lot more humanity in it. It was only a quarter-Nighlok, which was less than half. Surely they would have trouble keeping the kid in line, but Antonio had met a few children who were little monsters. He doubted the baby would be much different.

"How much do you trust this guy?" Antonio asked Jayden as they got into the car. Jayden shrugged his shoulders.

"He saved my father's life."

"Weird to say considering your dad is dead."

"He would have died a lot earlier if it weren't for Dr. Harada," Jayden said, "and if it weren't for the doctor, all the other former Rangers would have been dead as well. My dad died to save them."

"Okay, so the man's good, but you can't say he doesn't creep you out," Antonio furrowed his brow. "When he first got to the Shiba House, he made it clear he would never save a Nighlok and that he's here for the human… but he keeps calling the baby a Nighlok."

"He knows what he's supposed to do," Jayden assured Antonio. "Serena made her wishes clear…"

"I wished for a pony when I was little," Antonio said. "Just because I wished it, doesn't mean it'll come true."

"What are you so worried about?" Jayden took his eyes off the road for a moment to look at Antonio. "Whatever you're thinking you can say it. There is the freedom of speech, you know."

"I'm worried about the baby," Antonio sighed, turning to look out the window. Jayden frowned.

"I hope so."

"More so than Serena," Antonio added. "I get she's in trouble, but the doctor seems to be onto something already, so that's got to be good news. But what if he lets something happen to the baby?"

"Like, he can't stop something from happening or just…"

"Intentionally," Antonio finished for Jayden. "He doesn't look like he's happy to be here, and he keeps calling the baby a Nighlok. He says he would never save a Nighlok… why would he change his mind and save the baby?"

"Serena's mom can be pretty persuasive when she wants to be," Jayden said. "I know we're supposed to be mad at her, but I think she's really trying to come back."

"You only get one chance at parenthood," Antonio muttered. "Once you walk away, that's it. You don't deserve to feel the love of a child anymore."

"Look, Antonio, I get trust is probably a huge issue right now, but Mentor's going to be watching over Serena like a hawk, and Ellie's probably sticking around, whether we like it or not. I'm sure Serena's safe."

"I hope so," Antonio leaned back in the passenger seat and checked the time. "5:00 AM? Wake me up when we're home, Amigo."

-Samurai-

When lunch time rolled around, Mia held up her promise of taking Patrick out to lunch. Just her, Kevin, and Patrick were going to sit down for a couple of hours and get away from the chaos so they could be properly acquainted and they could discuss the engagement.

They had already gone over every detail up until the engagement itself and now Kevin was just filling in the blanks on what had happened since while Mia had gotten up, excusing herself for the bathroom. Kevin noticed she had taken her phone to the bathroom with her, and was almost certain she was going to check up on things at home.

"All in all, dad, she's amazing," Kevin smiled to his father. "I'm so lucky."

"So far, I'm very impressed," Patrick nodded his head. "She seems like a very good girl. She seems to have everything she needs figured out."

"More or less," Kevin said. "I love her, dad."

"I don't blame you," his father replied with a chuckle. "So, when can we expect a wedding?"

"Not until after we've defeated Xandred," Kevin answered. "The wedding's a big deal for her and me too. We don't need Xandred interfering and we don't need him finding out about us. I would die for her dad, and I know she would do the same for me, but we would never ask that of each other. We don't need Xandred realising he can use us against each other."

Kevin's father smiled with pride as he heard his son say this. He was excited to see his little boy growing up, becoming a man, and starting a family of his own, but he was even more excited to hear he had done something right. He had raised a responsible young man who knew how to keep his priorities straight.

"Well, once you return home, if there's anything you need for the wedding, don't be afraid to ask your mother or me," Patrick said. "We would be more than happy to help."

"I take that as your approval of Mia."

Patrick nodded his head, "You found a wonderful young woman who truly deserves to be loved by a man like you. I am very proud of everything you've done, son, and I will always be proud."

Kevin couldn't help but shed a tear as he heard this. He smiled at his father as Patrick placed his hand on Kevin's shoulder and squeezed. When Mia got back to the table, Kevin recomposed himself. He wasn't afraid to cry in front of Mia, but now wasn't the time to be bawling because daddy was proud. There was still desert that needed to be eaten and a lot more stories to share.

"How is everyone?" he asked as Mia slipped her phone back onto the table. She looked to Kevin and Patrick guiltily, feeling bad for interrupting their date to check up on home. Kevin shot her a smile, "It's fine, Mia."

"The doctor's waiting on a few more results from Serena's, but he thinks he's onto something," Mia said.

"Already?" Patrick asked. "When he refused to help he said there was nothing he could do. We had to urge him to at least try."

"Can't and won't are often used interchangeably when they shouldn't be," Mia sighed. "I hate her guts, but maybe it's a good thing Ellie came back."

"In case you haven't noticed," Kevin whispered to his father, "Mia's a bit of a protective mother to the others. Emily especially."

"So I see," Patrick chuckled. Mia glared at Kevin.

"At least I didn't try to stop Mike from dating Emily," she smirked and turned to Patrick, "I love your son, but sometimes he's got that stick shoved so far up his ass…"

"What did he do?" Patrick leaned forward; interested to hear the stories his son hadn't been willing to share. Mia grinned and Kevin hid his face.

"Where do I begin?" Mia chuckled.

-Samurai-

One thing Emily hated about doctors was that they always kicked her out of the room when they were busy working with Serena. Dr. Harada was no exception.

Conscious or not, Emily wanted to be with her sister, holding her hand and comforting her through everything she was going to face. Mike had filled her in on Serena's wishes before Jayden cast the painless symbol, so she knew he sister wasn't going to wake up anytime soon, especially once it was confirmed by Mentor that the symbol was stronger than any Jayden had used before, to ensure Serena didn't wake up until she was healed. Emily was angry they hadn't given her the chance to say goodbye to her sister, but understood her sister had suffered enough, and if she was going to die, she would rather watch Serena drift off painlessly. She also hung onto hope that this wasn't the end, and she would see her sister awake again.

Kevin, Mia and Patrick were out to lunch, Jayden and Antonio were sleeping after being up all night taking care of Serena, and Mike was in the dojo training, trying to keep a level head through everything. Emily knew he was hurting almost just as much as she was, and she couldn't lean on him all the time. They were spending a little time alone just so they didn't do anything that would damage their relationship. Emotions were high and in times like these they were afraid they would accidentally say or do something to the other that would be hard to take back.

Mentor was the only one allowed to stick in the room with Serena, which offered Emily a little comfort. She knew he would take good care of her sister. But she still wished she could be in there.

She tossed one of Scruffy's balls against the side of the wall outside the house as a million thoughts raced through her mind. She imagined what life would be like if her sister survived. She already cherished every precious moment she had with Serena because of her previous illness, but if Serena lived, there wasn't going to be a single moment Emily wanted to waste.

She imagined life with Serena and the baby. A happy little family that was so full of love, they never felt pain again. Emily knew that kind of happiness was unreachable, but it was what she wanted and what she dreamed of one day having. A life with her sister, her niece or nephew, and Mike by her side. That was all she really needed.

She also imagined the bad. She tried to think of how she would cope if she did lose Serena and the baby. How her life would change. She couldn't figure out what she would do, but she knew it wouldn't be good. If her ideal life was Serena, the baby, and Mike, and she lost two out of three, there would be no bouncing back.

She thought of how much it would hurt if the baby lived but Serena didn't. Emily, while young, wouldn't hesitate to take the baby and raise him or her. She would give up everything and be the best adoptive mother she could be. Serena had done so much for her, Emily owed it to Serena to try her best and succeed with her child.

She also tried to think of what would happen if Serena lived but the baby didn't. Her sister would be heartbroken, and Emily wondered how long it would take to learn how to cope with the loss of a child. She remembered when she thought she lost Scruffy, and how hurt and terrified she had been. She couldn't imagine what it was like to know your own child was lost or dead.

Emily launched the ball at the wall with all the strength she had and watched it bounce back. She tried to catch it, but it slipped from her hands and rolled away. As she turned around to chase after it, she noticed her mother standing by the door. The ball rolled up to her mother's foot, and Ellie stepped on it, stopping it in its tracks.

"Emily…" Ellie knew she had to be careful. Getting close to Emily was like approaching a deer. She had to be slow and careful, and she could only go at a pace that Emily was comfortable with. If she went too quickly, or made any sudden movements, Emily would run off.

Emily felt cornered. She had the whole world behind her if she wanted to run away, but all her friends were inside. If she needed to, she could run and find Kevin and Mia, but they were so far off that was barely an option.

"Sweetheart," Ellie whispered and she saw Emily wince. It hurt her. "Emily... I…."

Ellie lowered and shook her head, "I have nothing to say," she said. "I'm sorry just doesn't feel right. Please, Emily, let me explain."

Emily shook her head furiously but didn't say a word. Nothing would come out.

"I know I don't have an excuse," Ellie said. "I know nothing I say can make things better for you. But I know I screwed up. Please, Emily, can you just listen to me?"

Again, Emily shook her head. Ellie didn't move from in front of the door, though, so Emily couldn't go inside.

"I tried to forget, Emily," Ellie explained. "I tried to just run away and make a clean break. I know it was wrong… but it was just… I never did forget, Emily. I never forgot about your father or your sister or you. Every day I wondered about you. I love you so much, Emily and I never stopped loving you. That's why I came back. I realised just how wrong I was and I came back to try and fix things. For you, Emily. No one but you."

She leaned forward and picked up the ball. She tossed it back to Emily and the yellow Ranger caught it. Ellie smiled.

"I didn't run away because of you or your sister or your father," she said. "I ran away because there was a problem with me. It's nothing you did. And I know it was bad and I know it hurt. I will never forget that, and when I'm on my death bed, that's going to be the thing I regret the most. I'm so proud of you, Emily. Please, please can you at let me try to make things right again? I'll do anything."

Still, there was no answer from Emily. Ellie stepped forward but still kept her distance.

"You always were forgiving. It's one of the things I loved about you. You forgave the people who hurt you. That's all I'm asking for, even if it takes years. Please, Emily, can you promise me that…"

"Don't say anything you don't want to say, Emily," the gates opened up as Mia, Kevin, and Patrick returned from their lunch. Mia caught the last part of Ellie sentence and interrupted. Ellie sighed in completely disappointment as she watched the shields going up around her daughter. There was no way she would ever break through to Emily if her friends were protecting her.

"Cornering her and asking for forgiveness?" Kevin scoffed as his eyes narrowed on the older woman, "That's even more pathetic than running away."

Emily nodded her head as Mia asked her if she was okay. The pink Ranger hugged her and led her inside. As they walked past her mother, Emily stopped. Time stood still for everyone as Emily stared up at her mother. Ellie didn't move and she didn't say a word, too afraid she would risk damaging her relationship with Emily further.

"I felt worthless," Emily whispered. Ellie nearly broke down crying then and there but just barely managed to keep herself together while Emily leaned back into Mia's arms and hurried inside the house to hide. Kevin was right behind the two girls but still managed to glare daggers at Ellie.

Patrick walked up to his former teammate and placed a hand on Ellie's shoulder. He hadn't heard what Emily had said, but he could tell it had hurt.

"Are you okay?"

"She's not worthless."

"Why did you run away from her?" Patrick asked. "You told me you were fighting with Jack, and you told me you were disappointed in Serena… but why did you run away from Emily?"

Ellie shrugged and rested her head on Patrick's shoulder, "I don't know. It was… easy."

"Now it's anything but," Patrick said. "You have a long road ahead of you, but you should be thankful for one thing."

"What's that?"

"There is hope," Patrick pointed to the door, "She told everything you needed to know to fix things."

He wrapped his arm around Ellie and hugged her quickly before gesturing to the house with his head, "You won't be allowed to see Serena, but I can check up on her if you'd like. Mia tells me the doctor's making progress."

"Please," Ellie nodded.


	67. A Mother's Ultimate Sacrifice

The doctor was finished with the testing and had his results, so he gathered everyone he could in Serena's room to discuss the next few steps with them. Everyone was sitting in waiting for Serena's results except Ellie, who was not invited. Serena hadn't wanted her mother near, and Emily didn't want to be with her mother, so the best thing they could do was keep her away from the bedroom. Patrick had offered to pass on the information to her later.

When everyone was seated the doctor began, "The baby needs to die."

"What?" Emily asked. Dr. Harada picked up his notebook and passed it to his patient's sister.

"The Nighlok is poisoning her. If we kill the child now and remove it, Serena has a good chance at a full recovery."

"There's nothing else you can do?" Antonio frowned, wondering if maybe the doctor was had just stopped his research there.

"Nothing," Harada answered with a nod. Antonio turned to Mentor, who nodded his head sadly.

"Unfortunately the tests show severe poisoning," Mentor said. "Sanzu water, instead of blood, is beginning to pump through her body and if we don't stop it now, it will spread."

"And the growing Nighlok is only going to hurt her. If the Sanzu water doesn't kill her, the little monster will."

"Baby," Antonio corrected as he took the notes from Emily, wanting to read them over for himself.

"How far along is she?" Patrick asked, "Maybe the baby can…"

"Barely four months," Mike answered. "There's no way the baby can survive without Serena."

"We can't wait until the baby's old enough?" Emily looked to the doctor. "Serena would have…"

"This needs to be done now," the doctor said as he snatched his notes back from Antonio and closed them. He stuffed it in with the rest of his books, "I will get everything set up…"

"No," Emily shook her head and looked to her sister sadly, "If Serena wants us to choose the baby over her, that's what we're going to do."

"Emily…"

"Don't make me second guess myself," Emily snapped to Mia. "Risk it or find some other way. We're not killing the baby."

"You would rather watch your sister die a slow death just to ensure the Nighlok's survival?" the doctor asked.

"She can pull through, I know she can…"

"Emily," Mentor sighed. He hated to be the bearer of bad news, "if the tests are right, Serena won't make it to the birth."

"So you deliver the baby as soon as it has a chance of surviving on its own. Serena lives and the baby lives," Emily answered with a shrug. "I just…"

"Serena told us to choose the baby first," Mike nodded his head as he took Emily's hand, "I'm with Emily. She's not suffering thanks to Jayden, so I say we ride it out and see what happens."

The doctor held up his notebook, "The child is part Nighlok! It is a monster! You are protectors of the Earth! How can you all stand here and defend the very creature you're trying to kill?"

He shook his head and stormed off, "This is ridiculous. This is the worst team of Samurai I have ever met!"

As he headed for the door he walked by Jayden. He stopped in front of the red Ranger, "If your father were still around…"

"He would be proud," Jayden interrupted and smiled to his teammates. "He would be proud of all of them. We are Samurai, we protect the innocent. A baby, no matter where it comes from, is innocent."

"I will not help," the doctor shook his head. "You have no idea what the Nighlok are capable of! You must destroy them all! I will not stand for this! This is exactly why I did not want to get involved."

"Then get out," Antonio pointed to the door and the doctor did as he was told without protest, ripping the door open and storming out. Ellie, who was sitting in the hallway waiting for news, watched him leave in a huff with a glare. She couldn't make out every word spoken on the other side of the door, but she could make out the just of what was being said. The doctor, like her, was walking away from Serena when she needed him most.

She heard what he had said about Serena's condition and knew he spoke the truth. The Nighlok grew stronger when nourished by the water of the Sanzu River. A Nighlok baby would need the Sanzu water to grow and somehow managed to get that water into Serena's body so he could feed from it. She clenched her fists tightly and looked down at the floor.

"She doesn't deserve this," she whispered.

_It had been a couple of year since her team defeated Master Xandred. It was only temporary, but the seal the red Ranger managed to create would last long enough for the next generation of Rangers to get ready. Ellie had started Serena's training many years ago and was impressed by her daughter's progress. At twelve, Serena was perfecting skills it took Ellie nearly a lifetime to master, both with and without a sword._

_One regret Ellie had about being a Ranger was leaving home. Serena and Jack understood the reason she had to go, but Ellie had to leave Emily when she was only a year old. By the time she returned a year later, she had been gone for half of Emily's life and almost completely forgotten._

_She had been replaced, as well. Serena had to stand in as mother for Emily while Ellie was away and never truly stepped down from that role. Now that Emily was four years old, she knew who her mother was, but still found herself drawn to Serena for the maternal affection, protection, and love she needed to grow and develop._

_This night was no different. Emily hadn't been herself all day, and finally, in the middle of the night, her sister and parents were realising why. Emily was sick with a nasty virus. It was nothing that wouldn't go away on its own, but the four year old was uncomfortable, in pain, and in desperate need of comfort._

_Comfort she found in Serena's arms. The twelve year old paced the room back and forth, holding her little sister in her arms as she rubbed her back and hummed a lullaby into Emily's ear to sooth her. Ellie had tried to take over for Serena so the young girl could get to bed so she wouldn't be too tired for school in the morning, but Emily wouldn't settle in anyone's arms but Serena's._

_Finally, the child was fast asleep and Serena, very carefully, laid Emily down in her bed and tucked her in._

"_I'll sleep with her in her bed in case she wakes up again," Serena told her parents. "I'll call if I need you."_

"_I doubt you will," Jack said with a chuckle as he set down some medicine on Serena's night table on the other side of the room. "Sleep well, honey."_

"_Good job, Serena," Ellie nodded. She was proud of her daughter, but she felt like she was missing out. She was Emily's mother. She should have been caring for her sick daughter. Serena was only a child. Her only concern should have been her grades in school. "Next time, I promise I'll help out a little more."_

"_It's okay," Serena answered. "I don't mind doing it."_

_Ellie sighed, "Get some sleep, sweetheart. I love you."_

"_I love you too, mom," Serena smiled as she laid down with Emily in the small bed._

Long before she should have been, Serena had been a better mother than Ellie. She didn't deserve to have her child ripped away. It hurt too much.

She pushed herself up and knocked on the door. Without waiting for a response, she stepped in. All eyes glared at her.

"In the hall, Eleanor…" Mentor warned her.

"I want to help."

"In the hall. You will help by staying away."

"I'll do anything, Mentor," Ellie insisted. "I'll try anything, no matter what the risk is for me. Any symbol, any ancient trick, I'll do it."

"No," Emily said to Mentor, "she doesn't mean any of that. There's nothing we can do except wait. She's all talk."

"Emily, please…"

"No!" Emily shouted and pointed to the door, "Get out!"

"Em, I'll find a way to help and no matter what…"

"Get out!"

"Emily…"

"Leave me alone!" Emily screamed and pushed past her mother as she ran out of the room. Mike chased after her. He shoved Ellie into the wall on the way out. Ellie sighed and ran her hand through her hair.

"I just want to help."

"We have made a decision…"

"I'll do anything," she interrupted Mentor. "Please, you have to let me…"

"What can you do?" Patrick asked. "Our only solution is to kill the baby. That's not an option for Serena."

"She doesn't deserve to die like this," Ellie approached the bed, ignoring the harsh glares from the Samurai in the room. "I have to help her. I would take her place, if I could. I would do anything."

"So you say," Antonio scoffed. "You left her! You left both of them! We had to pick up the pieces."

"Serena took over for you with Emily," Kevin said. "She shouldn't have had to, but even though she was suffering, all she wanted to do was take care of her sister; _your_ daughter. You made her responsible for that."

Ellie's eyes widened, "Then I'll return the favour."

"What?"

"There's no limit to symbol power if you really put your heart into it. I'll suffer for her…" Ellie bounced slightly as she raced out of the room only to return moments later with a book in her hands. She opened it and showed the Samurai a symbol, "I'll give up my life for her."

Jayden held up the book and turned it to Mentor, "What's this?"

"And old book of symbols," Mentor said.

"I read that," Mia pointed out. "These symbols haven't been used in decades. They're so powerful they usually result in death."

"I'll take that risk," Ellie pointed to the symbol in the bottom corner, "If I can cast this symbol properly, I can give up my life for Serena. Almost like a trade. I'll suffer for her, and if she's meant to die, I'll be the one who dies."

"Wait, like you'll literally give up your life for her?" Antonio asked. "That's what that symbol means?"

"Eleanor…"

"You're not talking me out of it," Ellie glared at Mentor, "Being a mother is the ultimate sacrifice. Serena's already willing to give herself up for her baby. I need to do the same."

"Taking parenting advice from her daughter?" Kevin whispered to Mia. The pink Ranger slapped his chest.

"Not that I don't want to see you withering around in pain," Mia said to Ellie, "but you can't do this. If it was just Serena, I would say go for it, but you have to consider Emily."

"You're her mother too," Jayden nodded, "she might hate you, but if this kills you and she had no control over it, you'll be walking away from her again. You can't hurt her like that twice."

Ellie looked down at her sleeping daughter, "I'll talk to Emily. But if she agrees, I'm doing this."

"Ultimate sacrifice," Jayden read the symbol, "Are you sure?"

"She'll be a good mother. She won't make the same mistake I did. I won't let her leave her child. I'll do it."

"I will convince Emily to talk to you, then," Mentor said as he left the room to find Emily and Mike.

Patrick looked to Ellie, "You'll suffer," he told her. "From what little I saw of Serena, I can't imagine the pain she felt. If you take over for her, from here on out, you'll suffer more than she ever did."

"It's the ultimate sacrifice," Ellie nodded.

"So, wait," Antonio said, holding his arms out to show the others they needed to slow down. He was still new to this Samurai business, "This symbol's going to switch out Serena for her mom?"

"I will sacrifice myself for her," Ellie answered the gold Ranger. "Whatever pain she would feel, and whatever fate awaits her will befall me."

"If we can get the symbol working," Jayden said. "It's extremely powerful."

"Leave that to me as well," Ellie insisted. "If it goes wrong, I don't want any of you getting hurt."

"There's the Ellie I know," Patrick smiled as the bedroom door opened again and Emily stepped in. She looked at her mother.

"What?"

"Can we talk outside?" Ellie asked. Emily shook her head.

"No."

"It's about Serena. I think I know how to fix her."

"Then do it."

"Not without talking to you about it first," Ellie insisted. "It's dangerous, and I won't do it unless you're completely on board."

"She's dying anyways," Emily shrugged, "We have nothing to lose."

"Emily," Ellie held up the book and pointed to the symbol. Emily glared at her mother.

"You never taught me Japanese. I can't read that."

"It says ultimate sacrifice," Mia translated for Emily. "You're mother's going to suffer, and possibly die, in Serena's place."

"But I want to talk to you about it first," Ellie said. "I want to make sure we both agree this is the right decision."

"I…," Emily looked to her mother and then her sister. She was being asked to choose between them. She hated her mom, but she was still her mother. On the other hand, she couldn't lose her sister.

"If I do this, Serena will surely live, and the baby will have a much greater chance of surviving."

"If she doesn't," Jayden said, "Serena and the baby could…"

"Emily, this is something I want to do for you and your sister. I'm not doing this for forgiveness; I'm doing this because I want to be your mother. And being a mom is the ultimate sacrifice. Will you be happy if your sister lives?"

Emily nodded her head, "Yeah."

"And the baby…"

"I don't want it to die."

"I love you," Ellie smiled, "no matter what you choose, I will always love you."

"If you do this… can you stay here?" Emily asked. "We can keep an eye on you."

"Anything you want, Emily," Ellie nodded.

"Do it, then… if you really want to," Emily said. She turned to leave, "I don't want to watch."

"Emily," Ellie held out her hand as Emily stopped and turned around, "I'll need your Samuraizer. Serena will give it back to you."

Emily pulled out her Samuraizer and handed it to Jayden. The red Ranger passed it onto Ellie as Emily walked out. Kevin, Mia and, Antonio followed her, still angry with Ellie.

Jayden and Patrick looked to the eldest Earth Samurai, "Are you sure you want to do this?" Patrick asked.

"I can use the painless symbol," Jayden suggested.

"We'll see how it goes," Ellie said. "Tell Serena and Emily I love them and I'm so sorry."

"You have one chance at this," Jayden said as he showed Ellie the book one final time. She got her Samuraizer ready and held it up in the air. She took a deep breath and hesitated for a moment.

"Here goes everything," she whispered, tracing the first stroke of the symbol. Immediately the room was bathed in a bright glow, brighter than any completed symbol had been before.


	68. The Hard Goodbye

Outside, Antonio was tossing Scruffy's ball, playing a game of keep away with the dog and Mike. Scruffy loved to play this game because he loved to chase people around. Mike caught the ball and teased Scruffy with it for a few seconds before throwing it back to Antonio. When the ball was out of his hands, he looked over at Emily.

"Ultimate sacrifice?"

"Mom's going to hurt for Serena," Emily nodded her head. She was sitting at the outdoor table with Kevin and Mia, watching over the Zords as they played.

"Can it work?" Mike asked, catching the ball again and throwing it right back.

"These symbols take a lot of strength and power to do," Mia said. "The sealing symbol's one of these forgotten symbols."

"It's the only one not forgotten, I guess," Kevin added. He flipped the turtle back around after the Ape managed to get it on its shell, rendering it helpless.

"Using this symbol could kill her right here, right now if it doesn't work" Mia said, "and it would leave Serena suffering and without hope."

Mike sighed as he looked at Emily, "How do you feel about this?"

Emily rested her head on the table, "I just want everything to work out. Mom was right, Serena shouldn't die… but I don't want my mom to die either."

"Who would you rather see die, though?" Kevin asked. "It's obvious we don't have a choice."

"Stupid Dekker," Emily muttered. "I knew there was a reason I hated him."

"He's gone, Em," Mike promised her with a smile. "Gone for good, I made sure of it, remember?"

Mia sighed loudly and checked her watch. They had been outside waiting for something to happen for a long time. She had read the symbol was strong, but she doubted it would take this long for a result. She tapped her foot nervously. It didn't take long for Kevin to notice and wrap his arm around her.

"We are doing the right thing… right?" he asked her. "Saving the baby…"

"Kevin…"

"What if the doctor was right? It is part Nighlok. Dekker was part Nighlok and he's a monster. Dayu's the same. What if this baby…?"

"It'll have a choice," Mia said. "It deserves a chance."

Suddenly, a loud, piercing scream was heard from inside the walls of the Shiba house. Everyone stopped and turned to their home, eyes wide with terror. There were only a few people still inside, but they could narrow the scream down to only a few people. It was either Ellie or Serena.

Scruffy started barking as he raced to the door, demanding to be let in, but none of the Rangers moved to help him. Mike, who had the ball in his hand, let it fall. Antonio walked over to the green Ranger and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"There's supposed to be pain," he reminded him. "I'm sure everything's going to be fine."

By the table, Emily was pressing her hands against her ears with so much force, Mia and Kevin were worried she was going to squeeze her brain out through her ears. Mia reached across the table and placed her hand on Emily's arm. It didn't matter who the scream belonged to or what they had done to Emily in the past, it was still hard to hear.

Kevin had tears dripping slowly down his face as worry filled every fibre of his body. He wiped them away as quickly as he could. He needed to put up a brave front.

His father then walked out of the house, looking a little roughed up. He turned to the Rangers, a gloomy look on his face.

"It didn't work?" Mike asked.

"I… I think it did," Patrick forced a smile. He hated what Ellie had done to her daughters and could never imagine himself leaving his wife or Kevin behind, but she was still his friend. Mia turned to Emily with a smile, trying to pull her hands from her ears so Emily could hear.

"Emy, it worked. Serena's going to be okay."

"Let it sink in," Kevin whispered to Mia as it dawned on him that Serena was likely recovered because Ellie was going to die in her place. He got up, walked around the table, and wrapped his arms around Emily, "We'll still try to figure it out."

Emily screwed her eyes shut and buried her face in Kevin's chest, blocking out the world entirely.

Again, the door to the Shiba House opened. Patrick, Mike, and Antonio, who were all closest to the door, held their breath as they waited for the person to step out into the light.

Mike breathed out a sigh of relief when he saw Serena. He pulled away from Antonio and rushed over to her. He wrapped his arms around her in a hug, lifting her slightly from the ground.

"You have no idea how happy we are to see you," he smiled as he set her back down. "How do you feel?"

"Fine," Serena whispered as her hand strayed down to her stomach. "I feel fine."

"And the baby?"

"Fine," Serena answered. Her eyes strayed over to the picnic table and she ignored all other questions from Antonio, Patrick, and Mike. She quickly glanced down at her stomach and sighed. Even after being told what her mother had done for her, she still hated her. In fact, if it was possible, she hated her mother even more. She knew without her mother, she would likely be back on her deathbed, waiting for the day her pregnancy killed her, but her mother had made things unnecessarily complicated for everyone, not just Emily. Turning up after leaving would never have good timing, but her mother's timing had been especially cruel.

She approached the table slowly, "It's suicide, not murder. It's not your fault, Emily."

The yellow Ranger pulled her hands away from her ears when she heard a faint voice she thought sounded familiar. She moved her head away from Kevin's chest and turned to see her sister standing healthy and strong. Had the table not been separating the two of them, Emily would have jumped into her sister's arms. Instead, she just smiled.

"Are you okay?"

"You wouldn't be asking me that if I wasn't."

"What about mom?"

"Emily, I don't want you worrying about mom."

"How is she?"

"Emy," Serena watched as Emily got up and walked to the house. She tried to grab her sister to stop her, but Emily pulled free. "Dammit."

Serena, as well as the others, followed Emily through the house until they reached Serena's room. Emily pushed the door opened and looked in sadly. Her mother was in some pain, but nothing too excruciating just yet. Jayden was sitting in a chair in the corner, playing mindlessly with his Samuraizer. He was going to cast the painless symbol to put Ellie into a deep sleep, like Serena had been in, but Ellie insisted he waited until she told him to do so.

She smiled when she saw the Rangers had come back to her room. Emily stepped in quietly and looked at her mom.

"This doesn't make up for it," Emily whispered. "You're not forgiven yet."

"I needed to do this, Emily. Your forgiveness wasn't my motivation. I couldn't watch Serena suffer anymore."

Serena wrapped her arm around Emily's shoulder, "C'mon, Emily."

"Serena…"

"Why did you leave?" Serena asked her mother sharply, clutching onto Emily tightly for her own sake. "I know I disappointed you and I'm sorry, but was it really worth leaving?"

Ellie shook her head, "I regretted it as soon as it happened," she said, "but it was too hard to go back. I'm so sorry, to all of you," she doubled over in pain, clutching her stomach. Serena hugged Emily tightly and buried her face in Emily's hair. Ellie tried her best not to scream as she signalled to Jayden to use the symbol. Jayden was fast on his feet, created the symbol, struck Ellie and fell to his knees. He was exhausted enough already from removing his last symbol from Serena. This was starting to be too much. But it needed to be done. Antonio lifted the red Ranger back to his feet.

"Bedtime for you," he said. Jayden nodded and leaned on Antonio for support, but before they left he pulled an envelope from his pocket.

"She knew she wouldn't have enough time," he said as he handed the letter to Emily. Emily looked at it sadly and then over to her sleeping mother.

"Let's go out to eat," Mike suggested. He needed to get out of the house, and he was sure the others all felt the same. "My treat."

"My treat," Patrick said, handing Kevin the rest of his money from his wallet before he hugged his son, "It's probably time I head off."

"Already?" Kevin asked.

"I shouldn't be here in the first place," Patrick nodded sadly. He wrapped an arm around Mia, "Take care of my son."

"Of course," Mia nodded. She took Kevin's hand, "We'll see you out, I guess."

"While you do that, we'll get ready," Mike said as he gestured for Serena and Emily to leave. Serena followed him, but Emily stayed put and stared at the envelope.

"Patrick," she whispered before the former Blue was gone. He turned to her and she sighed loudly, "Can you take my mom with you?"

"Of course," Patrick nodded and walked back to the bed to scoop up Ellie. As he carried her out, he stopped in front of Emily, "She never did stop caring. Leaving you was the hardest thing she's ever done… both times."

"Both?" Emily asked.

"You were just a baby," Serena whispered. She pulled on Emily's arm gently, "C'mon, let's have some fun."

Emily nodded. She placed her mother's letter on Serena's dresser and followed the others out of the room. She and Mike went to their own room to get ready for dinner with the others while Serena went to find Mentor. She felt healthy as a horse, but after everything that happened she wanted to make sure she was okay. Trusting no one but him, she wanted to have him look her over once they got back from their outing. Kevin and Mia walked to the front door to say goodbye to Patrick and help him get the sleeping Ellie into the car.

"I'll call you if anything happens," Patrick promised Mia. "I'm sure you and the others will want to know if she…"

"Yeah," Mia nodded. She hugged her future father in-law one more time before leaving him alone to say goodbye to Kevin.

Kevin looked at his father with a heavy heart. He knew Patrick had to leave, but this wasn't easy.

"I am proud of you, son," Patrick had said it before, but he couldn't say it enough. "I will be waiting for you when this is over."

"I won't doubt it, but it's good to hear," Kevin smiled. "Tell mom I love her."

"I will tell her everything," Patrick said. "She'll be happy for you."

Kevin chuckled, "Poor Mia's not going to know what hit her when she meets mom for the first time, then."

Patrick laughed as well, "I love you, Kevin."

"Love you too, dad," Kevin smiled as his father got into the driver's seat of the car. As he drove off, his waved his hand out the window and waved goodbye to Kevin.

"Is she gone?" Mike asked, having changed and quickly. He stepped outside with Kevin and stood next to his best friend.

"Yeah. Things can go back to normal, now."

"Normal," Mike scoffed, "I don't remember what normal is. This house is crazy, dude. Always was, always will be."

He turned around when he heard footsteps and saw the girls were coming out, ready to leave. He saw a smile on Emily's face and chuckled.

"Who flipped the switch?"

"Mia promised ice-cream for dessert."

"Ice-cream makes everything better?" Mike asked.

"It's a good start," Emily nodded.

"I guess we better go somewhere with good ice-cream, then," Kevin said as he led the way out of the gate.

Mia stayed back with Serena for a moment, "Are you okay?"

"It was our choice, this time," Serena nodded. "We survived without mom before, we'll do it again."

"If you need anything…"

"I know, Mia," Serena hugged her pink friend. "We'll be fine. We always are."

"C'mon, guys!" Kevin called to them when he noticed they were lagging behind, "If we don't catch up to Emily and Mike they're going to pick a restaurant with a playground and all you can eat sugar!"

"That sounds fun," Serena chuckled, rubbing her stomach. "I'm game."

"Seriously? You know he's talking about your Emily, right? The little sugar-fueled rocket?"

"Watching her run circles around all of you is very entertaining," Serena nodded her head. "It's really what I need right now."


	69. Baby News And Stuck In The Middle

Dinner had been a good break from all the drama that had been going on for the Rangers, but as Serena sat in Mentor Ji's room, she felt like her life was on the line once again. When her mother had cast the symbol, it had only been used to save Serena's life. Her unborn child was still at risk for death. It was a small risk, much smaller than before, considering Serena would live through the entire pregnancy and would be able to carry her baby, but the baby's fate was still uncertain.

There was a knock on the door and Serena invited the other person inside. Mentor wasn't in the room, and she expected him to be gone for a while still. He had done so many tests on her to check the health of the baby that it was going to be a long time before he got the results and he got them all sorted.

Antonio stepped into the room with a small smile.

"We're playing snakes and ladders in the common room," he said, "it would be really cool if you joined."

"I'm waiting," Serena shook her head. "Besides, I don't have a Zord."

"There are regular game pieces, you know," Antonio chuckled, "and I can probably convince the Clawzord to play with you."

"I'm waiting."

"Mentor's going to be hours. Come and have fun with us."

"I'm…"

"Coming," Antonio cut her off. "C'mon, Serena. If there's any news, Mentor will tell you right away. We're all having fun and Mike and Emily want you to…"

"Fine," Serena pushed herself off the bed, "but I want to be the yellow game piece. Lobsters kind of scare me and he's too big for the game board."

"Whatever works best for you," Antonio led her to the common room where the rest of the Samurai were already halfway through their game. They would have been further, but Mike and Kevin were arguing, stalling the game.

"Mike, you rolled a nine," Kevin placed his finger on the game board, just above a snake, "You're supposed to fall."

"I rolled an eight. I'm safe," Mike argued with a smirk as he cast a glance over to the Ape Zord. She was right next to the dice and very willing to help out the Bear Zord's Ranger. When Kevin took his eyes off the dice, she flipped one from a five to a four and got back into position.

"Mike, five plus four is nine."

"Sure," Mike nodded his head, "but four and four is eight," Mike pointed to the dice. Kevin shook his head and groaned in frustration, until he saw that Mike was right. Both die had landed on four, giving him a safe eight. The bear Zord happily took a step back and got comfortable on his game tile.

"Who's winning?" Antonio asked as he took a seat with the others and got out a few game pieces for himself and Serena. She took the yellow while he grabbed red. With no gold, he had to choose another colour and he felt closest to red.

"I am," Emily smiled as she picked up the dice to roll for her turn. Serena took them from her hand.

"And restart. New players."

"You can't do that," Emily pouted.

"I'm older and bigger, I can do whatever I want."

"Technically, you're bigger because of the baby," Mia smirked, "and if you're going to count the baby, you'll have to factor it's age in as well. So really, your average age is twelve."

"Ha, you're young and fat," Emily stuck out her tongue at her sister. "That makes me older."

"I'm still bigger," Serena smirked and shifted over until she was sitting on Emily's lap and she squished her little sister. She placed her piece of the board while the Zords got back into the starting position.

"Get off!" Emily giggled as she tried to push her sister. Serena pretended she didn't hear and rolled the dice first.

"Six," she moved her piece six tiles and touched the bottom of a ladder. She climbed up and smirked, "I like this game."

As the other Rangers took their turns, Mike leaned back and looked at Emily, who was still stuck under her sister.

"That's what you get for calling a pregnant woman fat."

Emily glared and jabbed her sister's back until Serena finally got off to let Emily take her turn. The dice were passed from player to player as the game went on and on. There were more snakes at the end of the board than anywhere else; making the last few turns very tricky. The game would always start to drag on at the end.

Suddenly, just as Serena was about to take what she hoped was her final turn, Mentor walked into the room. Serena looked up at him and then passed the dice back to Emily.

"Play for me, squirt," she said as she got up and walked with Mentor out of the room. Emily and the others watched her leave and put the game on hold. They knew what was being discussed.

"Go on," Mike nudged his head in the direction of the door and the bear Zord flew off to eavesdrop. Normally, Mike would respect Serena's privacy, but the baby was loved and cared for by all of them. If there was news, they all wanted to know.

When the bear Zord finally came back into the room it landed on Mike's shoulder and spoke into its master's ear. Just as it finished, Serena came back in, carrying a few papers. She cleared the game off the table and laid the papers out for everyone to see.

"The tests say everything's going fine," Serena assured her team before she got started on the news. "The baby's strong… which was what was killing me."

"How is the baby now?" Jayden asked. "You're not suffering, but that doesn't mean whatever phase you were going through is over."

Serena pointed to the ultrasound. When Dr. Harada had left in such a hurry, he hadn't taken any of his tools with him. Mentor Ji knew how to use most of them, and thankfully that had helped him run the tests on Serena and the baby.

"Mentor noticed something weird in the ultrasound," she said, "In the womb, babies practice living. As the lungs develop they breath in fluids, they kick and punch. They sleep and wake up, suck their thumbs, react to noise… turn into Nighloks…."

"What?" the Rangers gasped and Serena traced the outline of her baby on the ultrasound picture. The Rangers noticed it seemed a little odd.

"That's going to hurt," Mia winced and looked up to Serena sympathetically.

"Is the baby going to stay a Nighlok?" Mike asked. He would love it all the same (he hoped), but he needed to know.

Serena pulled out a second picture from under the first, "That was the ultrasound the doctor took. This is the one from today."

"Baby looks normal," Emily said.

"He's practicing switching back and forth. That must have been why it hurt so much. I felt sick because of the Sanzu Water, but the pain in my stomach was probably the baby shifting forms. He's a little bigger when he's a Nighlok."

"So I guess it's confirmed then," Kevin said, "The baby will have a Nighlok life."

"If you're uncomfortable, say something about it now," Serena looked around the room. "I'm serious, guys, I won't be mad, but I want to know."

"We're not uncomfortable," Antonio spoke for the group. "We always knew this was a possibility."

"You're all fine with it, then?" Serena asked. Everyone nodded so she smiled. "Good. Well, then, aside from the fact that the baby's healthy, all things considered, and that he's officially part Nighlok, and that I'm perfectly fine, I don't think there's anything else you need to know."

"Good, then it's still your turn," Jayden picked up the dice and handed them to Serena. She took them from him and smirked.

"Unless…" she said, her eyes falling on each of the Samurai, "You guys want to know why I keep calling my baby a 'he'."

Mia gasped; her hand flew to her mouth. The boys stared in shock, with some of their jaws hitting the ground. Emily's eyes widened.

Serena chuckled at their reactions, "It's still a little early, but Mentor's pretty sure the baby's a…"

"Boy!" Antonio and Mike cheered as they high-fived each other proudly.

"Congratulations, Serena," Jayden smiled, reaching over and hugging the eldest Samurai.

"Thanks. I'll go to the doctor's in a few weeks to get it confirmed, but I'm pretty positive he's right."

"Dad's going to be happy," Emily grinned brightly. "He's always wanted a boy."

"I'll tell him when it's official," Serena nodded her head. "No sense getting him all excited if this turns out to be a false alarm."

"No way," Mike shook his head, "That kid's a boy, I can feel it."

"Wanting it and feeling it are two different things, Mike," Kevin laughed and smiled at Serena, "Congratulations, though you probably didn't care either way."

"I just want a healthy and happy baby," Serena placed her hand on her stomach, "and I'm just so glad I actually get to watch him grow."

Emily smiled and hugged her sister, though she felt a little sick. As the boys started cheering (mainly Antonio and Mike) and began to plan out the little boy's life for him, with all the cool activities they were going to do with their "little dude", Emily picked up her Ape Zord from the game board and walked to her room. Serena was stuck with the boys, trying to remind them it would be a couple of years before they could do most of their planned activities with her son, but Mia caught Emily leaving and followed her into hers and Mike's bedroom. She saw Emily place the Ape Zord down on her dresser and sighed.

"Were you hoping for a girl?" she asked, "You know, there's a chance Mentor's wrong. It's still so early and he's good, but that's not his job."

"How wrong could he be?" Emily asked, "There are only two choices. Even if he took a blind guess, there's a fifty percent chance he's right. Besides, I'm happy it's a boy. It's like Serena said: I don't care, as long as he's happy and healthy."

"So, why aren't you planning his future out like the guys?" Mia stepped in closer. "You have more of a say than most of them, and your ideas are probably going to be more realistic."

"I'm trying to forget about mom," Emily said and she played with her hands nervously. "I'm happy Serena's back and I'm still so mad at mom I wish she was dead… but I know I don't want that."

"Stop feeling sorry for her, Emy," Mia took a seat next to Emily on the bed. "Your mother hurt you and Serena. She doesn't deserve your sympathy or kindness. You're too good for her, Emily."

"But she's my mom," Emily whispered, "She was a really good mom too, right up until she walked away. She was sweet and fun and caring… she was like an older Serena. She doesn't deserve this."

"Emily, she walked away…"

"I get that," Emily nodded, "but Serena didn't get pregnant because she walked away. She was pregnant before, and whether or not mom walked away, Serena still would have gotten sick again. And if the mother who didn't care enough about Serena or me would give up her own life just so we could stay together, don't you think nice mom would do the same?"

"I guess."

"And Serena just… forgot about her. Right away. She's not sad, is she?"

Mia looked out the door. She could hear Serena laughing along with the others and understood what Emily was saying. Serena had been saved. Her mother had given up everything for her, and she didn't seem to acknowledge that at all. She seemed to treat this recovery as some miracle out of the blue instead of a sacrifice.

"Serena was hurt too," Mia turned back to Emily, "just as much as you. And she felt really guilty too, probably just as much as your mother. It was her fault your mother ran away… technically."

"I didn't change my mind completely. I do want to make sure my mom's okay. I just…" Emily looked up at Mia, "If I wanted to go see her, could you cover for me? At least with Serena?"

"You want me to lie to your sister?" Mia asked. Emily nodded her head.

"Serena's just trying to protect me… I get it. But mom's hurting now because of what Serena did. Serena was pregnant before mom ran away. As mad as I am at mom… maybe she doesn't deserve to lose everything."

Mia sighed loudly, thinking over Emily's request carefully in her head before nodding.

"Okay, I'll cover for you, but two conditions."

"What?"

"First: I'll swear Kevin to secrecy and tell him. I can't lie to him."

"I wouldn't ask you to," Emily nodded, "as long as he doesn't tell Serena. I just don't want her knowing. She would freak."

"She would," Mia agreed, "Anyways, my second condition: you never lie to me, not about this. No coming home from visits and telling me you're fine when you're not. If something's upsetting you, or you have questions, or you're worried, you talk to me right away. You're stuck in the middle, but you won't be alone. Deal?"

Emily smiled and nodded her head, "Deal."

"Atta girl," Mia hugged her best friend, "I'll call Patrick and I'll set something up for you with him."

Emily looked up at Mia with a bright grin, "Sometimes, I think you're cooler than Serena."

"I'm flattered," Mia chuckled.

"Only sometimes," Emily said, "Most of the time you're just average uncool."

"Uncool?" Mia frowned and tickled Emily's side, "Most of the time I'm uncool?"

"Average uncool," Emily repeated with a giggle as Mia's tickles continued.

"I cook, clean, train and take care of you whenever you need me, and I get average uncool?"

"You're definitely better with the cooking," Emily tried to get away from Mia's dancing fingers, "but I wouldn't consider cooking to be your strong suit yet."

"Emily…"

"Yes?"

"Run."

Emily squealed and took off running to the common room for safety. Mia, though, was just as quick and was never more than a step behind.

"Stop her!" Emily cried out between giggles as she threw herself into Mike's arms, using him as a shield from Mia, who knew better than to go after Emily when Mike was protecting her.

"You won this round, squirt, but next time I will catch you," Mia breathed heavily as she took a seat next to Kevin.

"Where did you two go off to?" he asked his fiancé. Mia smirked.

"I'll tell you later," she picked up the picture of the ultrasound, "I have a monster baby to look at."

Her eyes shifted to Emily, "The little monster gene comes from you."

Emily stuck her tongue out and rolled her eyes, "You're just jealous."


	70. Getting Involved

After everything that had happened with the baby, and the news of the gender of the child, the Samurai were all excited for the birth of the little boy and were helping to prepare in their own way. After hearing Serena didn't have any money left to afford necessities for her own child, the Rangers were all chipping in to help pay for the rest of the pregnancy. Serena insisted they didn't have to, but they ignored her and did so anyways.

Jayden seemed to be the least excited by the news. He was happy the baby was safe, healthy, and he finally knew what gender the child was (though Serena did want to be sure), but she still had quite a way to go in her pregnancy. She was now at the start of her fourth month. If all went well, there was still five more months to go. That was more than half, if only just. He understood that babies were a big deal, and there was no way they could leave all of this to the last minute, but it felt like everyone in the house was planning on where the child would be going to college.

"You know, it's a lot more fun when you help out," Antonio told the red Ranger. Currently, Kevin, Mia, Antonio and Mike were helping Serena set up her room for the arrival of the baby furniture. It had all been ordered and would take several weeks still before it was all delivered, but with everyone so excited, there was no reason to put off the planning.

"Sorry," Jayden shook his head, "I just don't know what I'm doing."

Antonio took a seat next to his best friend and laughed, "Want to know a secret? None of us do. We're kind of just… improvising."

"To be fair, this isn't something I'm used to," Jayden said, "I mean, Serena's got those maternal instincts, Mike's basically going to play daddy, Emily just wants to hug the baby, Mia used to work with kids, Kevin's always got everything figured out, Mentor practically raised me, and you're always just so… calm."

"Or, you can flip all that around," Antonio smirked, "Serena's got maternal instincts, but really, what woman doesn't? And it's not like the kid's going to come with an instruction manual. Mike's probably shitting himself whenever it dawns on him that he's going to be the father figure. Emily's going to be doing a lot more than hugging the baby, Mia's only really ever worked with older kids, Kevin's clueless with this kind of stuff, your father raised you when you were young, not Mentor, and the only reason I'm so calm is because I know everyone else is freaking out and we're all freaking out together."

"Poor kid," Jayden chuckled, "He'll be raised by a bunch of morons."

"They're tough at that age," Antonio smirked, "He'll survive."

Antonio then gestured to the door, "Look, Serena just asked me to run out and stock up on diapers again. Why don't you run out with me? It's starting to get pretty late. Last time I did this run, I saw a load of frantic fathers running up and down the aisles. It made me feel better because I know there's no emergency waiting for me at home. We still have time to breathe."

"Alright," Jayden nodded and got up from his stool. As he and Antonio were putting their jackets on the door opened up. They stared at it curiously before they saw Emily walking in.

"Where have you been?" Jayden asked her. Emily shrugged her shoulders.

"Nowhere."

"Did Mike go nowhere with you?" Antonio looked over her shoulder, "I know you two are getting married and all, but if you two are going out nowhere and you're going to be secretive about it, I've got to have a talk with him."

"Mike's not with me," Emily answered as she hung up her coat. "Just forget it, guys. I'm home safe and sound. No problems. No need to question me about it."

"Actually, yes," Jayden held his arm out in her path when she tried to hurry off. He looked down at her, "We didn't know you weren't in the house. Did you tell someone you were leaving at least?"

"She told me," Kevin said, coming to Emily's rescue as he walked down the hall with a bottle of water in his hands. Emily looked to Jayden and smirked before racing off to join the others in the nursery. She didn't forget to thank Kevin as she scooted by him. Kevin nodded his head and then smiled at Jayden and Antonio.

They looked back curiously, "You aren't covering for her, are you?" Jayden asked.

"Do I look like Mike or Antonio?"

"Hey!" Antonio crossed his arms and huffed, "That's not nice. It's true, but it's not nice."

Jayden gave his best friend a pat on the shoulder and then turned back to Kevin, "Actually, now that I think about it, she's been popping in and out for the last couple of weeks. Do you know anything about that?"

"She's been meeting up with Spike," Kevin nodded with a smile and he hoped he was a good enough liar to get Jayden and Antonio to believe him. The truth was, Emily had been stepping out of the house to go and visit her mother in the hospital. Mia had contacted Patrick, who had taken Ellie to the hospital. The doctors there believed she was in a coma and where taking care of her. Patrick was her emergency contact and would be looking over Ellie constantly, with Kevin's mother, while Emily visited when she could.

Kevin and Mia knew about this, but they were going to keep it quiet with the rest of the house. Emily didn't want Serena knowing about the visits, and the best way to keep a secret was to not let everyone know. Mike knew there was something going on, but Emily had convinced him not to ask.

"Spike?" Antonio asked. "She knows it's a risk getting involved with Spike again…"

"Look, she's been through a lot lately," Kevin shrugged his shoulders, "Spike's her only normal friend. He knows who we are, he understands the dangers, and he's still willing to play therapist for her. Let her have this, okay?"

"As long as she tells someone when she's leaving, I guess," Jayden said as he opened the door for himself and Antonio, "We're going out to do the diaper run."

"Is there anything else you want us to get while we're out?" Antonio offered. Kevin shook his head, so the boys set off.

In Serena's room, Emily hopped onto the bed with a smile on her face. Serena and Mike greeted her, but made no big deal about her absence and Mentor was cleaning up the dishes from the snack they had all eaten earlier.

Mia was the only one concerned, because she was the only one in the room who knew where Emily went.

"You seem happy?" it was code for, _'Are you okay?'_

Emily nodded her head, "Why wouldn't I be?"; _'Things aren't getting worse.'_

"I don't know. You tell me?"; _'Do we need to talk?'_

"Everything's going good,"; _'I'm fine. I don't need to talk.'_

"Good."

"If you two are done," Serena set down papers on the floor, "these are different ideas for the layout of the room. Which do you think will work best, Emy?"

-Samurai-

Jayden stared wide-eyed as Antonio filled the cart up with diapers, "How many do we need?"

"You'll be surprised," Antonio said, "the boy's going to be little, but he'll poop like there's no tomorrow. The great thing about being uncles is that whenever he does poop, we'll just pass it back to mommy and she'll take care of it."

"That sounds kind of mean," Jayden frowned. "I thought we were all in this together. Why does Serena get the messy job?"

"I won't answer that," Antonio chuckled as he took the cart and pushed it down another aisle, "I'll let the smell of a full diaper explain it to you. We'll deal more with the upper end of the kid."

"Vomiting?"

"Mommy's job."

"Burping?"

"Mommy."

"Spit-up?"

"Same as vomiting."

"What do we do to help out, then?"

"When baby's old enough to eat sweets, we fill him up with sugar, tell him he's a superhero, and give him back to mommy. While he runs around the house screaming he's batman, we'll just look to Serena and smile innocently."

"That's mean!"

"It'll be so fun," Antonio chuckled. He stopped in front of pacifiers and looked to Jayden, "These are next on Serena's list. Why don't you pick one out?"

"Me?"

"You're freaking out, Amigo," Antonio nodded. "You don't know what to do about the baby now that it's a little more real, so I'm giving you something to do. Pick out a soother."

"How do I do that?"

"Just pick the one you like and pay for it. Give it to Serena, watch her smile, let her hug you, thank you, and then let yourself get excited."

"Just anyone?"

"Anyone," Antonio nodded, "They're all pretty good."

"I… uh…" Jayden's eyes scanned the display of pacifiers. They all looked more or less the same to him. The only real difference was the shape of the mouth guard and the colour. Jayden already knew he could cross out pink (even if Mia argued that pink wasn't just for girls). He didn't want to go for blue, either. He found himself drawn to the red one.

"Just grab one," Antonio rolled his eyes.

"What if the baby doesn't like it?" Jayden asked. "What if it feels funny or…?"

"Baby's going to want to put everything in his mouth," Antonio said. "Just grab one."

"Are you…"

"Positive."

Jayden looked back at the shelf and reached for the red one. If was going to be a gift from him, so it may as well have been his colour. Besides, red was a good colour for boys, and in the off chance Mentor was wrong, it was also a suitable colour for girls. He held onto it as he and Antonio walked to the cash to be checked out. Antonio put the diapers through first and paid and then Jayden set the pacifier down. The cashier looked at him with a smile.

"Either you've got a newborn at home, or you're really trying to get on top of things."

Jayden shrugged his shoulders and glanced quickly at Antonio, "A really close friend is having a baby. We want to be ready."

"Isn't that sweet," the girls smiled. She looked to Antonio and then back to Jayden, the smile growing as her eyes met his, "A really close friend? Does that make you uncle?"

"Kind of, yeah," Jayden nodded.

"Boy? Girl? Or are you waiting? If you don't mind me asking, of course."

"Boy," Jayden answered.

"Red's a good choice," the cashier rang up the pacifier. "Most people still with the traditional blue and pink when they know the gender. Or, if they don't, they always go with green or yellow."

"Really?"

"Red's just a better colour," Antonio jumped in. He motioned to the cashier as he looked at Jayden, "The money?"

Jayden nodded and pulled his wallet out of his pocket. He handed the cashier the money he owed her, took the pacifier and stuck it in the bags with the diapers.

"Best of luck," the cashier said as she handed him his receipt. Jayden thanked her, grabbed the extra bags that Antonio couldn't carry, and walked out of the store with his friend.

As Antonio opened the truck to stick the diapers in, he looked to Jayden, "What was that?"

"What was what?"

"If that was flirting, you really need to get out more."

"Flirting?" Jayden asked. "I wasn't flirting. She was just being nice and I was being nice back."

"That's called flirting," Antonio frowned.

"I wasn't flirting."

"You sure? She probably thinks you were."

"Antonio, it doesn't matter," Jayden chuckled, "I'm not interested."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive," Jayden pointed to the passenger side of his car, "Now get in. I've got a present to give."

With a smile, Antonio did as he was told. He took a seat in the car and buckled up the seatbelt, "Feeling a little better about the baby now that you're really getting involved?"

"I just bought a pacifier," Jayden shrugged, "It's nothing big."

"It's huge," Antonio told him, "When baby won't shut up, Serena's going to love you for buying that pacifier. The entire house is going to love you."

"I guess babies do cry a lot?"

"Well, they don't come out walking, talking, and feeding themselves," Antonio nodded.

"It would be impressive if he did," Jayden chuckled.

"If only."

"So… that's it?" Jayden asked, "That's all we need to do to get ready for the baby?"

Antonio turned to his best friend and dropped his hand on Jayden's shoulder, "You have so much to learn, Uncle Red. For now, just focus on the pacifier and don't forget to pay Mentor back for your share of the crib."

"Can do," Jayden nodded.


	71. Tracked

When Jayden got home and gave the pacifier to Serena as a gift, he started to get a better understanding of why everyone was so excited for the baby to come and offered to help her switch her room around. With his and Antonio's help, Serena got everything set up the way she wanted. Once all the baby furniture arrived, all they would have to do was assemble it and put it in its place. No more reorganizing.

It was getting late. Mia and Kevin had already gone to their room to get ready for bed and call it a night, and Mike and Emily looked like they were about to go. Emily just finished hooking up the new mobile over the spot where the crib would be going and then looked at Mike.

"I'm heading to bed," she told him, "I'll be up early tomorrow so I need sleep."

"You're headed out again tomorrow?" Mike asked her. He was aware of the fact that she was leaving the house on a regular basis, but she had convinced him not to ask why on the condition that she always tell him when she was leaving and home long she would be gone for. Emily nodded her head.

"I'll be back before training. I just want to go out quickly in the morning and do something."

"Are you meeting up with Spike again?" Jayden asked. Emily looked at him and furrowed her brow. Jayden quickly added, "Kevin told me that's where you went today."

"Oh, yeah," Emily nodded and her eyes shifted to the floor. She grabbed Mike's arm and pulled, "C'mon, I'm tired."

"Good night, guys," Mike said to his friends as he picked up a few boxes and took them on his way out. He would be walking by the recycling and could dump them on his way to bed.

When they were gone, Jayden and Antonio exchanged looks. Both had a strange feeling. They then turned their eyes to Serena, who seemed completely oblivious to everything.

"Serena," Antonio called her.

"Yeah."

"How's Emily doing?"

Serena gave the gold Ranger a funny look, "She was just here. You could have asked her."

"It's just that Kevin told us she was seeing Spike a lot."

"Who?"

"A new friend of hers," Jayden explained. "Kevin brought up a good point, too. A lot has happened to her lately. To the two of you. You seem to be fine but…"

"If you want me to talk about my mother you can get out," Serena growled. She was doing her best to forget what had happened with her baby and her mother. She still couldn't get over the hurt of her mother's abandonment, and this one sacrifice didn't feel like it was enough to erase everything. She found she was better at coping if she just pretended like nothing had ever happened and forgot about her mother's existence entirely.

"You deal with stuff your own way, we get that," Jayden said as he tried not to step on any toes. He wasn't scared of Serena in those words exactly, but she was a bit of a treat if he offended her. She was one of the better Samurai in the house. One of the only few who could match his skills in her sleep after years of illness, "but Emily was lying, right then and there."

Serena looked to the door and then back to Jayden and Antonio. They were both nodding which meant they agreed with each other. She laughed and shook her head.

"Emily's my sister. I know when she's lying. If she wants to meet with this Spike kid, let her see him. What's the harm, right?"

"The harm is that she's lying," Antonio pointed out. "You have to know Emily's a horrible liar, right? She's an excellent secret keeper, but a horrible liar."

"What's your point?"

"She was lying."

"About what?"

"She's not going to see Spike. She's going somewhere else."

"Why would she lie about that?" Serena asked. She sighed loudly and sat down on her bed, "Look, guys, Emily doesn't have a reason to lie. If she says she's going to see Spike, I'm going to believe her."

"Serena…"

"She's my sister," Serena said, "I appreciate you guys looking out for her, but that's my job now. If there's something I need to worry about, I'll know about it. Now I need some sleep. If you're done…"

"Goodnight," Jayden nodded as he placed his hand on Antonio's back and guided the gold Ranger out of the room. Once they closed the door, the two friends exchanged looks.

"That doesn't sound like Serena, does it?" Antonio asked Jayden sadly. The red Ranger shook his head.

"If I were her, I would want to believe everything was okay too."

"But we don't, do we?" Antonio heard Jayden sigh loudly and knew his answer, "Well, on the bright side, Amigo, at least Emily's not alone, right? If Kevin was lying for her then that means he must know what's going on, right?"

"Kevin, though?"

"Well, Kevin and Mia," Antonio shrugged his shoulders and nodded. "Let's face it, those two would tell each other everything. If Kevin knows something about Emily, Mia must know as well."

"But Serena obviously doesn't," Jayden crossed his arms over his chest, "Normally this wouldn't bother me… but Emily doesn't lie."

"It's strange," Antonio agreed before getting an idea. He ran into his room, grabbed a small box, hurried back to Jayden and presented it to him, "Look."

"What?"

"It's a chip," Antonio opened the box and pulled out a very small chip. He then grabbed Jayden's arm and pulled him into the front hallway, where the Rangers kept their shoes. He picked up one of Emily's and placed the chip on the side of her shoe, just above the sole. She wouldn't be able to see or feel it there.

"You're tracking her?"

"It's no different from the Samuraizer," Antonio shrugged, "and this one she doesn't know about. If she turns off her Samuraizer, we'll know she's hiding something…"

"And we'll still be able to track her," Jayden nodded before he gave Antonio a curious look, "How many of those do you have?"

"Just the one," Antonio answered, "Why?"

"Just making sure," Jayden chuckled. He took Emily's shoe from Antonio's hand, "Are you sure about this?"

"We're not doing this to be creepy," Antonio nodded, "We're doing this because she's lying to us."

"We think she's lying to us."

"You saw how she reacted. She looked down and practically ran out of the room like it was on fire. If she's going to visit Spike, I swear I'll turn it off and we'll get the chip back and we'll never speak of this again. But if she's not…"

"Let's just hope she's being honest," Jayden said and yawned, "Until then, how about we go to bed?"

-Samurai-

It was early in the morning for Emily and Mia. Too early for either of them to really be up, but Emily wanted to go to the hospital to visit her mother before morning training so she had to be up at this hour. Mia was only awake to see her off.

"You'll tell me right away if something happens, right?" Mia asked as Emily slipped on her shoes, the same shoes Antonio had bugged the night before. Emily looked at Mia and nodded her head.

"Yes."

"I don't care how small it is. If you're worried about a hangnail, I want to hear about it, okay?"

"I know, Mia. Can you pass me my jacket?"

Mia grabbed the yellow coat from the coat rack but didn't pass it over right away. She looked down at Emily, "Have you thought about talking to Serena about this?"

Emily looked away and shook her head, "She doesn't like to talk about mom. She shuts me out whenever I try to say anything about her. I don't think she would like it if she knew I was going to see her every day."

Mia sighed and handed Emily her jacket, "Be home on time."

"I will be. I promise," Emily smiled as she slipped on her coat and walked out the door. Mia sighed loudly and rolled her eyes. She knew this was important for Emily, and she understood why the yellow Ranger didn't want to share her secret outings with the house or her sister, but she just thought it would be easier to everyone, in the long run, if Emily was honest.

With what little time she had left before she had to get up and get ready for training, Mia headed back to bed. She thought she heard shuffling in the common room as she walked by but dismissed it. No one was up yet. It was likely just the dog.

But Scruffy was sleeping soundly in the laundry room. Jayden and Antonio waited for Mia to be gone before coming out of their hiding spots. They took a seat on their stools and Antonio turned on the tracker.

"Working perfectly," he smiled to Jayden. "We'll know where she's going."

"What ever happened to stalking the old fashion way?" Jayden shook his head.

"Way too old school," Antonio answered with a grin, "This way, she doesn't have to find out."

"Where is she headed?"

"Into town. So far there's nothing unusual there."

"Keep your eye on her, then," Jayden said as he got up and started making his way to the kitchen, "I'll get started on an early breakfast."

"Pancakes, please!" Antonio requested as he got comfortable on his stool and kept an eye one his tracker while Jayden made breakfast. They were going to be waiting a while before they knew for sure where Emily was headed, but she was going to be home on time so Antonio was sure he could get this done before anyone else woke up and figured out what he and Jayden were trying to do. He knew it looked bad and would be hard to explain, so it was best left a secret.

Finally, as Jayden came back into a room with a plate of pancakes, Antonio noticed something off about the path Emily was on. Unless she was taking the scenic route to Spike's house, she was headed the wrong way entirely. He pointed this out to Jayden who then opened up the map of the city. He followed her via her Samuraizer and checked the area she was in for any clues as to where she was going.

Suddenly, he lost her signal. He looked to Antonio, "Where is she?"

"In front of the hospital, now," Antonio said, "She… she just walked in."

"Into the hospital?"

"Did she turn off her Samuraizer?"

Jayden nodded his head, "Spike's not in the hospital, is he?"

"Kevin would have said so if he was," Antonio answered. "But didn't he say his father took Ellie to the hospital to be looked after?"

"He and his wife couldn't take care of her constantly. It was the best place for her to rest. Safest, too."

"And accessible to Emily," Antonio pointed out. "Kevin's family isn't Emily. Technically the code doesn't keep her from visiting them, but it would still be dangerous. If Ellie's in the hospital, Emily doesn't need to put Patrick in danger to see her. She just needs to go to the hospital."

Jayden leaned forward. He rested his head in his hands as he thought, "She's going to see her mom, then?"

"Looks like it."

"Do you think Serena knows?"

Antonio shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know, Jay. It's their business."

"Now you have morals?" Jayden chuckled, "It's alright to put a tracker on a seventeen year old girl's shoe, but asking whether or not her older sister knows she's going to the hospital is crossing the line?"

"It makes sense, though," Antonio said, "Emily visiting her mom, I mean. She did seem kind of upset about the whole thing. It was hard for her to let go," he turned off the tracker and set it on the table so he could eat his pancakes. "At least now we know where she's going and she's safe. Kevin probably knows what's going on, and if he knows then Mia knows, so Emily's not alone."

"Mike and Serena don't seem to know, though," Jayden pointed out. "Doesn't that seem a little weird to you?"

"Yep," Antonio nodded, "but what can we do? Tell Emily we tracked her and know where she's going? Tell Serena Emily's not being honest with her and maybe pull those two away from each other? We know now, maybe it's best to let things settle. Emily will talk when she feels ready. She always does."

Jayden looked down at his plate sadly. Antonio was likely right, but he hated not being able to help. His friends were hurting. He didn't need a tracker to know that. He wanted to make things right again; make things easier for them, but he didn't know how and it seemed like there was nothing he could do. He stabbed at his pancakes.

"I could really use a good Nighlok right about now…"


	72. She's Not Dead

Just as she promised, Emily made it home on time for training and was in the dojo with the rest of the Samurai, working like every other morning. As she sparred with Antonio, Jayden couldn't help but look over at her to watch for anything unusual about her behaviour. He didn't want her to be upset and not talk to anyone about it, but he also wanted to see if he could find an opening so he could get her to talk. It killed him to know she was hiding something so big from the rest of the team.

His gaze switched over to Serena, who was sitting on the bench with Mentor overlooking the training. Another thing that worried him was that Serena had no idea what was going on, and it wasn't because she was clueless. Jayden was almost certain she was in denial about it all; choosing to believe everything was okay because she didn't want to face reality anymore. With her mother gone from the house, Serena could ignore everything that had happened and she could pretend like Emily could do the same. Jayden didn't think Serena was trying to be an ignorant older sister on purpose, but right now he could see something that she was choosing to ignore.

He knew how lucky they were, there was a chance things could work out for them. When his father had made a huge sacrifice, like the only Ellie had made, it had killed him almost instantly. Jayden never got the chance at a proper goodbye. He hadn't even said the words. His father had simply passed him the Lion Zord, told him of his responsibilities, and hurried off into battle. There was a chance Ellie could live and Serena and Emily would get their mother back. Jayden wanted them to take advantage of that chance and have the family he could never have.

Suddenly, his vision was black for a minute and his body hit the ground hard. He grabbed his head in pain and sat up slowly as Mia knelt down beside him.

"You were supposed to duck!"

"Sorry," Jayden rubbed the top of his head, where he was sure to get a nasty bump. "I wasn't paying attention."

"I'll say," Mia rolled her eyes, "Aren't you always the one telling us to focus?"

"I'm fine, Mia, thanks for asking."

"Are you okay?" Mia sighed as she helped Jayden back up to his feet. He swayed slightly but felt someone else grab him and keep him steady. He leaned against the person before noticing it was Serena. He tried to pull away but she held onto him.

"Let's get you look at," she said, "Mia can finish training with Mike and Kevin. Mike looks like he needs it."

"I'm doing just fine, thank you!" Mike called out.

"Fine, then Mia and Kevin can team up against you," Serena lead Jayden out of the dojo and into the kitchen, where she helped him into a chair and then got him an ice-pack. She handed it to him and checked him over for a concussion.

"Do you remember what happened?" she asked as she checked his pupils. Jayden nodded his head.

"I'm fine. This isn't the first time it's happened."

"And it won't be the last, I'm sure," Serena answered, "Especially if you keep focusing on Emily and Antonio instead of your partner. Are you worried my baby sister's going to beat up your best friend?"

"Antonio can handle himself."

"I don't know, Emily's gotten much better in her time here. I'd say she's even better than me now."

"Impossible."

Serena frowned, "If she wasn't would she really have been the better choice for yellow Ranger?"

"Good point," Jayden nodded, "but still, Antonio can keep up with her. He's probably the only one that can."

"She's definitely a hyper little bullet," Serena answered, "It's only worse when she's really got something to be happy about."

"We noticed," Jayden chuckled.

"Mom and dad used to try and hide the fact that Christmas was coming when we were little," Serena said. "Once Emily found out there were only a couple of weeks left before the big day, she would be in a constant state of hyperactivity. She's the reason mom stopped baking sugar cookies… well, she always baked a few just for me as long as I promised to hide them from Emily…"

Serena chuckled slightly at the memory. Jayden found this interesting. She had threatened to kick him out of her room the night before when she thought he was going to try and get her to talk about her mother, but today she seemed to miss the good times and was actually laughing at the good memories she had of her mother.

But when Serena realised what she was doing she stopped and looked down at Jayden, "I don't think your head's anything serious, but be careful still."

"And you're qualified to make that assessment."

"Med students used to leave their books in my room all the time," Serena nodded her head. "When they didn't come back for them right away, I used to read. I always kind of hoped I would discover a cure while doing so."

"You never did?"

"Yeah, Urumasa. Unfortunately, that sword's more of a hindrance than a help, even in the best of times. It's too bad, too. I would gladly be its new Master if I could use its powers for good rather than evil."

"What kind of good?"

Serena shrugged her shoulders, "Healing people. You don't know how hard it is to wait for your dying day and know there's nothing you can do to stop it. What made it worse was the fact that I couldn't do anything to make my time worthwhile."

Jayden looked up at Serena sadly, "I guess you must feel a little guilty about that. There are still so many people who are sick and you basically got a free out."

"I know how they feel," Serena nodded, "Maybe one day I'll figure out what I can do to help, but for now we should focus on the Nighlok."

"We don't have to spend all out time focusing on the Nighlok. I'm sure there's something you can do to help."

"Like what?" Serena asked.

"There's someone in the hospital right now who might be dying. You could go visit her and make her last few months, days, or hours meaningful. I'm sure she would appreciate it."

Serena gave Jayden a hard glare, "No."

"Serena…"

"No," Serena ripped the ice pack away from him and placed it back in the freezer. "Don't you dare bring that up."

"She gave up everything for you, Serena, and she's your mother. You're not a robot. Surely you feel something, don't you?"

"She's dead to me, Jayden."

Jayden took a deep breath, "Maybe… maybe she's not a bad person. Maybe she just made a bad choice."

"She walked out."

"She tried to fix things, Serena. I'm mad at her too but she did sacrifice herself for you and the baby…"

"Don't compare how you feel to how I feel," Serena shouted, "Don't bring up the sacrifice. She only did that to try and win me and Emily back over. It's not going to work. We won't fall for it."

"Is it possible that maybe she did it out of love?" Jayden suggested. "You were ready to die for your son, why is it different for her?"

"It just is. Now drop it."

"Go and visit her once," Jayden said.

"No. Besides, I don't know where Patrick took her."

"You can find out, surely. Serena, this is bugging you, I know it is. Just go with Emily next time she visits and see what happens. If you still feel this way then…"

"Stop," Serena glared at Jayden. The fire Samurai could feel her gaze burning into him, making him extremely uncomfortable.

"What?"

"What did you just say?"

"This is bugging you?"

"No, right after that."

"I know it is?"

"After that!"

Jayden thought back to his sentence and then stopped. He looked around the room nervously, trying to find a way to correct himself, but he was sure Serena had heard him. He touched his head with his hand.

"Maybe I do have a bit of a concussion. What am I saying? Who are you?"

"Not funny," Serena leaned in keeping her face only inches apart from Jayden's, "I want to hear what you just said verbatim."

"Memory loss is very common with head injuries… OW!" Jayden rubbed his arm where Serena smacked him and watched her storm out of the room. He chased after her, "Serena, wait!"

When he reached the dojo he sighed loudly. Serena already had Emily pinned up against the wall with her sword pressed against Emily's chest. The others were watching, shocked by what they were seeing.

"I don't want you going to see that bitch," Serena growled to Emily, pressing harder against her little sister in her rage, "I don't want you seeing her, talking about her, or even thinking about her. She's dead, got it?"

Emily tried to push the sword away, "Serena… I can't… breathe…"

"Got it?" Serena asked again. Emily nodded her head and finally her sister let her go. Emily gasped loudly as she fell to her knees and watched Serena storm off. Mike was instantly by her side.

"Are you okay?" he asked her as he helped her back up to her feet. Emily nodded and turned to Mia and Kevin.

"You told her?"

"Not a word," the two answered honestly.

"We have no idea how she found out," Mia added.

Mike looked at Emily, "You've been visiting her? Em, why didn't you tell me?"

"Are you mad?"

"A little," Mike answered.

Jayden turned to Antonio and saw his best friend glaring at him.

"None of our business," Antonio mouthed to the red Ranger. Jayden sighed and ran his hand through his hair.


	73. It All Blows Up

The right thing to do was apologize. Jayden didn't want to. How could he explain to Emily that he and Antonio had tracked her and he spilled her secret to Serena without her getting angry? But the last thing he needed to do was hide another secret from his team, so he was going to be a man about it and come clean.

He walked up to Emily, who was rubbing her chest. Serena had pressed hard against Emily and she could still feel the pressure, even though it had been a few minutes since Serena had stormed off, with Mentor going after her.

"Are you okay?" he started by asking her. Emily shrugged her shoulders and shook her head.

"Do you know how she found out? Did she tell you? She wasn't supposed to know…"

"We, uh…" Jayden scratched the back of his neck and looked over at Antonio. The gold Ranger rolled his eyes and sighed. Jayden had to come clean, but it was going to cost Antonio as well, "We tracked you, Em."

"What?"

"Creepy…" Mia frowned.

"How?" Emily asked. Jayden looked to Antonio who walked out to get Emily's shoe. He carried it back into the dojo and pulled off the tracker. Jayden took it and showed it to Emily.

"Antonio and I…"

"We wanted to know why you were lying to us. We knew you weren't seeing Spike," Antonio said, "But as soon as we realised you were going to the hospital to see your mom, we stopped and turned it off. You can even look for yourself. The tracker's off."

"So, you found out and you told Serena?" Mia asked. She had her arms wrapped around Emily's shoulders to comfort the yellow Ranger, while Kevin was not too far off. Mike was sitting against the wall, keeping to himself. He hadn't said much since he found out the truth.

Jayden shook his head, "We weren't going to say anything, I swear."

"I didn't say anything," Antonio pointed to Jayden, "He spilled the beans."

"Thanks, _Amigo_," Jayden glared at the gold Ranger for a moment before looking back at Emily, "I tried to talk to Serena to get her to… you know… open up and help you and help herself and the truth just slipped out."

"It didn't slip out," Kevin shook his head, "You shouldn't have known in the first place."

"Touché," Jayden nodded. He looked at Emily, "I'm really sorry."

"Me too, chica," Antonio said. "We were just trying to look out for you, but we were wrong."

"You should have talked to me, Emily," Mike muttered. "You told Mia and Kevin, but you couldn't tell me? I could have helped you."

Mia suddenly felt Emily tensing up in her arms to the point where her little body was shaking furiously. The ground began to tremble slightly.

"I don't need protecting!" Emily screamed and stormed off. Mia groaned and chased after her. In the dojo, the ground continued to shake until all the boys were wiped off their feet.

"Remind me not to piss her off again," Antonio sat up and found himself covered in a layer of dirt.

"She should have told me," Mike grunted as he pulled himself up from the floor and walked out, kicking the doorframe as he left.

Kevin glared at Jayden and Antonio, "She was doing just fine until you meddled."

"We were just worried about her," Antonio said, "that was it. She doesn't normally lie and you were covering for her…"

"Exactly," Kevin said, "I was covering for her. I knew what was going on. If it was serious, don't you think I would have told you?"

"We didn't mean for this to happen. We were going to leave it alone," Jayden said, "but Serena's…"

"She's fine," Kevin interrupted. Antonio looked to the blue Ranger curiously.

"Fine?" he asked. "She just stormed in here and choked her sister. Unless I've been missing something, isn't that _not_ normal behaviour for Serena?"

"Okay, maybe she's having a hard time with this," Kevin sighed, "but you were still wrong. Now we've got a lot to fix."

-Samurai-

"I can't believe she would do that!" Serena shouted, tossing another rock into the river carelessly. She couldn't stay in the Shiba House and stormed off outside on a walk. She stopped by the river and decided to try and let go of some of her anger by shooting rocks into the water. Mentor Ji never left her side as he tried to get her to calm down.

"What exactly did she do that angers you?" he asked.

"She knew I didn't want her seeing mom," Serena launched another rock, this time overshooting the river and nearly hitting a foraging squirrel on the other side. "I told her, time and time again, to leave mom alone. She's going to get hurt. Mom's going to suck her in and leave again! I've been there for her! I took care of her when mom came here! I fought off the bullies at school! I helped her when mom ran away! This is how she thanks me? By going back?"

"You feel betrayed?"

"No shit, Sherlock!"

"Perhaps it would be best to understand why Emily's hurting you. Do you think she's doing so intentionally?"

"She knows I don't want her seeing mom! She's dead!"

"Your mother is still alive," Mentor reminded Serena. He sat down on a rock and invited the younger Samurai to take a seat as well. Serena sighed loudly but did as she was told. She sat in the dirt a little ways away from Mentor.

"What?"

"Your sister is loyal to a fault. If you are ready, perhaps we can consider possible reasons that made have led to this betrayal, as you call it."

"Whatever," Serena hugged her knees and looked down at the dirt, trying to hide her tears from Mentor.

"To begin, we'll need to know what drew Emily to visiting your mother. Can you think of anything that would motivate Emily to go against your wishes?"

Serena shook her head. Mentor saw it was going to take a lot more than a few questions to open Serena's eyes.

"Perhaps Emily still feels attached to your mother? Do not forget, while you had a big hand in raising your little sister, she still calls Ellie her mother. Not you."

"But mom hurt her," Serena argued. "What she did was unforgivable."

"I understand," Mentor nodded his head. "I would never ask you to forgive your mother's actions if you weren't ready to do so. The relationship you have with your mother should not be judged by an outsider."

"Thank you."

"But you must understand that the same could be said about Emily's relationship with your mother. It cannot be judged and should not be influenced by anyone. You included."

"I'm not an outsider. I'm Emily's sister and mom's daughter, and…"

"Exactly," Mentor nodded. "You are the sister and daughter. You are a separate being, your own person. You have your own thoughts, feelings, and relationships with everyone you have encountered in your life. I'm sure you do not have the same relationship with Mike as Emily does."

"Ew, gross," Serena stuck out her tongue.

"Why do you then expect Emily to have the same relationship with your mother as you?" Mentor asked. "You may both be Eleanor's daughters, but you are Serena. Emily is not."

Serena rested her head on her knees, "It still hurts, Mentor."

"Does it hurt you or Emily?"

"It hurts me."

Mentor smiled softly and got off his rock. He took a seat next to Serena.

"Is it possible your sister hasn't betrayed you?" he asked. Serena nodded her head.

"I don't want to get hurt again, Mentor," she sighed loudly as she began to tug at the grass.

"I think you need to sit down and have a talk with Emily," Mentor got to his feet and offered his hand to Serena. "You may be hurt, and you may not want your mother to be a part of your life, but you must not forbid Emily from seeing her mother. Do you want Emily in your life?"

"She's all I've got, Mentor," Serena nodded. "Dad's back home and the other Rangers are great but they aren't my sister."

"Then come. We will get this sorted."

Serena smiled up at Mentor and accepted his hand. He pulled her to her feet and wrapped his arm around her shoulder as he walked her back to the house.

-Samurai-

"Why are you okay with this?" Emily asked, uncurling herself slightly and loosening her hug with the pillow as she gazed across her bed at Mia. The pink Ranger looked to her curiously.

"Okay with what?"

Emily rested her head on her pillow, "Everyone hates how I'm going to see mom because they're worried I'll get hurt. You guys are all still protecting me. Why are you okay with me seeing mom. Aren't you worried I'll get hurt?"

"Every time," Mia nodded. "I know you're mad at the guys, but it's nothing personal, aside from the fact that they care for you. If it were me, Kevin, Antonio, Jayden, or Mike, we all would have freaked out. We don't like to see each other get hurt. It's got nothing to do with the fact that you're the youngest and least experienced."

"I can look after myself."

"We know."

"Should I have told them?" Emily asked.

"I still think you should have talked to Serena…"

"No way!" Emily shook her head, "You saw how she reacted when she found out! If I told her she would have killed me! She hates mom!"

"I doubt she'd kill you," Mia sighed. She looked over at Emily, "What are you going to do now?"

"Stop seeing mom… I guess…"

"Emily…"

"Serena doesn't like it! I don't want to make her mad and…"

"I thought I heard you say you could take care of yourself," Jayden said as he cautiously walked into the room. The first step to patching things up in the team was apologizing to Emily for figuring out her secret and spilling it, even if the latter was truly an accident. "Taking care of yourself means making your own decisions."

"Go away," Emily crossed her arms over her chest, "I'm mad at you."

"Emily, I'm so sorry Antonio and I put that tracker on you."

"It's kind of creepy," Mia nodded her head.

"I'll make it up to you, Em, I swear," Jayden said, ignoring Mia's comment. "I'll give you time off training to see your mom whenever you like. I'll drive you there so you don't have to walk or take the bus. I'll do anything. I didn't mean to hurt you or Serena."

Emily glared at Jayden before turning to Mia. The pink Ranger shrugged her shoulders.

"As creepy as it is, Jayden does care about you," she said. "I may be a little biased, because I wanted Serena to find out, but maybe this is all a good thing. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to forgive Jayden? Or at least stop being mad at him?"

Emily huffed and turned back to Jayden, "Promise, unless it's an emergency, you'll never, ever, ever put a tracker on me ever again."

"Promise," Jayden nodded.

"And you'll trust me to take care of myself from now on?"

"Promise."

"And instead of spying on me, because of promise number one, you'll come and talk to me like a real friend?"

"Promise."

"Give me the tracker," Emily held out her hand. Jayden looked over to Mia curiously but she shrugged her shoulders. She was just as clueless as he. He handed over the tracker to Emily, who got up on her knees and shoved it up his nose. She tapped his cheek, "Never use this again, okay?"

Jayden blew it back into his hand, "I don't think I'll ever want to use it again."

"Good, now go fix everything else you screwed up," Emily pointed to the door, sending Jayden on his way.

As the red Ranger was about to leave, he bumped into Mike in the doorway. The green Ranger did not look happy. Jayden quickly slipped by without a word.

Mike looked over to Mia, "Do you mind?" he nodded his head in Emily's direction. Mia looked to the yellow Ranger quickly as she got up.

"Good luck, squirt," she said before leaving.

Emily sighed as her gaze followed Mike around the room. He was pacing around and seemed angrier than he had been in the dojo.

"Mike…"

"Just shut up for a minute, Em."

"You don't sound only a little mad."

"I've had some time to think, okay," Mike growled. He crossed his arms and turned to the bed. He pointed to her ring, "What does that mean to you, Em?"

"I…"

"I thought you were just going off and doing something little, you know," Mike said. "I thought maybe you just wanted some alone time after everything that's happened. I could do that. If you wanted to be left alone, I could give you that. I wouldn't question it. We're getting married, but we're not joined at the hip."

"But…"

"I don't appreciate this, Em," Mike shook his head. "I'm meant to help you with things like this!"

He ripped his jacket up from the floor and slipped it on, "I'll be back, Em, but I can't stay here."

"Where are you going?" Emily asked. Mike turned to her and scoffed.

"Out."

"No, wait!" Emily chased his through the house and grabbed his arm just as he reached the front door, "Don't walk out!"

"I'll be back," he tugged his arm free. "I just need to walk away, Em."

"No!" Emily tried to grab him again but he slipped out, slamming the door as he left. Instantly, Emily felt two hands falling on her shoulders as Jayden suddenly rushed by.

"I'll make sure he comes back, okay?" he told her as he grabbed his jacket. He saw her nod and he took off after the green Ranger. This was his fault; he knew he had to fix it.

Only a few moments after Emily watched Mike and Jayden leave, the door opened again. Serena and Mentor came back in from their walk. Forgetting what happened in the dojo, Emily jumped into Serena's arms. She hugged her tight. It was so tight that Serena thought she was going to pass out from lack of oxygen.

"Emy, you okay?"

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too," Serena nodded and let go of Emily slightly, "Let's go figure this out, okay?"

Emily looked at the door and then back to her sister.

"I won't see her again, I promise."

Serena sighed and quickly glanced at Mentor. He directed her to the common room. She turned and looked down at Emily.

"That's not what you want. So we'll figure it out together. We'll find a way that works for both of us."

She placed her hand on her little sister's back and led her into the common room. As Emily walked away, her gaze remained planted on the front door. She hoped Mike would live up to his promise.


	74. Understanding Family

Jayden followed Mike through the dark city. He had no idea where the green Ranger was headed but he was going to follow him until he went back home. Jayden was not going to be the reason a team, a relationship, and a family fell apart. He couldn't do that to his friends.

Suddenly, Mike whipped around. The expression on his face screamed anger, as did his words.

"Leave me alone!"

"Pretend like I'm not here," Jayden said. "I just want to make sure you go home."

"Back off, Jay. You know nothing about this. In fact, you're the one who screwed it all up!"

"I'm sorry, Mike…"

"Sorry?" Mike shoved Jayden backwards. "You're sorry? What the hell did you think you were doing?"

"I was just trying to…"

"To what? Huh, Jay? What the hell did you think you were going to do? Help?" Mike kicked a street light. "Dammit, Jayden, you don't know the first thing about helping people, do you?"

"I…"

"The only reason you're out here is because us fighting isn't going to help you stop the Nighlok! That's all you've ever cared about!"

Jayden stumbled back in shock. Mike was likely lashing out from anger, but his words still hurt. At first his number one priority had been to stop the Nighlok, but now, a year later, he had made real connections with his friends. Their safety was his top concern, and nothing, not even the fate of the world, could convince him to throw his family in harm's way. Mike had him totally wrong.

"You didn't grow up with a family, you grew up with Mentor. You don't know what it's like to really love someone, do you?"

"Mike…"

"You have no right meddling in any kind of relationship! Just go home and go back to doing what you're good at. Fighting Nighlok!"

Jayden winced at Mike's words as the green Ranger stormed off down the street. He watched Mike leave, unable to follow. He figured Mike could use some space, and he was too hurt by the forest Samurai's words.

He felt someone touching his shoulder gently and jumped. He turned around and spotted a young woman looking up at him. She seemed deeply concerned.

"Are you okay?" she asked, looking down the street to Mike. Jayden nodded his head.

"I'm fine. He's usually all talk."

"Does that mean I don't have to call the cops?" the young woman looked up and a smile graced her lips. "Red pacifier boy."

Jayden furrowed his brow curiously. It took him a moment before it sank it.

"You're the cashier from the diaper store."

The woman nodded, "Amanda."

"Jayden," the red Ranger smiled and shook her hand. "I'm fighting with my friend, that's why I'm on the street. What are you doing out this late?"

"My shift just ended," she pointed down to the store and then shifted over to the bus stop, "I'm just waiting for the bus home."

"In the dark? By yourself?"

"Have you ever worked a minimum wage job before?" she asked with a frown, "Paying rent and groceries are about all I can afford. The best car I could probably get with my savings would cost more in repairs every month than it would in gas. It's just not worth it."

"Do you live far from here?"

"Twenty minute walk," she looked up at Jayden with a nervous smile. Jayden looked back down at her. It was his duty to protect the city. There was no way he was going to let a young woman stand out in the streets in the dark of the night. He may not have been raised in the city, but he knew what it was like.

"I'll walk you home."

Amanda wrinkled her nose, "You should probably get back to your friend."

"You heard him," Jayden shrugged, "He's pissed. I'll give him some time to cool off. In that time, I can walk you home and make sure you get there safely."

"Thanks, Jayden," Amanda smiled and started off for home. Jayden walked next to her. It was silent for several steps before she glanced up at him, "So, did your good friend like the pacifier you got her?"

"Yeah," Jayden nodded, looking straight ahead.

"And the diapers must be a load off her mind, right?"

"Probably. Truth be told, I don't know much about the baby stuff. I just do what I'm told."

"Like most men," Amanda chuckled.

-Samurai-

Mentor sat a little ways off. He didn't want to leave the room for this sensitive discussion because it was just that: sensitive. Both girls were likely going to need him to keep the peace if they couldn't find a middle ground.

Serena sat on her stool, playing with her hands. This wasn't an easy conversation for her to have. She had hidden so much from Emily and from herself and now that it was all bubbling up to the surface she couldn't control it. When her mother first left, the world had known she was devastated, but when she realised she needed to take care of her sister, she pushed her hurt aside. Now it was back, and it was stronger than ever. It was hurting her and if she couldn't come to terms with it soon, it would hurt Emily.

"This is important to you, isn't it?" she finally asked, breaking the silence that had fallen over the room. On her stool, Emily looked up and nodded her head.

"I remember what she did," she said, "but its mom, Serena. Remember, mom?"

"Yeah, I do."

"She gave up everything for you and the baby. She might die…"

"Because of me?" Serena asked. Emily looked at her older sister sadly and shrugged her shoulders.

"It's like I said to Mia… you were pregnant first. This didn't happen because mom ran away."

"By this… you mean…"

"Everything. Dekker, Dayu, the baby being a Nighlok… the pregnancy in general. That all happened before mom hurt us."

Serena placed her hands on her stomach, "I guess it did."

"I think mom cares," Emily whispered as if her words would make Serena angry again. "I think she still loves you. Why else would she do this?"

"Emily…"

"Real mom loves you too, and real mom would have given up everything for you, don't you think? And if runaway mom would sacrifice her life for you, nice mom would have too. You hurt her first and now you're pretending like she's the bad guy."

"Is that why you didn't come talk to me?" Serena asked.

"You didn't want me talking about mom. I didn't think you would listen. I didn't think you would like to know I was visiting mom. I thought you would get mad."

"I guess you know me better than I know myself."

"I'll stop seeing her… if that's what you want. I'll…" Emily trailed off as Serena knelt down in front of her and took her hands. The older earth Samurai looked up at her baby sister.

"I'm sorry I made you choose. I'm sorry I made you feel like you couldn't talk to me about this, but Emily, you're my sister. No matter how angry I get, I'll always love you. You should have told me. I understand why you didn't, but you should always come talk to me about stuff like this."

"Can I see her?"

"Do you want to see her?"

Emily nodded her head, "I think it helps. I don't want her to die."

"Then go see her," Serena smiled and hugged her little sister. "By all means, Emily, go see her. And you can tell me all about it when you come home. I'll listen, even if I hate it, I'll listen to every word."

"You… you won't come with me?"

Serena shook her head, "I'm not as forgiving as you, Emily. Mom had a reason for leaving me, but it wasn't a good one. I can't just…"

"But it's mom! She's trying, right?"

"It's complicated, Emily."

"Just once?"

"Emily…"

"Please?"

Serena sighed, "Emily… I can't do it. If I could, I would… but I just… I…"

"I'll be right back," Emily suddenly jumped up from her stool and raced off. Serena breathed out loudly and looked over to Mentor. She could never say no to her sister's begging but this was something she would never be able to do.

Finally, Emily came back with her mother's envelop in her hands. She tore it open and presented the letter to Serena.

"Don't tell me what it says. I'm not ready to read it… but I think you are."

"How on Earth can you know that if you haven't read it?"

"If after reading mom's last words you still can't visit her, I won't ask you to come with me anymore," Emily said. "If they do change your mind, though, even a little bit, I want you to come."

"Nothing she says is going to get me to…"

"Read it, please?" Emily begged her sister sweetly and Serena couldn't say no. She took a seat again on her cushion and read the letter to herself while Emily waited. When she finished, she glanced up at her little sister. Her tears filled her eyes. Emily looked on, worried, "Serena…?"

"On a scale of one to ten," Serena said, "How important is it, _for you_, to make peace with mom?"

"Twenty."

"Honest, Emy?"

"Honestly?" Emily asked. "Forty. Brutally honest? Eighty. You can't handle the truth honest? A bajillamillion."

"So important you have to make up numbers?" Emily nodded her head so Serena sighed. She tucked the letter away in her pocket, "Tomorrow morning, then. Bright and early, I'll come with you to visit mom."

Emily smiled and then launched herself into her sister's arms, "You're the best."

"Don't you forget it," Serena whispered


	75. Going Home?

Jayden could sense that his walk with Amanda was coming to an end as she headed forward and really started to take the lead. Finally, she stopped in front of a small apartment building and turned to Jayden.

"Well, this is me."

Jayden stuffed his hands in his pockets, "Alright, then."

Amanda looked up at him, "Thanks a lot for walking me home, but you didn't have to. The bus stop isn't too far from here. I would have been fine."

"Now I'm sure you're fine," Jayden smiled and shrugged his shoulder. Amanda bit her lower lip nervously and averted her gaze to her feet. Jayden was starting to understand what Antonio had said about the flirting when they were in the store. He may not have been good at it, but maybe he was flirting with Amanda, and maybe she was flirting back. He shook his head and pointed over his shoulder, "I should go find my friend before his girlfriend kills me. She's not someone I want to upset."

"Yeah, girlfriends, huh?" Amanda chuckled, "Though you probably know what it's like, right?"

Jayden shook his head, "I wouldn't. I never had one. Never saw a girl a really… you know…" he blushed and looked away. He was being honest. He hadn't been around many girls growing up, but he hadn't been completely isolated. Even now, he had three living with him in his house and he ventured out into the city more, he still never felt the need to ask any of them on a date, and it wasn't because most of the girls he saw were taken. There was just nothing there to draw him in.

"Really?" Amanda smiled, "A cute guy like you never had a girlfriend?"

"Nope," Jayden answered. "My job keeps me pretty busy. I usually don't have the time."

"But you managed to find the time to walk me home," Amanda said before reaching into her bag. She pulled out a pen and grabbed Jayden's hand, "Here's my number. Next time you have some free time, why don't we go for coffee or something?"

She finished writing her number on Jayden's hand and snapped the cap back on her pen. She looked up nervously, "Thanks again for walking me home."

"My pleasure," Jayden nodded and watched her go inside. When the door was fully closed behind her he turned and headed off. His first instinct was to rub off the pen marks on his hand and pray that she would forget about him in the morning because of the Samurai code, but then he stopped. He looked down at the numbers on his hand and Mike's words echoed in his head.

_"You didn't grow up with a family, you grew up with Mentor. You don't know what it's like to really love someone, do you. You have no right meddling in any kind of relationship! Just go home and go back to doing what you're good at. Fighting Nighlok!"_

Mike had a point. His words hurt like hell, but he had a point. Jayden didn't know what it was like to be in a relationship. He didn't know what it was like to have someone he could share everything with. He didn't know what it felt like for Mike, knowing his girlfriend had been hiding a big part of her life from him. He couldn't empathize because he didn't know.

He looked at his hand again and suddenly didn't care about the Samurai codes. The others could be happy, why couldn't he? It wasn't like he would ever put Amanda in danger. If anyone was skilled enough to date a civilian and keep her safe it was him. So why couldn't he try? Why couldn't he take a shot at love?

Pen wouldn't stay on his hand permanently, so before it disappeared he programmed her number into his cell phone. Maybe he would invite her out to coffee.

-Samurai-

Mike spent the entire night out wandering the city. It was early in the morning and the sun was just starting to rise, but he couldn't go back home yet. He was still angry and he didn't want to lash out and hurt Emily. He was angry with her, but he never wanted to hurt her.

He sat on the jungle gym at the park and looked out at the rising sun. It hurt him deeply how she wouldn't talk to him. He always knew she liked to bottle things up, but he was always the first person she would talk to when she was finally ready to let it all go. Sometimes, it wasn't even when she was ready. It would just all come exploding out of her until she felt better, and he was always the one who was able to make it come out. He was always there for her. He never judged.

He held a ring in his hand. It wasn't her engagement ring. He would let her keep it even if they were broken up. It belonged to her family. On his walk, he had made another flower ring and he held it tightly. He looked over to the field, to the spot where they had first gotten engaged. He loved her so much. He didn't want her to hide anything from him, especially secrets that were this big. They were getting married, they couldn't have secrets.

Mike punched the metal bars on the play structure. He could have helped her. Seeing her mom wasn't an easy thing for her to do and he could have helped her with it. He would have gladly helped. Instead, she confided in someone else and actively chose to leave him in the dark; to keep this secret from him like he wasn't special or good enough to know.

He leaned forward and rested his head against the metal bars. He sighed loudly. He wasn't ready to go home just yet.

-Samurai-

It was early in the morning, too early to be up, but Emily couldn't fall back to sleep. She couldn't sleep properly anyways without Mike on the other side of the bed. It was 4:00 AM and he still wasn't home. She had called his phone several times before she went to bed, but it was turned off. She couldn't reach him to apologize and he hadn't even told her where he was going so she could go out and find him.

Reaching to her night table, she picked up her phone and tried to call him again. It was so early in the morning, and Emily hoped he had found somewhere warm to sleep comfortably, but she would wake him up if she had to and she would beg him to come home so they could talk.

The phone didn't even ring. It just went straight to voicemail. Emily left another message for him and groaned loudly. The only thing saving her from complete panic and madness was the fact that Jayden hadn't come home yet either. He had left with Mike and promised to bring the green Ranger home. As long as Jayden wasn't home, Emily could hope Mike would come back.

She set her phone back on the night table and tried to use the Samuraizer. Mike wouldn't pick up. She tried a second time but he turned it off after her first attempt, making him completely unreachable. Emily set her Samuraizer next to her phone and sighed heavily. She stared at the two devices until the corner of her eye caught something special: the snow globe Mike had given her for her birthday. It had been one of the best birthday presents she had ever received, topped only by the gift of her sister's health. She picked up the snow globe and looked inside it for a moment before winding it up. As the globe played its melody, Emily set it down on Mike's side of the best. She rested it on the pillow so it wouldn't accidentally break and then sat up.

"Scruffy," she called her dog; the dog Mike had bought her just to see her smile. Scruffy was sleeping in his bed at the foot of Emily's. He got up when he heard his mistress calling him and jumped up on the bed. Emily tapped the spot next to her and he settled down. Emily stroked his fur and listened to the melody as she tried to drift off to sleep. "He'll be back in the morning," she told herself.

-Samurai-

Amanda had almost completely distracted Jayden, who was wondering when it would be best to call her, but the red Ranger remembered he was on a mission and couldn't go home until his mission was complete. After dropping her off, he set off in search of Mike.

Finally, at about 7:00 AM, he found the green Ranger at the park, sitting on the play structure looking miserable. He walked up to Mike, standing under him.

"Have you been there all night?"

"She asked me to marry her over there," Mike pointed to the field. "Right at that spot."

"She asked you?"

"She agreed to it before I could ask," Mike nodded. "Technically, she's the one who brought it up. We would probably still only be dating right now if she didn't."

"I think what you had was always more than dating," Jayden said as he began his climb up, "but I get what you mean."

"I'm sorry for what I said to you," Mike apologized as the red Ranger took a seat next to him. "Mentor is your family. I had no right to…"

"You were angry, I get it," Jayden pulled on his sleeve, trying to hide the number on his hand. "I guess it makes up for the fact that I spilled Emily's secret to Serena."

"It wasn't your place."

"I know, and I'm sorry. We should have talked to her. Antonio and I will never track anyone again and we won't butt our heads into other people's business."

"Thanks for doing it, though. Emily would have continued lying to me if you hadn't."

"Emily, lying?" Jayden shook his head, "Her poor kids are going to know about Santa long before the other kids in their class."

Mike chuckled, "I guess I'll be the one to keep the magic alive every year."

"Probably," Jayden smiled. He placed his hand on Mike's shoulder, "Do you think you're ready to go home now?"

"No," Mike sighed and looked down at the sand. "I'm going to see her, I'm going to get pissed off, and I won't be able to stop myself from doing something stupid."

"You don't want to hurt her?"

Mike shook his head, "I could never do that."

"Then come home with me," Jayden said. "I came out here because you walking away was going to hurt her. I've caused enough trouble; I don't need my one slip up to break you two apart."

"We'll be fine… it's just…"

"You promised her you would come back. She needs to know you'll honour that promise."

"And I will go back…"

"When?" Jayden asked. "Now? In a few hours? A few days? Weeks? Months? Is it too hard to go back? Are you scared? Is it too hard? The longer you stay away, the harder it'll be to go back. You'll just keep finding reasons not to go back until one day you realise what you've done and how unforgivable it was."

Mike turned and glared at Jayden. He understood the point that was being made and he didn't appreciate it.

"Dude, I'm not her mother…"

"Then stop acting like it," Jayden said. He hopped off the play structure and looked up at the green Ranger, "I'm going home now. Either come with me, or don't bother showing up again. Make the right choice, right now."

-Samurai-

Mia tried to push Kevin.

"You talk to her."

"Why me?"

"Because you can explain why men are such jerks!"

"Can't we wait until 9:30? Maybe he's stuck in traffic or…"

"He walked off, Kevin, he won't run into traffic. Just go talk to her. She looks like she needs it."

"You're more nurturing," Kevin turned the tables and gently shoved Mia forward. "You won't accidentally make things worse."

"How about you both go talk to her?" Antonio suggested, appearing suddenly behind the couple and causing them to jump. He chuckled lightly and looked up at the clock, "It's 9:10…"

"It's been more than half a day," Mia nodded sadly and glanced into the common room at Emily. She had gotten back from her visit with her mom, which Serena had joined her on, and had expected Mike to be back when she got home. Unfortunately, she was sadly mistaken and was now sitting alone waiting for him to walk in. Serena would have joined her to comfort her, but she was taking some alone time in her room. The visit had taken a huge toll on her and before she could talk about it to anyone, she needed some time to herself. "It just doesn't seem right for Mike to be gone all night. Not after everything that's happened."

"I think we should give him twenty more minutes," Kevin said.

"You're just too chicken to go in there and talk to her," Mia crossed her arms. Kevin gestured to the doorway.

"If you're not chicken why don't you walk in and talk to her?"

Mia pouted, "Not nice."

"He'll be back," Kevin looked to the door, "He just needs some time."

"Half a day?"

"He'll be back before noon."

"And if he's not?"

Kevin looked to his fiancée, "He will be. Besides, Jayden's still out there, right. He'll bring Mike back…"


	76. Relationships

Seeing her mother had been extremely uneventful. Serena hadn't expected much, given her mother was in a coma, but she thought maybe there would be something of interest in going; some miraculous save or redemption, or something that would just tear apart the relationship and offer Serena a clean break away from her mother forever.

But there was nothing. She just sat with Emily and listened as her little sister told her mother everything that happened. She hadn't breathed a word to Ellie herself, but spoke through Emily. It didn't do anything in her eyes, but Emily had been convinced on the drive home that it was helping their mother fight harder to stay alive.

Serena unfolded and flattened out the letter her mother had written before she fell asleep. The pain had been so intense; she couldn't say all she wanted to say before passing out, so she wrote in it a letter while she waited for her daughters to visit. The letter said everything Serena needed to hear and more. Looking it over one more time, Serena let a few tears fall.

_Dearest daughters,_

_I remember the day each of you were born and the way you touched my heart. I vowed to be the best mother I could be and did all I could to live up to that promise but as you both know I failed. I'm angry at myself for that, and I blame no one but me for the mistake I made, but what hurts the most, and what I will never forgive myself for, is the hurt I caused the two of you. I'm so proud of both of you and it pains me to say it, but you deserve so much more than I can ever give you. No matter the outcome, I wish you both joy and I know you will be better women than I ever was._

_Serena, what I did to you was wrong. It took a lot of courage to talk to me about your pregnancy, especially at such an early stage, and the way I reacted still disgusts me. It's probably way too late to tell you this, but I'm so proud of the way you handled yourself. You may have fallen for the wrong man, but it happens to the best of us. I trust your judgement and I'm sure, if you did fall in love with him, there must have been some good, some humanity inside of him. I'm so sorry it didn't work out and I really wish I could have been there to help you through the fall. I also wish I could have been there through the pregnancy. I don't know when I'll wake up, if I ever will, but it'll probably be too late. You'll have moved on, away from me, and it'll be for the best. Good luck in your journey through motherhood and remember to cherish every moment. You did a fine job helping your father and me with Emily; I know you'll be an amazing mother to your little baby._

_Word of advice, though it's probably worthless coming from me: never, ever miss a moment in your little one's life. No matter how old they get those milestones and every day moments are precious._

_Emily, I'm so proud of the young woman and the Samurai you've become. You've shocked us all with your transformation. I always believed in you, but you've outdone all expectations I had for you. Please take care of yourself and please take care of your sister. She's a strong and amazing woman, but she'll need your help, especially now that I'm not around. I'm sorry I couldn't be a better mother. I feel like I've let you down from day one. My Samurai duties were important, but leaving a child so young without a mother was the hardest thing I had to do, and I chose to do it twice. Don't forgive me because you want to make me happy, forgive me when it'll make you happy. I gave up my life for Serena, but you were a huge factor in my decision. You need your sister more than you need me, and I would do anything to give you all you need and deserve._

_I love you girls._

Serena placed the letter back in the envelope and tucked it away in a drawer. She couldn't get rid of it until Emily read it, but she never wanted to see it again. It hurt too much to read. It hurt because she cared and she cared because Ellie was her mother. Nothing could change that, nothing would change that.

Her mother was back. All was not forgotten, but all was not lost.

-Samurai-

_9:29 AM_

"C'mon, Mike…" Kevin tapped his foot impatiently as he stared at his watch. His deal with Mia was almost up. If Mike wasn't home before 9:30 he was going to have to sit down and talk with Emily. He didn't know what to say, or how to approach his little sister, but she couldn't be left alone for much longer.

Finally, he heard a lock turning in the door and relief washed over him. He raced to the front hall but was disappointed to see only Jayden hanging up his jacket.

"I'll talk to her," Jayden said to Kevin, who ran his hand through his hair and leaned back against the wall. He sighed loudly. A huge part of him (almost all of him) wanted to go out, find Mike, and kill him, but he knew that wouldn't help.

Jayden followed the hallway to the common room. Just as he was about to walk in he bumped into Antonio.

"So?" the gold Ranger asked for news on Mike. Jayden shook his head and pointed to the common room.

"I'll talk to you guys later, right now I need to…"

"What's this?" Antonio took Jayden's hand and stared at the ink. He could only just make out numbers. "What were you up to last night?"

"I just walked some girl home. It was dark; I couldn't let her take the bus by herself. Look, we'll talk later, I need to…"

"She's probably done it a thousand times," Antonio said. "She would have been fine. You should have been looking for Mike."

"He needed to cool off; she needed to get home…"

"So you walked her home and she gave you her number? Why? In case she wanted an escort again? Did you give her your number?"

"No, we're meeting up for coffee. Antonio, please, I need to…"

"Wait, those pathetic moves worked on her?" Antonio felt jealous, but he wasn't going to tell Jayden that.

"I guess. You can help me with it later. I need to…"

"Who said I wanted to help? Isn't this against the Samurai code? You're putting her in danger. You shouldn't call her."

"Antonio."

"No," Antonio shook his head, "This is reckless and dangerous. You should know better! Go wash her number off and forget all about her!"

"Antonio…"

"Jayden," Antonio frowned and crossed his arms. He was now standing in Jayden's way so the red Ranger gently pushed him aside.

"I need to talk to Emily about Mike. Can we do this later?"

"I'll get a bucket of soap and water ready, then," Antonio said as he stomped off. Jayden frowned and shook his head.

"You can join us for coffee if you want!"

"Maybe I will! I can keep you from doing something stupid like putting her in danger!" Antonio called back. Jayden rolled his eyes. Tempers were high and stress was through the roof, so he didn't make anything of Antonio's outburst. Once everything was settled in the house he was sure things would return to normal.

He stepped into the common room and saw Emily sitting on her stool. She was still waiting for Mike to come home and seemed completely miserable he hadn't turned up yet. Jayden cleared his throat and Emily perked up for a moment, thinking he was Mike. He watched her excitement deflate when she saw it was only him, and if it was possible, he saw her become more and more miserable.

"I caught up to Mike," he told her as he took a seat. Emily tugged on a loose thread on her stool.

"Is he mad?"

"What do you think?"

"Did you tell him I was sorry?"

"Was I supposed to?" Jayden asked. Emily looked to him for a moment before she shook her head.

"Does he hate me?"

"If he did, this wouldn't have hurt him," Jayden said. He looked over to Emily sadly, "Kid, do you know why he's hurting? Do you know what you did?"

"I should have told him."

"Why?"

Emily shrugged, "Because… because I…"

"How do you expect to apologize if you don't know what you're apologizing for? What did you do that hurt him?"

"I didn't talk to him."

"Why did that hurt him? Why would it have hurt you? If Mike kept a secret from you, it would hurt. Why?"

"Because he didn't trust me?" Emily looked up at Jayden with hurt eyes. This was killing him, but Mike had asked this one favour of Jayden and he was going to pull through. It would make everything easier.

"You're getting married, Em. I don't know much about weddings, but I'm pretty sure you're supposed to be open and honest with your partner. No secrets, at least, nothing this big."

"It was nothing personal! I just didn't… I didn't want anyone knowing. Only Mia knew, and I wouldn't ask her to lie to Kevin."

"So, it was okay for Kevin to know because Mia shouldn't keep secrets from him, but Mike wasn't allowed to know?"

"You make it sound bad."

"Well, Em, it doesn't sound good."

Emily fidgeted nervously. Jayden looked to her and sighed loudly.

"You hurt him a lot, you know. This is much worse than the time Antonio ate the last slice of pizza. Do you remember that?"

"Mike was sulking for days," Emily nodded. "I had to buy him a large pizza to get him to stop. Pizza's not going to fix this, is it?"

Jayden shook his head, "I'm afraid not."

"Is he coming back? Is he with you?"

"Coming back is his decision, Em. I couldn't convince him to…"

Tears welled up in Emily's eyes. Jayden saw them and before she could run away he caught her.

"Come with me," he said, "I know how to fix this."

He held her close as he walked her outside and took her to the training grounds. Emily didn't look up from the ground the entire way over until she heard a voice.

"Took you long enough."

Her head snapped up and her eyes fell on Mike. Her body froze. He seemed angry. She wanted to jump into his arms and never let him go, but she was scared. Jayden nudged her forward.

"What did we talk about, Em?"

Emily looked to Jayden and then Mike, "I wanted no one to know… but I didn't think and I didn't realise you were no one… well not no one but… I'm sorry I made you feel like I didn't trust you."

Mike shrugged his shoulders, "Okay."

Emily panicked. That was his response, "Okay?"

"Why couldn't I know, Em? Did you think I was going to get mad like Serena? Were you scared of me? Did I do something?"

Emily shook her head. Mike growled.

"Well?"

"I'm sorry."

"I heard you!"

"Mike," Jayden wrapped his arm back around Emily's shoulder when he saw she was about to cry. He glared at the green Ranger but the green Ranger didn't back down.

"She's already apologized, but I want to know why she did it. She'll do it again if she doesn't learn and if it's anything I did, I want to fix it so this doesn't happen again."

"It's my fault," Emily whispered, "not yours. You didn't do anything. I was stupid."

Mike pulled out the flower ring from his pocket, "This wasn't a joke, Emily. This was serious for me. I've never been more committed to anything or anyone in my life. If you're hurting, or if you need help, I'll drop everything for you."

"I know."

"Is this serious for you?" he asked. Emily nodded her head, but it wasn't good enough. He raised his voice, "Emily, answer me."

"Yes."

"Is it serious?"

"Yes."

"Do you trust me?"

"Yes."

Mike nodded and turned to Jayden, "Do you mind?"

Sensing Mike's rage, Jayden squeezed Emily a little tighter and shook his head.

"I think it's best if I…"

"Leave."

"Mike."

"Leave."

Jayden let go of Emily and stepped forward. He lowered his voice so only Mike could hear him.

"You're angry…"

"Go away, Jayden. I want to talk to her alone."

"You lay a hand on her or make her cry…"

"Go away."

Knowing Mike wasn't going to be argued with, Jayden had to trust that everything would work out and Emily could take care of herself. He gave her a quick pat on the shoulder and told her he would be right inside in case she needed him.

Mike waited until Jayden was gone, out of sight and out of earshot, before he looked back down at Emily. He had tears in his own eyes as he watched her tremble in fear and sadness, but he needed to do this.

"I want honesty. I'll come to you with any problem if you come to me with your problems. We're here for each other. We help each other. We don't hide big issues, especially family issues. I love you no matter what, do you hear me?"

"Yes."

"Look at me, Emily," he told her. It took a moment for Emily to do as she was told but when she did she was surprised by the smile on Mike's face. "I love you."

"I love you too. I'm sorry," Emily whispered. Mike chuckled and wrapped his arms around her. He hugged her tight.

"I'm sorry I scared you," he whispered in her ear before kissing the side of her head. "I just needed a walk. I'll always come back and I'll never hurt you, Em."

He hugged, cuddled, and kissed her to make her feel better as she wrapped herself up tightly in his arms and apologized again and again for not including him. She genuinely felt bad and Mike wanted to tell her she didn't have to apologize but it felt good. He wasn't made of stone. She could hurt him and he needed to hear that she cared about him too.

From inside, Jayden watched through the window, just to keep an eye on Mike because of his anger, but when he saw the two making up he knew everything would be okay. He sighed loudly and looked down at his phone.

"_You didn't grow up with a family, you grew up with Mentor. You don't know what it's like to really love someone, do you? Just go home and go back to doing what you're good at. Fighting Nighlok!"_

He wanted to know what it felt like to love someone else. Maybe Amanda was his key to finding out. He glanced over his shoulder as Antonio walked into the room with a bucket of water and soap. He dialled Amanda's number, put the phone to his ear and signalled for Antonio to wait a minute.

"Amanda? It's Jayden, from last night…"

"No! Jayden! Stupid idea! Get back here! Por el amor de dios hang up the phone right now! Jayden!"

"Great! I can't wait. "I'll pick you up after your shift then… Of course I remember where you work. I'll see you then. Bye," Jayden hung up the phone with a smile on his face. Branching out felt good.

Antonio wasn't pleased. Jayden smirked.

"I couldn't stay cooped up in here forever. You have your dad; the others have each other…"

"You don't need anyone else," Antonio frowned. "Cancel the date."

"Antonio, I'm going."

"Cancel! What if a Nighlok attacks and we need you? What if…"

"You'll be fine. It's just coffee," Jayden said as he walked off with a big smile.

Antonio crossed his arms, "_It's just coffee_," he mocked the red Ranger and made no effort to hide it.

"Jealous, much?"

Antonio jumped and spun around when he heard someone behind him. He saw Serena, who finally came out of her room.

"Coffee," he said, "You and me."

Serena stepped back, "Uh, what?"

"Let's go out for coffee."

"I don't think that's good for the baby."

"A little coffee never hurt anyone," Antonio shrugged. "C'mon, it'll be good for you to get out and just forget everything."

"Does this have anything to do with Jayden…?"

"Jayden what? Jayden and _Amanda_? No. Why would it? Who's Amanda? I just want coffee. You're alone and I'm alone, so let's go."

"Antonio, I…"

"Let's go!" Antonio insisted and started heading to the front hallway to get ready. Serena placed her hand on her stomach and sighed.

"If you take after your Aunt Emily and I mix that with coffee… oh boy."

"Are you coming, Serena?" Antonio called as he held out her shoes and jacket for her.

"I guess I have no choice," Serena nodded.


	77. The Coffee Date

Serena knew this outing with Antonio wasn't anything special, and had absolutely nothing to do with her. She was a prop, an excuse, a simple reason for Antonio being here instead of at home.

"You won't be sleeping at all tonight," she told him as he downed his third cup of coffee. His fingers were tapping the table, his hands were shaky, his knees wouldn't stop bouncing, and his foot was tapping into the ground like he was trying to break through to the basement of the coffee shop. His eyes were the only thing that weren't jittery as they remained fixed on the door.

"We should get more coffee..."

"Antonio, I think you've had enough," Serena shook her head and grabbed his arm as he tried to get up ,"You're bouncing around more than Sniffy the gerbil when Emily gave it coffee thinking it was chocolate milk and the little guy would like the treat."

"You had a pet gerbil?"

"I had lots of pets," Serena nodded. "Gerbil was one of the more normal ones. I had a cow as a pet once. A turkey too… until Thanksgiving, that is…"

Serena shook her head and pulled her thoughts back to the matter at hand. Antonio was distracting her.

"Enough about me. If you're done your coffee can we go home, now?"

"He should be here by now," Antonio checked his watch and then, right on cue, Jayden walked in with the girl from the baby store. Her arm was laced with his and they were laughing as they walked up to the counter to order their coffee. Antonio's jaw hit the floor and Serena shook her head and sighed.

"We're spying on them, aren't we?"

"No," Antonio ripped the newspaper from the arms of a passing stranger. The man turned to try and grab his paper back, but Antonio hissed like a cat. The man, and even Serena, jumped back, and he left his newspaper alone with Antonio.

The gold Ranger held up the paper and signalled for Serena to hide behind it while the barista handed Amanda and Jayden their coffees and they found a seat. Jayden sat with his back to Serena and Antonio, and Amanda wasn't going to be able to recognise either of them. Antonio lowered the paper and peeked over.

"He's horrible at flirting."

"She's cute," Serena commented, "I can see why he likes her."

"Do you want to date her too?" Antonio snapped. "Go ahead, take her. It'll get her away from Jayden."

"Are you jealous?" Serena asked. "You know, there are plenty of cute girls you can date. I would work on how you ask them, though. Shoving their shoes and coat in their face doesn't always work."

"I'll pretend to run into Jayden, spill my coffee on his shirt and he'll have to leave to the men's room to clean it off," Antonio said, "that's when you swoop in, introduce yourself and ask her if she wants to go bowling."

"Sabotage?" Serena pulled the newspaper from Antonio's hand and grabbed his arm, "C'mon, Goldie, I've got enough problems to deal with. The last thing I need right now is a girlfriend."

"Where are we going?" Antonio asked as he was pulled out of the shop, "Their date just started!"

With all the commotion he was making as Serena got him to leave, Antonio drew Jayden and Amanda's attention. Jayden recognised him off the bat, but tried to ignore him when he saw he and Serena were leaving. He turned back to Amanda.

"That was weird," he chuckled.

"Who was that?" Amanda asked. "Was he talking about us? He said date…"

"He's a friend of mine," Jayden answered her, "He was with me at the store, remember? He bought all the diapers. The woman he was with was our pregnant friend."

"Interesting," Amanda said and Jayden nodded in agreement. She brushed off the odd display from Antonio and reached out, touching Jayden's hand. She looked up at him with a smile, "So, what made you break the _'make her wait'_ rule? I was expecting to be standing by the phone for a few days before you finally called me."

"I, uh…" Jayden pulled his hand away from Amanda's and scratched the back of his neck. He had no idea there were rules. "This is my first date."

"Really? You mentioned never having a girlfriend but I figured you had at least…"

Jayden shook his head, "Nope."

"Then I'm your first," Amanda grinned. "That's actually… kind of cool. But how does a guy like you never go on a date? It seems almost impossible."

"I've been pretty busy," Jayden told her. "I've got a very important job…"

"At your age?"

"I took over for my father."

"Doing what?"

Jayden leaned back in his seat. This felt like an interview. He knew from his talks with Mike and Kevin that first dates were all about getting to know the other person, but he was a little uncomfortable with all the questions. He had secrets, big secrets that his friends didn't even know. He couldn't tell them to a stranger, no matter how interested she seemed to be.

"Uh, selling fish," Jayden kicked himself. '_Really, dumbass, you choose to be a fish seller. Antonio's going to love that one.'_

"Ah," Amanda seemed to pull away from Jayden. He furrowed his brow.

"What's wrong?"

"Vegetarian," Amanda answered with a slightly disapproving tone. Jayden shifted nervously. Of all the lies he had to tell, he told the one that could possibly break the relationship, "I mean, it's fine. You do what you can to make money, but…"

"I sell fish at the pet store," Jayden said with a smile when he found a way around his lie, and then he kicked himself again for lying. This dating thing was hard. No wonder he didn't do it.

"And you took over from your dad…?"

"He owns the pet store," Jayden said. "I just prefer to work with the fish. They're calming to watch. Unlike the chatty parrots. It's bad enough we have to listen to customers chat all day, I don't need a parrot imitating them."

"That would probably be annoying," Amanda laughed and smiled, and leaned forward in her seat. "I've just got grumpy pregnant women and frantic fathers coming through my cash."

"And clueless uncles," Jayden pointed to himself, "I'll be honest, I have no idea what I was doing in that store. Antonio was the one leading the charge."

"You picked a pretty cool pacifier," Amanda smirked.

"The baby's got to have something red," Jayden nodded his head, "If I don't start contributing soon, he'll have all the colours of the rainbow except red."

Amanda gasped playfully, "That's madness! But red is, like, the number one colour of the rainbow! It's right at the top!"

Jayden chuckled along, "I like the way you think."

"It's like… the Samurai Rangers," Amanda said and Jayden leaned forward to listen carefully, completely aware of how strange it was to hear a stranger talking about him like he wasn't talking back, "You know the Samurai Rangers, right?"

"I've heard a thing or two about them," he nodded. He couldn't pretend to be an expert or Amanda would wonder where he got his information, but he also couldn't pretend to be ignorant. Everyone with eyes and ears knew about the Power Rangers. It would raise suspicion if he didn't.

"Well, red's in charge. He's the leader. Without him, all the other colours would just be…"

"A jumbled mess?" Jayden suggested and Amanda clicked her fingers and nodded.

"Yes! It's the same with the Rainbow. Without red, what would the other colours be? There's a reason he's on top."

"Red's pretty amazing," Jayden smiled. Maybe dating a civilian could work out. It wasn't often he got to stroke his own ego without being reprimanded for it. "I think he's my favourite."

"Naw," Amanda shook her head, "I mean, he and the other boys are pretty fantastic, but I like the girls. It's going to sound so cliché, but as a woman, I have to look up to them."

"Seriously?" Jayden rolled his eyes, "C'mon, the girls?"

"What's wrong with them?"

"Nothing. I like them too, but…"

"But, they're girls and they're out there fighting monsters just as well as the men! They can hold their own, and they're an inspiration to all the little girls who've been told they can't ever be as good as the boys. They're just missing their own giant robot."

"What do you mean?" Jayden asked.

"I've seen red, blue, and green in their own super giant, flying robot, and gold seems to have a robot all to himself. The girls just… don't."

"Maybe there aren't enough Zords, uh, robots, for the girls?"

"That's what my brother says," Amanda sighed and then smiled at Jayden, "He's twelve. He thinks the Power Rangers are the coolest things to ever happen to this city. I watch the news with him all the time during an attack so we can see them fight. It's pretty amazing."

"You've got a brother?" Jayden took another sip of his coffee and realised he was almost done.

"A little brother and an older sister," Amanda nodded. "I'm stuck right in the middle. How about you?"

"I have… uh… my family's complicated. We're a bit spread out. If friends are allowed to count as family, though, I've got three brothers and three sisters."

"That's a huge family."

"All under one roof."

"I know what that's like," Amanda chuckled, "my grandparents moved in with us a few years ago and our house has been cramped ever since. It's why I'm working. I'm looking for a place of my own."

Jayden set his cup of coffee down on the table. It was now completely empty and there was no hiding it. He looked to Amanda with a smile.

"Bowling," he offered. "Let's go bowling."

"I tell you I'm trying to save my money and you suggest we go bowling?"

"It's a date," Jayden offered his hand to help her out of her seat, "My treat."

-Samurai-

Even with all the caffeine and sugar rushing through his body, Antonio was still dragging his feet on the sidewalk as he and Serena walked through the city just to talk. Serena was starting to sense there was a little bit of trouble going on with Antonio in regards to Jayden's date and figured a talk would be healthier than the gold Ranger loading himself up on caffeine all the time.

"Have you ever had a girlfriend?" she asked the gold Ranger who shook his head no. "Have you met any girls you liked?"

Again, Antonio shook his head no, "I've had several _girl_friends, but never anything romantic. I just never… you know?"

"Are you jealous of Jayden?" Serena asked. "It must not be easy. Everyone in the house is paired up, or was paired up, except you. Up until today, Jayden was your only single friend. If you're jealous, it's okay."

"I'm not…" Antonio looked up at Serena and sighed, "Okay, I'm jealous… but not about that. If I wanted a girlfriend, I'm sure I could get one. I got you on this date, huh?"

"Like I said, shoving a coat and shoes in my hands wasn't the best way to ask a girl out. If you weren't my friend, I'd have smacked you."

"I can be smooth," Antonio said.

"So, you're choosing not to date? Is it because of the girlfriend stereotype? I know I whined about taking one on earlier, but we can't be that bad."

"No…"

"Then what?"

"I don't know. I just don't like the idea of Jayden dating, okay?"

"Dating Amanda?"

"Anyone."

"Oh," Serena pointed to a park bench so she could have a seat with Antonio. "And you don't know why you feel this way."

"No. I just don't like it."

"You're good friends. It's not going to be easy watching him step ahead of you, especially when he's not as socially… social as you are. You'll come to terms with this eventually, but in the meantime, how about not trying to hook me up with Jayden's girlfriend to sabotage his date?"

Antonio chuckled and nodded, "Deal."

"Good, and if you ever need to talk, my door's open. This isn't my first rodeo with the jealous dating situation. Emily was still young, but when I brought my first boyfriend home she got so jealous of him and used the Ape Zord to torment him then entire time we were cuddling on the couch in front of the TV. Needless to say, a flying Ape robot scared the shit out of him and made Emily look like a monster child… he took off running before dinner and broke up with me the next morning."

"You must have been furious with Emily."

"I was," Serena nodded, "Until I heard my ex calling Emily the freak child. I decided then and there I wasn't going to date anyone who couldn't accept my family."

"That sounds like a good rule," Antonio said.

"And I'm sure Jayden has something similar," Serena smiled. "You two are so close; I doubt he'll let anything get in the way of your friendship. You may have to remind him every now and then, but I'm sure even a girl as cute as Amanda can't keep him away from you. You just have to… be patient and let this happen naturally. Be happy for him."

"Be happy for him," Antonio nodded.

"Interfering and ruining his relationship will only make him resent you. My first boyfriend was a dick for calling my seven year old sister a freak, but I do still wish Emily hadn't tormented him."

"You're good at this," Antonio smiled. He placed his hand gently on Serena's stomach and leaned in, "You're a lucky little man. Your mommy knows what she's talking about when it comes to friendships and dating."

"I'm not that big, Antonio. People are staring…"

Antonio leaned back. He recomposed himself and chuckled nervously.

"Right… public place."

"C'mon," Serena chuckled and took his arm, "Let's get you home before that coffee wears off and you crash. I'm not carrying your dead weight back to the Shiba House."


	78. Strikes and Spares

With Jayden out of the house for his date, and Antonio and Serena gone as well, Mentor decided he would just cancel training that night and give the Rangers some time to bond. He was really starting to see how important those moments were for the growth of the team. They were all so close at this point and there was so much going on that they needed time for fun a little more than they needed training. They were still kids in his eyes. He couldn't have them working all the time.

And, on this particular evening, he was going to spend some time with them as well. No more Mentor Ji just looming over their shoulder and occasionally offering them advice. They were growing up and they didn't need him so much as a mentor, but rather a friend.

As they played a game with their Zords (Mentor used a regular game piece to play), Serena and Antonio came home. Serena had to drag Antonio across the house to his room and gave a short explanation for why the gold Ranger seems so exhausted and worn out. Three cups of coffee in such a short time would send anyone on a high, and the higher he got, the harder the fall. The entertainment of Serena trying to drag a tired, big baby Antonio across the house distracted the four Rangers and Ji from their game for a moment, but they got back to their fun as soon as Serena and Antonio were out of sight.

"Play nice," Kevin had to warn the bear Zord, who was nipping at the dragon Zord because he had jumped ahead. The bear Zord looked up at Kevin and growled.

"He's a bit of a sore loser," Emily explained with a giggle, "Just ignore him and he'll stop."

"Just like Mike," Kevin smirked and passed the dice over to Mentor for his turn.

"The Zords were programmed long ago," Mentor let the dice roll on the board and moved his game piece accordingly. "It's interesting to see how their personalities still reflect the personalities of their masters."

"They've been with us for so long," Mia shrugged, "It's probably also a matter of them adopting our behaviours too."

Mentor nodded and handed the dice to Mia. She grinned. She was so close to winning she could taste it. But when she rolled, one of the dice bounced off the Ape (who glared up angrily at Mia) and soared right off the table. Mia reached down to pick it up but noticed a book lying under the table. She grabbed that, as well as the die, and sat up straight.

"Whatcha got there?" Mike asked. Mia set the die down on the table and examined the cover of the book.

"1001 baby names for boys and girls," she read. "I guess it's about time this does come out."

"Serena told me the list of baby names is too big," Emily took the book from Mia and cracked it open. She could tell it had barely been looked at, but that was normal. Serena was only just reaching the halfway point in her pregnancy. While time was flying by, there was still a way to go and very little need for Serena to come up with a baby name right at this very moment. But now that Emily knew she was having a boy, she was a little excited to think about possible names for her little nephew.

"We can offer her suggestions," Mike said.

"Middle names," Emily nodded. "Serena always used to promise me I could choose her first child's middle name. It's only fair. She chose mine."

"A middle name?" Mike stroked his chin, "I can have fun with this."

"If Serena doesn't like the names we suggest, we can always use them as a middle name," Emily smiled and started to look down at the book.

"Michael Jr.," Mike suggested right off the bat. Emily threw him a look, Kevin shook his head and sighed, Mentor rolled his eyes and Mia threw the dice in his face. "What?"

"No juniors," Mia said.

"Each and every child should have their own name," Mentor stated. "A name is a huge part of their identity. Sharing that could create problems."

"The kid's already a half Nighlok," Kevin nodded his head in agreement with Mike, "We don't need to burden him with your name as well."

"Mike is cooler than Kevin," Mike said. Kevin shot him a look and scoffed playfully. Mike nodded his head, "It is!"

"Whatever," Kevin rolled his eyes and looked back at Emily, "I didn't know you had a middle name."

"I wasn't supposed to, but apparently Serena wanted to name me when I was born and threw a fit when mom and dad said no."

"So they let her give you a middle name?" Mia asked. "What is it?"

"I don't want to say," Emily pointed inside the book, "Should we just look at boy names or unisex names as well?"

"Tell us your middle name first."

"Nope."

"Mike, do you know?" Kevin turned to the green Ranger. Mike shook his head.

"Oddly enough, I don't," he looked to Emily, "You never told me either."

"It's just a middle name," Emily shrugged. "It's nothing special."

"It's one more name than most of us have," Mike said.

Mentor stole the book from Emily and flipped to the section for girl names, assuming Serena had chosen a girl name for Emily's middle name.

"I guess we'll have to find out," he said. "Abigail?"

"No…" Emily shuttered at the name.

"Ava?"

"No. Guys, c'mon, it's not important!"

"Bailey?"

"Like bale of hay?" Emily asked and shook her head, "I was already teased enough as it was!"

"Just tell us," Kevin begged.

"Can we look at boy names?"

"Good idea," Mia suggested and looked over Mentor's shoulder, "Serena was only eight when Emily was born."

"Not for me!"

"Alright then, Brittany?"

"No!" Emily crossed her arms over her chest and pouted as her friends continued to list off names. They weren't listing off every name in the book, so it was entirely possible they skipped it, but she had a feeling no one was leaving until they found out.

-Samurai-

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon…. oh, so close!" Amanda teased Jayden as his ball rolled down the gutter and missed the final pin. They were playing their second game of bowling and, just like in the last game, Amanda was in the lead. "Are you sure you aren't letting me win?"

"Why would I do that?" Jayden asked.

"It's the third spare you missed."

"I'll get a strike," Jayden smirked. Amanda chuckled and picked up a ball for her turn.

"So will I," she rolled the ball down the lane and Jayden watched in amazement as she knocked down all her pins. When she turned back around he saw she was sticking out her tongue.

"One more round before I win."

"I could come back," Jayden pouted.

"217 to 246 with more turn to go?" Amanda shook her head. "You better pray for a turkey."

"We'll see," Jayden picked up his ball as it came back and rolled it down the lane. He took down all ten pins with this throw and spun around, "Aha! I told you I'd get a strike."

"Last round, you've got two more to go," Amanda pointed to the screen. Jayden picked up another ball and again he managed to knock down all his pins. Amanda started to bite her thumb nervously and Jayden wound up for his final throw.

"C'mon," time slowed down for Jayden as the ball rolled down the lane. Amanda was all finished with her turns and if he got this strike he would beat her by a single point. All the pins fell slowly until there was only one standing and it wobbled from side to side. Jayden could feel Amanda's glared going right through him as she stared at the pin, demanding that it stay upright.

But she was not the lord of the pins and it fell over, making Jayden the winner by a single point. He turned around and cheered for himself.

Amanda picked up her bag with a smile, "I guess it's fair. I win one, you win one."

"You're such a gracious loser," Jayden chuckled.

"I kicked your ass last round," Amanda said as she and Jayden walked to the counter to return their shoes. She checked her watch as Jayden thanked the man, "It's getting pretty late."

"Are you due home?"

"Probably," Amanda nodded. "It's not like I have a curfew or anything, but… well, grandpa. You know how they are, right?"

"Not really," Jayden shook his head, "Both of mine died before I was born… so…"

"You, Jayden, have a miserable family," Amanda poked him in the chest and teased. "Well, here's a quick rundown on my grandfather: "Amanda, why are you home so late? Where did you go? What were you doing? Were you with a boy? What's his name? Does he go to church? You know, there are so few good men… blah, blah, blah… if you ever meet him… good luck."

"Let's just see how the next few dates go before we think about that," Jayden said and he watched Amanda's smile brighten.

"Next few? You mean my amazing bowling skills didn't scare you off?"

Jayden shook his head, "I won that last round."

"By one."

"They didn't," Jayden and Amanda stepped outside and Jayden reached for his car keys, "This was really fun, I don't see why we couldn't do it again. I'll call you, okay?"

"You'll actually call me, right?" Amanda asked. "You aren't like those other guys who say they'll call but they never do?"

"I'm not a coward," Jayden nodded. "If I didn't want this to continue I would tell you, I swear."

"Honest?"

"Honest," Jayden said. Amanda looked down nervously and tried to hide her blush.

"You're a good guy, Jayden," she then looked up and leaned in for a kiss. Jayden stepped back slightly, completely taken by surprise. It wasn't that he didn't want to kiss her, he just didn't feel ready for it. Instead, he turned his head, letting her give him a peck on the cheek. Amanda seemed slightly disappointed so he came up with an excuse.

"First date, remember?" he said, "I'm kinda… nervous…. And…"

"How about I give you a few days to practice on your pillow and we'll try again next time," Amanda teased him. "But if you don't kiss me soon, I'll start to think something's wrong."

"Nothing's wrong," Jayden said. "It's just me. I just need to feel a little less… first-date-ish."

"Second date, then," Amanda had her own car and reached into her purse for her keys, "Call me, Jayden!"

"I will!"

-Samurai-

"Katherine?"

"Nope," Emily was now playing the game by herself while her friends examined the book of baby names to try and discover her middle name. She rolled the dice and turned to the dragon Zord, "You're up."

"Laura?"

"Nope."

"Are you even listening? Are you just going to keep saying no even if we get it?"

"What?" Emily looked up for the game board to Mia. She chuckled and shook her head, "You guys don't have to know, you know. You could let it go."

"I, at least, need to know," Mike was now holding onto the book of names and he was consulting Mentor on possible middle names that fit well with Emily.

"Let's backtrack to a few we missed," Mentor suggested, "Jessica? Isabelle?"

"Oh! Hope! That would be awesome!" Mike bounced excitedly. Emily shook her head.

"No, no, no."

Mia took the book from Mike and closed it. Mike was about to give her a look when he saw she was pointing over his shoulder. He turned around and saw a shadow moving on the floor in the hallway.

"Serena!" he called her name, hoping it was her and not Antonio. After a quick second, Serena poked her head around the doorframe.

"Yeah."

"Serena, no!" Emily jumped up and rushed over to her sister, clamping her hand over Serena's mouth.

"You chose Emily's middle name, right?"

Serena pulled Emily's hand away from her mouth and wrestled with her sister as she answered.

"Yeah. I wasn't allowed to pick her first name, so mom and dad compromised."

"What's her middle name?"

Serena looked at Emily. She knew her little sister didn't like sharing her middle name. There was no reason for it, not as far as Serena knew. But Emily looked up with begging eyes, pleading her sister not to tell.

"C'mon, Emy, I think I did a damn good job."

"Please no," Emily begged before running out of the room. Mike and Serena exchanged looks before Mike walked off after her.

Mia, Kevin, Mentor and Serena traded confused looks and decided to let the couple talk on their own. Serena knew Emily's middle name wasn't a big deal. It was nothing embarrassing. It was nothing that needed to remain hidden. In fact, Serena had to admit, she found Emily's middle name only added to her first name. She had picked a good one, especially for an eight year old.

Mia took this strange silence as an opportunity to share an idea she had recently started thinking about.

"So, hey, you guys remember there's a holiday coming up, right?"

"Thanksgiving," Serena nodded, rubbing her stomach excitedly. "Mentor, you better know how to make a good turkey."

"Actually…" Mia turned to Kevin nervously. He didn't even know about this, "I wanted to cook Thanksgiving dinner next Thursday."

Serena looked back and forth between Kevin and Mia, "That's cool. You two are…"

"Alone," Mia specified for Serena. Serena's eyes widened slightly and she turned to Mentor.

Kevin was the only one who seemed genuinely proud and excited. He was usually always in the kitchen helping Mia cook but he had seen her progress greatly since he began teaching her.

"I'm sure it'll be good," he said and eyed Mentor and Serena, "Right, guys?"

Serena took a deep breathe, "Alright, I'll go along with this as long as I can make the apple pie," she said to Mia. "Everything else we can leave to you."

"Great!" Mia smiled brightly and looked to Kevin happily. "I'll need to start planning that out now, then. It's a big feast."


	79. Gold Goes Green

Jayden was whistling a tune happily as he walked into the Shiba House, finally home from his date which had gone extremely well by his standards. With the exception of the Rangers, Jayden had never had any friends. Hell, his friendship with the Rangers, though life changing and irreplaceable, had been forced. The only friend he had ever made on his own was Antonio way back when he was a little kid and making friends was as easy as asking a kid to share his crayons.

He felt good about Amanda. He liked her a lot. She was fun, patient, kind, sweet, strong, and stubborn. She wasn't dependant on having a boyfriend and didn't seem too clingy just yet (he had only been on one date with her), but she also seemed to enjoy his company and had gotten excited when he mentioned taking her out again.

When he walked into Antonio he had a huge grin on his face. Antonio, his best friend, had to be the first person to hear the news.

"She's so cool!"

Antonio turned to Jayden and bit his tongue. He was happy for his friend, he really was. After his talk with Serena he knew this was just a normal thing in friendships. One of them was bound to leap ahead before the other. Antonio cared too much about Jayden to ruin the red Ranger's shot at happiness, but there was still something about the date and about _Amanda_ that Antonio hated. In fact, no matter how happy he tried to be, there was a feeling of jealousy brewing in the pit of his stomach.

"Really?" Antonio tried to seem interested, "I guess the date went well."

Jayden nodded, "You probably knew that. I know you and Serena were at the coffee shop. Were you spying on me?"

Antonio shook his head, "No…"

"You don't have to lie to me," Jayden said with a smile and wrapped his arm around Antonio's shoulder. A smile appeared on Antonio's lips and the jealous feeling began to fade. "You were there to make sure I didn't screw up with Amanda, right?"

The smile dropped and the jealous feeling came back.

"Yeah, sure."

"Want to hear how the rest of the date went, then?" Jayden offered. "You know, after you left?"

Antonio wanted to say yes, but he really had no interest in listening to how Jayden and Amanda were bonding. He wouldn't be able to sit through the stories without rolling his eyes or sighing loudly. But Jayden seemed so eager and excited Antonio melted, "Fine…"

"Don't get too excited," Jayden laughed and grabbed Antonio's arm, "C'mon."

"Just… before we start," Antonio said, "Did you kiss her?"

Jayden stopped dead in his tracks and turned to Antonio, "I… no."

"No?" Antonio frowned, but inside he was smiling.

"I don't think I'm ready."

"Seriously?" Antonio asked. "You're not ready to kiss her? Even Serena admitted she was cute."

"I know… I just… I didn't…"

"Hey, it doesn't bother me," Antonio shrugged, "It's better to move slowly than rush, right? Just go extra, extra slow with her. It builds up more trust."

"It does?"

"Super slow," Antonio nodded. Jayden stuffed his hands in his pockets to think. He looked away from Antonio. This gave Antonio the chance to smirk to himself. He remembered what Serena said about sabotage, but this was different. He was offering _good_ advice… It _was_ bad to rush into a relationship…

"I guess it makes sense," Jayden finally said after a few seconds. "Like Mike and Emily. They took it slow."

"Right," Antonio said. "Mia and Kevin even backtracked a bit. Slow and steady."

"So… I shouldn't kiss her next time?"

"Nope."

"But she wants me too…"

"Just trust me," Antonio smiled. "I may not have had a girlfriend before, but I was totally an expert on social interactions. I'll have you up to speed on this dating thing in no time."

As Antonio led Jayden away to their bedroom so they could discuss the date (and Antonio could offer more "advice") he noticed Serena standing and watching him from the kitchen. With a slight shake in her head, she shot him a disappointed look. She had just finished talking to him about letting Jayden be happy and how sabotage would ruin everything for Antonio and Jayden. She thought she had gotten him to understand, but apparently he was ignoring her advice.

-Samurai-

Mike didn't understand the problem. Emily had a middle name but she didn't want anyone knowing what it was. It's not like they really cared to learn it. She was and always would be Emily, Em, or Emy. They had given her a few nicknames that were probably more hurtful than any middle name an eight year old could come up with that a parent would approve of, Lady Slips-A-Lot for example or squirt, or shrimp, and Emily didn't seem to mind at all.

"Meredith," Mike guessed again as he walked outside and found Emily sitting on the lowest branch of a tree, just on the outskirts of the forest. "You know, that would make you Em M. Like M&Ms."

"You're closer," Emily looked down at Mike. "It does start with an '_M_'_._"

"So what's the deal with this middle name thing?" he asked her. "I guess it's on a need to know basis, but you seemed really uncomfortable in there. We were only teasing, you know."

"Last time I let someone find out my middle name they teased me with it," Emily sighed.

Mike rolled his eyes and chuckled, "Em, you're talking to me, remember?"

"I know you won't…" Emily's eyes strayed to the Shiba House. Mike glanced over his shoulder. A part of him couldn't believe he was hearing this.

"You know they love you, right?"

"Have you ever been bullied, Mike?" Emily asked and hopped down from the tree branch. Mike shook his head.

"Not really. A few names here and there, but nothing to tattle on," Mike answered and then bit his lip, "Look; if I tell you a secret can you tell me your middle name?"

"Yeah," Emily nodded her head.

"It's something I never wanted to come out… especially after meeting you," Mike took her hand and led her back to the house. He sat her down on a bench and kept a gentle hold of her hand, "You know how sometimes I do things without thinking or word slips out and I hurt people?"

Emily chuckled softly and nodded, "Yeah."

"I was a little cocky punk in high school," Mike said, averting his eyes away from Emily, "I acted like I was the man and like I was the coolest guy in the school. I knew I wasn't, I was far from it, actually but it's just… you think that if you pretend, it'll come true. Fake it till you make it. Well… I kind of stepped on a few people. I was a jerk to them and for a couple of months made their lives a little harder than it needed to be."

"You bullied them?"

"I'm not proud of it," Mike sighed. "When I realised just how hurtful I was being I stopped and apologized… but it still happened, you know."

Emily pulled her hand away from Mike's. She had been tormented by bullies as a child. It was easy to see Mike was no longer that kid he was for two months in high school, but it did hurt.

"How's that supposed to make me feel more comfortable about telling you my middle name?" she asked him.

"I learned my lesson," Mike smiled. "I'm not going to make fun of you or anyone else, and those guys in there have a lot more common sense than I did back then. They have a lot more than I do now. So if I'm not going to hurt you, they certainly won't hurt you."

"And I trust you," Emily said and then leaned in and whispered her middle name in his ear. When she pulled away he snickered so she slapped him on the chest, "I thought you said you changed!"

"I did, I promised," Mike laughed. "It's a beautiful middle name, M&M."

"Are you going to call me that from now on?" Emily crossed her arms over her chest.

Mike smirked, "Let's see: your name works perfectly for it without being too obvious, you're just as sweet on the inside as you are on the out, and anytime I see you I want to…"

"Mike!" Emily giggled as he kissed her neck, "My sister lurks! What if she hears you and kills you?"

"Remind her she's pregnant and you're not," Mike shrugged his shoulders and leaned in for another kiss.

"Do you really like it?" Emily asked. "When the kids at school found out they used to call me mayday because, you know, I kept falling and crashing into stuff."

"Emily Mae. It suits you."

"Really?"

"Well, why did your sister pick it?"

"I was born in May…"

"Seriously?" Mike chuckled. Emily swatted his shoulder.

"She was eight! And mom and dad changed the spelling so it wasn't obvious."

"Well, M&M, how about we go inside and join the others?" Mike said as he stood up and offered his hand. Emily took it with a chuckle.

"You know, we were M&M before you found out my middle name, right? Your name starts with an _'M'_."

Mike's eyes widened, "I know what we're serving at our wedding!" he cried happily as he pulled her inside.

-Samurai-

Midnight training was the training Kevin loved best because on most nights he was training by himself, moving at his own pace, and when he was done and showered, he got to crawl up in bed with his fiancée and wrap his arms around her.

Tonight wasn't one of those nights. When Kevin came out of the shower he found Mia was still on her laptop.

"Normally you're half asleep by now," he said as he wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on top of her head. "What are you googling?"

"How to make a turkey," Mia saved the webpage and turned around in her chair to look up at Kevin, "I want to get this right."

"There's no shame in asking for help," Kevin said.

Mia pouted her lip and frowned, "You don't think I can do this."

Kevin shook his head and spoke quickly, "No, no, I do. I trust you! It's just, it's your first time and it's Thanksgiving. It's stressful and… even the best chefs need help. I believe they're called sous-chefs."

"I know what people think, though," Mia sighed. "Whenever I cook something good they always just assume it's because you helped me. I'm better, I know I am. I want them to know it."

"They do know it, Mia. Anyone taking on Thanksgiving by themselves would have caused a bit of a panic."

"Maybe I should ask for help then…"

"No," Kevin shook his head. "You can do it, and part of doing it is trying and failing. If you want to make Thanksgiving on your own, I have faith, but if you start to get a little overwhelmed or confused we're all ready to lend a hand, okay?"

"That's why I want to get started now. So I don't have to do it all at the last minute. "I've got a week to get this all prepared and done."

"You'll get it," Kevin smiled. He reached over and shut off her laptop, "I've got a great recipe for cooking turkey. Tomorrow morning I'll write it down for you. It's easy to follow; you should be able to handle it all on your own."

"Thanks, Kev," Mia got up from her chair and kissed him.

-Samurai-

Antonio stepped out of his bedroom after listening to Jayden go on and on about his date with Amanda. He couldn't deny he was happy Jayden was happy, but it was Jayden's source of happiness that pissed him off.

"_Amanda_," he teased her name as he quietly closed the door. Jayden was doing a little bit of studying before he went to sleep and he didn't want to disturb the red Ranger. As he was about to turn around he felt a presence; a very angry presence. "You're everywhere, aren't you?"

"You better not be giving him bad advice."

Antonio turned to Serena and saw she had her arms crossed in her _"I'm very disappointed"_ manner. He sighed and lowered his head.

"It's not bad advice per se…"

"Antonio! He trusts you! You're his best friend!"

"Dating a civilian is wrong! If Xandred finds out…"

"Oh, come on," Serena groaned, "We plucked you off the streets and we're sending you up against big bad and ugly. Why can't Jayden have a little fling with a girl he seems to really like."

"Like? He hasn't kissed her yet."

"It's his first date."

"He's almost twenty-two!" Antonio cried. "He should have had his first kiss a long time ago!"

"What about you? You're his age."

"I kissed you, remember?" Antonio giggled at the memory. Serena was not happy.

"He's your friend. You do what you want with him, but this jealousy thing has got to stop. Do you want to lose him?"

"No."

"Then smarten up, Antonio," Serena smacked him over the head. "I thought we talked about this."

"We did but… this whole thing still bugs me. I don't know why."

"I'll find a girl for you," Serena shrugged. "Do you want to play catch up? I've got a few girlfriends back at home I could probably call."

"I don't want a girlfriend. Just… I'll figure this out."

"You better," Serena said, "and for everyone's sake, I hope it's not at Jayden's expense. Let him be happy, okay?"

"Okay…" Antonio bowed his head as he started to leave. Suddenly he stopped and turned back to Serena, "Uh… I didn't give him bad advice, per se… but maybe…"

"I'll go tell him you have no idea what you're talking about," Serena rolled her eyes. "But this is the only time I'm fixing a sabotage, got it?"

"Loud and clear."

"If you do it again…"

"I won't have to if he stops seeing her," Antonio smirked but the joke was not funny to Serena. He sighed, "I'll try to keep my jealousy to myself."


	80. An Exciting Afternoon

Putting her conversation with Antonio behind her, Serena knocked on the door to the gold and red Rangers' room and walked inside. She saw Jayden sitting at his desk, going over what appeared to be the sealing symbol. With a smirk, she leaned forward on his desk.

"You're still keeping at it, are you?"

Jayden looked up. He understood what Serena was getting at. When he had lost the Rangers' trusts he had told her everything. He felt he had no choice but to come clean to someone about his secrets and lies. He had hurt her sister, and had she not been in Japan at the time, he had been sure she was going to hurt him. His big reveal to her had been the only thing he thought he could do that would get his friends back on his side.

"I am the red Ranger."

"That's true," she nodded and then cracked a huge smile, "So, Romeo, how was the date?"

"Good," Jayden blushed, a little embarrassed by all the hype his date was causing.

"Just good?"

"I know you were at the coffee shop," Jayden smirked, "You should know…"

"Antonio's idea," Serena said, "I got him out of there before we saw anything, I swear."

"The date was good," Jayden smiled, "I'm going to ask her out again."

"Dinner," Serena advised him. "Trust me, take her out for dinner. Nothing big or fancy just yet, but it's a bit of a step up from coffee."

"Are you sure? Antonio…"

"Antonio's never had a girlfriend before," Serena said. "I have."

"You have?"

"Boyfriend, whatever," Serena rolled her eyes. "I've played the dating game before, and not just with Dekker. Besides, I'm a girl; don't you think I would know what a girl wants from a second date?"

"You are a girl," Jayden said thoughtfully causing Serena to raise an eyebrow.

"Uh, tell me you realised that before the pregnancy started popping out. If not, I've really got to sit down and have a talk with…"

"Can I ask you something?" Jayden interrupted her with a serious look on his face. Serena nodded her head.

"Of course."

"You've… wanted to kiss someone before, right?"

"Yeah."

"Do you know when you want to kiss someone? Like… what does it feel like?"

Serena grinned, "Aw! Does wittle Jay Jay wanna kiss his cwush?"

"Serena…"

"Do you want to know the signs?"

"No," Jayden shook his head. "She tried to kiss me at the end of our date and I turned away. I should want to kiss her, she's pretty cool, but I just…"

"It's a big thing," Serena told him. "Look, it's natural to get a little worried or scared, or even feel embarrassed about it. The first kiss is a big deal. You'll always remember it."

"Wow… so no pressure, then?"

"It's a very confusing thing," Serena nodded and gave Jayden a comforting smile, "You'll go at your own pace, alright? Any girl worth an ounce of your time is a girl who will wait for you to feel comfortable. You got it?"

"Got it," Jayden nodded. Serena could sense this was the end of her conversation with the red Ranger and turned to leave. Just as he hand touched the door, though, she heard him call her name. She turned around.

"Yes?"

"How do you kiss someone?"

Serena chuckled and walked to his bed. She picked up his pillow and tossed it to his face.

"Here, practice."

Jayden caught the pillow and looked at it. Social situations and dating may not have been his forte, but even he knew how humiliating it would be to be caught practicing his first kiss on a pillow. With the house so full, someone was sure to run into him if he even thought of trying.

"Great…"

"Goodnight, Romeo."

-Samurai-

Mia decided her Thanksgiving dinner was going to be a big deal for everyone. For her, it was all about proving how far she had come from her cooking lessons. It had been over a year since the truth of her cooking abilities (or lack thereof) had come out, and she wanted to show she could be a good chef. She wanted to know that her love of cooking wasn't just a joke, and her dreams of being the perfect wife and mother wouldn't be hinders by poor cooking skills. She could do this.

She wanted this to be a proud moment for the other Rangers as well. This was their first real holiday as a team. When the first batch came around, they had only just started to bond, making these holidays rather awkward. So awkward, in fact, they had skipped Thanksgiving and the Winter Holidays and just went out for pizza instead.

It had been a long time since any of them had seen home. While the Shiba House was now the place they called home, Mia's fondest memories were still back with her family. The other Rangers likely felt the same way, so Thanksgiving was going to reflect that.

Serena had already offered to bake apple pie for dessert, so Mia didn't need to worry about putting in a touch of home for the girls, but the guys were going to need to be questioned. No one was going to be left out.

After training, she approached Mike and asked him if he wanted to go to the store with her. Thanksgiving was a busy time, and she wanted to get all her ingredients before the grocery stores were really crowded. Mike agreed hesitantly, unsure of why she would choose him over Kevin, Emily or Serena, and followed her into the city.

"Push me," he insisted as he hopped onto the front of the shopping and looked to Mia. She shook her head.

"You're just as bad as Emily," Mia let go of the handlebars on the cart and watched it tip due to Mike's weight. The green Ranger stepped off the cart and glared at Mia as she giggled, "The only difference is that she's light and can actually pull that off."

"Are you calling me fat?"

"You did eat a whole pizza by yourself once."

"That was a workout," Mike pointed to the candy aisle, "Speaking of getting fat, we should go there."

"Not a chance in hell," Mia turned the cart away, "I'm shopping for Thanksgiving. Any requests?"

"Candy."

"Mike, something special," Mia glanced over to him and turned down the first aisle, "It's a family theme. What did your family used to do for Thanksgiving?"

"We watched the football game," Mike smiled. "Turkey in front of the TV."

Mia frowned. She couldn't do that. Her family used to eat Thanksgiving dinner together.

"What if we play a game of football before dinner?" she suggested a compromise, "The yard's big enough to play, and the teams would be even."

"Who gets Serena, who gets Mentor?" Mike chuckled. "Pregnant women and old man?"

"We can figure that out…"

"Me, Emily, Jayden and Serena," Mike suggested.

"Unfair teams," Mia called with a laugh as she began stocking the cart with everything she was going to need. "Serena _and_ Jayden _and _you? Not to mention no one's going to want to tackle little Emy… or Serena for that matter."

"Yeah, but everyone's going to want to hit me," Mike suggested with a grin.

Mia shook her head, "Let's mix things up. Jayden, Antonio, Emily and me against you, Kevin, Mentor and Serena. Mentor's not that old, I'm sure he can play well."

Mike stroked his chin. He didn't want to play against Emily, but when he really thought about it, playing against her would give him more opportunities to sneak in closer to her. Mia must have assumed the same with Kevin.

"Mentor probably will be able to unlock some sneaky football skills," he nodded his head, "and Emily always does talk about how Serena was good at everything," he held out his hand, "Deal, pinky, but let's make this interesting."

Mia rolled her eyes, "You and bets. Seriously..."

"Losing team has to clean up the entire house after Thanksgiving," Mike said. "All the dishes, all the garbage and all the mess."

"I'll make the kitchen extra messy while I cook, just for you to clean," Mia smiled and shook Mike's hand again to seal the deal.

-Samurai-

Serena's favourite pastime after watching the Rangers train was rest. She liked to lie down on the couch and close her eyes, no matter what time of day it was. She always found herself helping out in training, and as baby got bigger, there was a little more pressure on her lungs, making it a little harder for her to breathe and stay active for long times, especially when active for her meant keeping up with six Samurai.

"At least morning sickness is done," she whispered to herself as she closed her eyes. It was right then that Jayden walked into the room, cellphone in hand. He was laughing and pressing on the keys of his phone. Serena opened one eye and glared at him.

"Mommy needs a nap," she said, "Go text somewhere else."

"It's Amanda," Jayden held up the phone with a grin, "I asked her if she wanted to hang out with me tonight."

"That's fantastic. Now go away."

"You have your own room," Jayden shrugged and then motioned around the room, "Common room."

"You're going to make me walk?"

"You have legs. Two pairs. I don't see why you can't use at least one of them."

"That's four legs to kick you out," Serena pointed to the door, "Either shut up and talk to your girlfriend, or go somewhere else and text your thumbs off. Nap time for…"

Serena suddenly sat up straight and placed her hand on her stomach. Jayden set his phone down and looked at her in alarm.

"Serena…"

"I think something just tickled the inside of my stomach," Serena looked to Jayden, "That or I'm…" her eyes widened as she felt something tickling her again.

"What's happening?" Jayden asked; worry on his face and in his eyes, "I thought your mom…"

"Where's Emily?"

"In the yard with Kevin," Jayden pointed to the front door. Serena jumped up from the couch, moving faster than Jayden had seen her move in weeks. He chased after her as she bolted outside and grabbed her sister.

"You'll never guess what just happened!" Serena bounced. Emily looked up at her sister.

"I'm getting a kitty?" Serena frowned as Emily chuckled, "I'm kidding, Serena. What?"

"I felt the baby."

"You did?" Emily asked. Serena nodded happily and held her hand on her stomach. Emily looked down, "What did it feel like? I wanna feel it!"

"It might be a few more weeks, squirt," Serena smiled as Emily touched her stomach to try and feel the baby. "I felt it, but that doesn't mean you can yet."

Emily pouted, "That's stupid."

"You felt the baby?" Kevin asked with a proud look in his eye. "That's amazing!"

Serena beamed with joy as she looked down at her stomach. She couldn't feel the baby since she jumped up from the couch, but she remembered the feeling exactly. All the ultrasounds, the tests, the prenatal vitamins and everything else that came with the first few months of pregnancy were finally hitting her now that she felt the baby moving. Her eyes widened slightly, "Holy shit…"

"What?" Emily asked and tried again to feel the baby. "Does it hurt?"

"There's a baby in there," Serena pointed to her stomach. "Like a little… a little…"

She looked down at Emily and remembered how small and fragile her baby sister had been the first time she met Emily. She remembered not worrying at all about Emily because her parents were parents. They could take care of a little baby. They were mom and dad, they could do anything. But this baby was going to be hers. She was mommy.

"When the hell did that happen?" Serena moved her hands away from her stomach. Kevin rested his arms on Emily's shoulders and leaned against her as he looked to Serena.

"Well, seventeen weeks ago, a man and a woman…"

"AH!" Emily plugged her ears and Serena stuck out her tongue.

"Not that when!" Serena said. "I meant… holy shit there's a real little baby in there?"

"Yep," Jayden nodded. "And in a few months it's going to be out here."

Serena bit her lip, "I… I'm going to go have a nap… maybe when I wake up, this will all be over."

"That's a long nap," Emily giggled as her sister walked off. "That's like eighteen years of sleeping."

"Eighteen years?" Serena breathed, "That's a long time!"

"I'm not even eighteen," Emily giggled. Serena spun around and looked at her sister.

"That's like… your lifetime. And you've been around forever!"

"Welcome to motherhood," Jayden tapped Serena lightly on the shoulder. Serena touched her hand to her head and sighed loudly. She took a seat on the bench and pinched herself a couple of times while looking at her stomach. It wouldn't go away. Then she thought she felt the baby moving again. It felt good and it made her smile.

"What the hell am I going to do with you," she gently pat her stomach and grinned as she got up and walked back inside for her nap. If she was going to do this mothering thing, she wanted to make a good baby.


	81. Antonio's Feelings

Amanda, Amanda, Amanda; that was all Jayden talked about now: his new "_girlfriend_".

Not that she was his girlfriend. They were only on their second date. But if Antonio didn't know better, he would have said Jayden and Amanda were joined at the hip.

He wasn't the same old Antonio he had always been now that Jayden had found himself a girl. Everyone was starting to notice a slight switch in attitude. Mike had given Antonio a suspicious look when he turned down an evening of video games. Kevin had already asked why he had toned down his usual bounce. Mia had asked him if he was feeling sick, and Emily offered to make him some chicken soup.

He told them he was just having one of those days and let his teammates believe he would bounce right back after some time to himself. But, truth be told, he had no idea what was going on.

He started feeling this way when he offered to take Jayden out of the baby store and they ran into Amanda for the first time. Jayden's attempt at flirting had been pathetic. Actually, the red Ranger didn't even know he was flirting until Antonio pointed it out. Antonio didn't like the thought of Jayden having a girlfriend. He couldn't say why, but he didn't like it.

When Jayden announced he was going on a date, Antonio felt jealous, but again, he couldn't figure out why. He didn't want a girlfriend of his own. The thought just didn't appeal to him. He wasn't jealous because Jayden was dating. He didn't get jealous when Kevin and Mia went out on dates, or when he saw Mike and Emily cuddling. He would find someone to love when the time was right.

But it was different when it was Jayden. Serena kept telling him it was likely just because he felt like he was losing his best friend, but Antonio felt like there was more there.

He couldn't explain any of this. It didn't even make sense in his own head and that explained why he was so frustrated and feeling unlike himself. It was hard to stomach, watching Jayden head out on his date and come back to talk about the girl he seemed to be falling head over heels for.

She wasn't right for him. Antonio was sure of that. She wasn't the right person for Jayden, this wasn't the right time for him to be dating anyone, and Jayden had more important things to focus on than falling in love with a civilian.

As he sat outside just thinking to himself he heard the gate opening up and saw Jayden walking home. A huge part of him wanted to smile, happy his best friend was home, but another part wanted to be anywhere but here. Jayden was going to start talking about Amanda, and there was only so long Antonio could pretend to be interested before he snapped.

But still, he faked it for the red Ranger.

"How was the date?"

"It was good," Jayden had resigned himself to the fact that his answers about his dates needed to be short when he spoke with Antonio. He may not have been raised to be the most social creature, but he did understand his friends. He could tell Antonio didn't like talking about Amanda.

"Did you kiss her this time?"

Jayden shook his head, "Hopefully soon, but after you talked to me Serena and I shared a few words. I want my first kiss to be special, so I decided to wait again."

"How's _Amanda_ taking it?"

"She gets it," Jayden nodded. "She's great. You should really meet her."

"She's dating you, isn't that enough?"

Jayden frowned and looked to the gold Ranger, "Antonio, are you okay?"

"Yeah," Antonio lied with a quick nod of his head. "Why do you ask?"

"You seem tense," Jayden said. "I know you're not thrilled about the fact that I'm dating a civilian, but I talked to Mentor Ji about it and as long as I'm responsible and I don't let her get in the way of my Samurai duties he said it was okay."

"And we all know you're Mr. Responsible," Antonio snapped.

"Antonio, I'm happy," Jayden said. "I know it's a risky time to start a relationship, but everyone else is dating. Amanda's got a few single friends if you're feeling left out. I'm sure I could hook you up with…"

"I don't want a girlfriend," Antonio shouted and jumped to his feet. "Why is everyone offering me a girlfriend? Can't I just sulk in peace?"

"I, uh…"

"Forget it," Antonio waved his hand dismissively as he headed inside, "I'm going to bed."

"What did I say?" Jayden asked but it was too late, Antonio was already gone.

The gold Ranger stomped through the house. He didn't go to his room right away. If Jayden was looking for him, that would be the first place he looked. He didn't want to interrupt Mike and Emily who were already in their room. Mia and Kevin were in the dojo playing with the dog, and Mentor Ji was reading a book in the common room.

Antonio stormed off down the halls until he reached Serena's bedroom door. Without knocking he opened it and walked inside. Serena was just putting on her pyjama shirt when she noticed Antonio was standing in her room. She pulled her shirt over her head and glared at the gold Ranger.

"It's called knocking."

"I didn't see anything."

"Fortunately," Serena rolled her eyes. "What's wrong with you?"

"Do I look desperate to you?"

"No, why?"

"You offered me a girlfriend and now Jayden's doing it."

"I'm guessing, by your reaction, we've offended you?"

"I don't want a girlfriend!" Antonio shouted. Serena backed off slightly.

"Okay, okay, I get it," she said, "Sheesh, with that attitude; I doubt you would be able to keep one, anyways."

"We don't all have to like each other," Antonio spat to Serena as he paced back and forth in her bedroom, "Maybe I just don't like Amanda. Have any of you thought of that."

"Because she's dating Jayden?"

"Maybe I just don't like her! Maybe it's got nothing to do with Jayden."

"You don't have to like her," Serena shrugged, "But can't you just accept the fact that she seems to be making Jayden happy? Even if this is just a fling and…"

"What if she gets hurt? This is a stupid idea!"

Serena sat down on the edge of her bed and watched Antonio pace and rant about how dangerous it was for Jayden to date a civilian. She found it rather odd how much Antonio seemed to care about Amanda getting hurt by Xandred or the Nighlok, and then he would insist how much he hated her and wished she would just disappear.

She stroked her chin, "Maybe Amanda's not the problem."

"I just don't like her," Antonio summarized and stomped his foot on the ground like a child. "I can't explain it, but I don't like it."

"This is confusing to you, isn't it?" Serena asked. "Are you worried she's going to hurt Jayden?"

"No. He's a big boy."

"Are you worried she's trying to take your place?"

"Not really."

"Does the thought of Jayden happy make you happy?" Serena asked. Antonio crossed his arms.

"What kind of friend would I be if I didn't want my best friend to be happy? It's Amanda I don't…"

"Are you jealous of Amanda?" Serena asked. "Are you jealous she's with Jayden and you're not?"

Antonio was slow to respond, "He's _my_ best friend. How would he feel if I just started spending all my time with someone else?"

"Like how you asked me out the other day?" Serena smirked. "Was that to make Jayden jealous? You could have gone to spy on him alone, you know. And what would you have said if he caught us in the café, huh? That you and I were on a date?"

"What are you getting at?" Antonio glared at Serena. She shrugged her shoulders.

"I hate to sound narcissistic, but a lot of guys would be bragging to their friends if they got the chance to kiss me like you did. Remember that?"

Antonio chuckled, thinking back to a funny time, "Dad and I got you good."

"You're my friend, Antonio, and you always will be. I don't think I'll ever see you as boyfriend material, but still… that kiss kind of felt good."

"Really?" Antonio asked her with a slight curious frown. Serena nodded her head.

"Don't get your hopes up," Serena said, "You're like my little brother. But I felt something. Did you?"

Antonio shook his head, "It was just a kiss. It meant nothing."

"But you've never had a girlfriend before. Or a kiss, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"You're twenty-one and you've never been kissed! Your first kiss is from me and you feel nothing?"

"Now you sound like a narcissist," Antonio frowned.

"Have you ever wanted to kiss a girl?"

"What are you getting at?" Antonio asked. Again, Serena shrugged her shoulders.

"Just think about it, Antonio," she smiled at the gold Ranger, "and whenever you want to talk, I'm here for you. Just do me a favour and knock before coming in."

"Fine," Antonio huffed.

Serena decided to cheer him up now that she could tell he was starting to feel frustrated again, "I felt the baby move today. Three times. Three little tickles inside my tummy."

"Are you sure it wasn't just gas?" Antonio asked. "You know, sometimes…"

"It wasn't gas," Serena assured him. "I felt him. I felt my son."

"How did it feel?" Antonio asked her, approaching her slightly.

"Like butterflies," Serena rubbed her stomach, "It's scary to know there's really something in there."

"If it helps, he'll still be in there for a while."

"I'm already halfway through," Serena said. "Time's going by so quickly. It feels like Dekker and I only just got back together after the duel. He's been dead for a few months now already and before I know it, this little guy's going to be in my arms, not my stomach."

"Have you thought of what you're going to do?" Antonio asked. "I mean, you can stay here and we'll all help, but what about Xandred and Dayu?"

"They aren't getting my son," Serena shook her head. "Dayu won't touch him, and I don't care if my boy's a full Nighlok or half, he'll never serve Xandred."

"None of us will," Antonio placed his hand on Serena's shoulder and smiled at her, "Thanks for listening to me. I know I'm being a bit of a jerk."

"This thing with Jayden and Amanda's confusing for you," Serena said, "You're frustrated, I get it. I always used to tell Emily that you're allowed to feel whatever you feel. No matter how ridiculous other people think it is. The other day, I was watching TV, and cried at the diaper commercial when the baby was potty trained."

"Seriously?"

"Hormones," Serena smirked, "but still. I felt that way at the time and there's nothing wrong with it. Whatever you're feeling, you don't need to justify it. Just accept it and everything will fall into place."

"You said that to Emily?"

"She cried a lot and hated herself for it," Serena nodded. "It's always good to be reminded it's okay to have feelings; any kind of feelings."

"You're good," Antonio smiled. Serena ruffled his hair.

"I'm officially in training for when junior comes. I have to be good. Now go to bed."

"But I'm not tired…"

"Bed, Goldie," Serena smiled and ushered him out of her room, "I am tired."


	82. Not Right To Feel This Way

His midnight conversation with Serena had been confusing, yet insightful at the same time. Antonio didn't really know what to make of his feelings as he sat by the river, a fishing rod in his hand. He always had a lot of time to think when he was out fishing. Very rarely did one of his friends join him and thus that left him with only his thoughts.

He thought back to his kiss with Serena. The kiss had meant absolutely nothing to him. There had been no spark, no feelings, no bubbling emotions, nothing. It had just been for fun and games. A trick he wanted to play. At the time he didn't make much of his lack of feelings because it had just been a trick, but now he was starting to really think about it. Why didn't it mean anything to him? Why wasn't he attracted to Serena? She was single. She was hot. She cared for him. He cared about her. Why didn't he just get over himself with his Jayden dating issues and ask her out?

Because he didn't like her like that. In fact, he could never remember liking any girl like that. He just thought he had never met a girl special enough to feel attracted to, but maybe there was more to it than that.

Antonio shook his head. Now he was thinking nonsense. It wasn't possible. He was just jealous of Jayden, that was all. There was nothing else to worry about. He didn't like Serena because she was his sister.

Same with Emily. He didn't have any feelings for her because she was like his kid sister.

Mia as well. He had absolutely no feelings for her.

The girls were his friends. The boys were his friends. Jayden was his best friend. Closer than all of them combined.

Reeling in his rod, Antonio packed up his fishing stuff and started to make his way home. He towed his cart behind him. He hadn't caught any fish. Many had bitten his line, but he had been so distracted, they all got away before he could bring them in.

He set his cart by the barbecue and rubbed his face with his hands as he walked inside. He wanted to clear his head and figured a shower would help. Everyone always complained he smelt like fish after going out, and even he had to admit, the smell wasn't all that pleasant.

He walked into his room to go into the bathroom and walked in on Jayden getting changed out of his training uniform. The red Ranger didn't have his shirt on yet, nor did he have his pants on all the way up. He finished pulling them up and smiled at Antonio.

"Back so soon?" he asked as he reached for his shirt.

Antonio felt his face go red, "Yeah… fish… not… I… shower," he stammered and raced into the bathroom. He lightly slapped his cheek with his hand. "What's wrong with me? It's just Jayden!"

He blinked and looked in the mirror. He was blushing madly and as he shook his head to try and get the image of a half-naked Jayden out of his head, he wondered why he blushed for Jayden and not Serena. Sure, she was pregnant but any man would have felt nervous walking in on her almost half naked and wouldn't have batted an eyelash walking in on their roommate when this happened every day. They shared a bedroom; there was nothing there that Antonio hadn't seen before.

He started the shower and shook his head. He wasn't supposed to be thinking these thoughts. Jayden was his best friend. That was it.

-Samurai-

"So teeny tiny," Emily held up a baby shoe and showed it to Mia. The two girls were out shopping for a few more baby clothes so everything was ready when Serena had her baby. They couldn't afford to leave anything to the last minute, especially with all the responsibilities they had. Ideally, Serena was going to make it in time to the hospital and have a healthy delivery with Mike and Emily by her side, and her family waiting patiently for their first glimpse at the little boy. But with Nighlok attacking the city all the time, there was no telling where Serena would be when she went into labour, or if Mike and Emily would be able to be in the room when she gave birth. Unfortunately, saving the world came first.

At least, if they had clothes, diapers, the car seat, toys, the crib, a changing table, and anything else the baby needed, the Rangers and Serena would only have to worry about the birth itself.

Mia took the shoe from Emily's hand, "Can you believe a human foot can fit in here?"

"This shoe is like the size of Mike's toe," Emily giggled. Mia nodded her head.

"He's got big feet," she placed the shoe back on the shelf and then held up a few baby clothes she had been carrying on her arm, "Which one of these do you like best?"

"All of them!" Emily smiled. She snatched them all from Mia and put them in the shopping cart. The pink Ranger rolled her eyes.

"I know Mentor's loaded, but we've got a budget, Emy."

"It's my job to spoil the little monkey," Emily said, "Now out of my way, I have a job to do."

"He's got enough plushies already," Mia groaned when she saw Emily was headed over to the stuffed toy section. She sighed as she checked her watch, "I have to get home to organize everything for Thanksgiving!"

Mia waited by the shoes for Emily to listen to her and come back, but the yellow Ranger was ignoring her. The pink Ranger shook her head and leaned against the shelf before the shoes caught her eye again and her heart melted. She picked one up and stared in awe at how tiny it was.

-Samurai-

Mike tapped away brutally at the buttons on his controller before jumping to his feet, pumping his fists in the air.

"Yes! I beat you!" he cried and pointed to Antonio, who just set down his controller on the table. The green Ranger danced around for a bit. He was the video game superstar in the house, but this had been one game Antonio had always beat him on. This victory was one of Mike's biggest accomplishments in the virtual world since entering the house, and he had every intention of rubbing it in Antonio's face, "Loser! I'm the winner! You're the loser. I win, you lose…"

"I get it!" Antonio shouted, quickly losing his temper with Mike. The green Ranger meant nothing with his victory chant, Antonio knew that very well, but Antonio was already stressed. He couldn't get his talk with Serena out of his head, or his strange feelings for Jayden. He thought everything would stop there and his video game session with Mike would take the edge, off, but it only made things worse for Antonio.

Mike was a good looking guy. Antonio had noticed before, but now he was really starting to pay attention, all because of his talk with Serena. The entire time he and Mike had been playing, Antonio couldn't help but cast glances over at Mike and admire the green Ranger. He knew it was wrong, but he couldn't stop himself. He noticed how Mike's muscles flexed as his arms tensed up to drill in his attacks with the buttons, and how he wanted to reach out and stroke them… even if it sounded awkward.

Mike placed his hand on Antonio's arm, "Dude, I'm only playing around. I…"

"Don't touch me!" Antonio shouted, swatting Mike's hand away. Mike looked at the gold Ranger, upset.

"Antonio, I didn't mean to make you feel bad."

Antonio looked over at Mike and noticed his eyes sparkled. Mike had really nice eyes. No wonder Emily fell in love with him. How could she resist that look?

No! Antonio was not allowed to have these thoughts. He was supposed to be jealous of Mike, not Emily. He wasn't supposed to wish he could be in Emily's place, no matter how comfortable he felt…

No! He wasn't allowed to feel these thoughts. They weren't right. Besides, he didn't like Mike, not like he liked Jayden.

"Dude, are you okay?" Mike's voice broke Antonio's train of thought and he looked over at the green Ranger, who was still giving him that heartwarming look with those eyes.

"Stop it," Antonio shook his head.

Mike moved away from Antonio, but kept his eyes on the gold Ranger, "Look, we can rematch if you want your title back. It's not that big of a deal," Mike picked up the controller and held it out for Antonio to take, "That's how the gaming world works. Just because you lose, doesn't mean you're done."

"Stop doing that," Antonio ripped the controller from Mike's hand and threw it back at the green Ranger. Due to their close proximity, Mike's face was the only target the controller could hit.

"Mother fucker…" Mike grabbed his face in pain and shouted while Antonio stormed off to be alone. As he walked away he passed Serena, Kevin, and Jayden, who had heard Mike's cursing and were headed over to see what the problem was. Mentor was likely close behind.

"Antonio, what happened to Mike?" Jayden asked but was quickly shoved into the wall by Antonio, who tried to make his way past his friends before they asked any questions.

"Antonio!" Serena called his name and he spun around and glared at her.

"Don't talk to me ever again!" he shouted. "Just leave me alone! You screwed everything up!"

"I… what?"

"Leave me alone!" Antonio slammed the door as he hid inside his room. Serena went after him but stopped when Kevin grabbed her arm.

"Maybe you should let him cool down," he suggested and then gestured down the hallway to the common room. Serena nodded and followed him and Jayden to the other room. They found Mike holding his face in pain. Kevin walked over to inspect him and hissed loudly.

"I think it's broken."

"My entire face?" Mike asked and pulled his hand away to see blood.

"Just your nose," Kevin shook his head. "What happened?"

"He's a sore fucking loser," Mike answered.

"What's wrong with him lately?" Jayden asked and turned to Serena while Kevin guided Mike out of the room and announced he was taking the green Ranger to the emergency room to get his nose looked at properly.

Serena shrugged her shoulders at Jayden, "You know as much as I do."

"This can't all be about Amanda, can it?"

Again, Serena shrugged, "Maybe when he cools down and apologizes we can figure this out."

-Samurai-

"You're kidding me…" Mia groaned loudly as Emily returned to the shoe section with a cartful of plushies. But they were no ordinary plushies.

"Samurai Ranger teddy bears!" Emily beamed, holding up a yellow Samurai bear and she looked at Mia pleadingly, "Please, please, please can we buy them!"

"Emily… we don't need…"

Emily shoved the blue and pink teddy Rangers into Mia's arms, "They're so cuddly! Please, please, please!"

"I…"

"Please!"

"But…"

"Please!" Emily stuck out her lower lip and looked up at Mia with big eyes. The pink Ranger turned away.

"No. Don't do that!"

"Mia…"

"Emy… no…"

"Please! We have to buy the full set!"

Mia closed her eyes and shook her head, "One, Emy. We can get one, but you have to pay for it."

Emily grabbed the green bear and hugged it and the yellow bear tight, "But you can't split up me and Mike!"

"Shh! Emily!"

"Please, Mia! We can get seven! One for everyone and one for the baby!"

"Seven? Emily…"

"Please."

Mia finally had to get in. This was worse than trying to convince Emily there would be no cookies or ice-cream for dessert. Either she was going to have to let the youngest Samurai but the entire collection of bears plus one for the baby, or she was never going to hear the end of how Mia had split her and Mike up.

"Do you have enough money to pay for six of them yourself?"

"More than enough," Emily nodded, "I've been saving up for something special!"

"Alright… fine. Go pay for them, then," Mia said. She found herself chuckling when Emily dumped the green and yellow bear back into the cart and raced over to the shelf to pick out a special bear for her nephew. The pink Ranger looked down at the two bears in her arms and squeezed gently. Maybe this wasn't such a horrible idea.

As Emily raced back with an extra green Samurai Teddy Ranger, Mia heard her phone going off and answered it. Emily didn't pay attention and placed the bear in the cart and was ready to head to the cash to pay for the shoes, the clothes and the bears.

Mia suddenly grabbed her by the arm while finishing up her conversation with Kevin, "Is it serious?"

"Is what serious?" Emily asked but Mia silenced her.

"You could be there for hours, you know that, right?"

"Be where?"

"Is he sure, though? We could swing by and…"

"Swing by where?"

"Yeah, thanks for letting me know. I'll tell her and we'll wait for you at home. No point sitting around the emergency room."

"Emergency room?" Emily gasped as tried to reach for the phone to butt in on the conversation. Mia kept Emily away to finish her call.

"We'll be at home. Love you too," Mia hung up the phone and pointed to the cash register, "Go pay for the bears, Emy."

"Who was that? Who's at the emergency room?"

"Mike…"

"Mike!"

"It's nothing serious, Emy," Mia promised. "Antonio may have broken Mike's nose."

"What? Why? How?"

"Video gaming accident. I don't know. Let's just pay for the stuff and wait for Mike at home, okay?"

"I…"

"Kevin's with him, he'll be fine."

"Why did Antonio hit him?"

Mia shrugged as she started laying everything out of the counter for the cashier to ring through.

"You can ask Antonio when we get home."

Emily growled as she lifted the bears out of the cart and squeezed tightly when she grabbed the gold Ranger Bear by the neck. Mia carefully freed the Antonio bear.

"I'm sure it was an accident," she assured the yellow Ranger. "We'll figure it all out at home, okay?"


	83. Nothing's Wrong

When the girls got back from their shopping trip Emily was not a happy person. Antonio wasn't with the others to explain to her what happened himself so she could only hear Mike's side of the story passed on through Jayden.

"Because he lost a stupid video game?" she cried. "He broke Mike's nose because he lost in a video game?"

"Calm down, Emy," Serena told her sister who looked like she was about to lunge at Jayden simply for passing on the information. "We don't for sure if it's broken yet."

"I don't care…"

"And we don't know Antonio's side of the story," Serena reminded her. "He's been pretty wound up lately…"

"So he breaks Mike's nose? Where is he?"

"She might break his nose," Jayden whispered to Mia. The pink Ranger nodded her head.

"I was worried she was going to break the car," she said. She gently grabbed Emily's arm and set her down on the stool, "Look, why don't you let Antonio calm down, and you can calm down. When Mike and Kevin get home, we'll all talk about it. If it was intentional, we'll deal with it the right way."

"Stupid Spanish goldfish…" Emily muttered and crossed her arms and legs while she pouted on her stool. Mia decided to pass the time, and hopefully distract Emily, by pulling out the stuff they had bought for the baby to show Serena.

"We bought some clothes that are a little more gender specific," Mia said as she handed the bag to Serena. "Now that we know it's a boy…"

"I thought the picture of the diaper on the box looked small," Jayden stared strangely at the tiny shoes. "Are you sure feet go in here?"

"Given how he's coming out, I hope his feet fit in there," Serena chuckled and took the shoe from Jayden to have a look, "Aw, Samurai themed. Look, a tiny Jayden head on a teeny tiny shoe."

"We thought you'd like that," Mia smiled and then gestured to the only bag that hadn't been opened, and it was slightly larger than all the rest, "It's not the only Samurai thing we bought. Emily insisted."

Serena grabbed the bag and reached inside. Immediately she felt something soft and she turned to her pouting sister.

"Don't you think we have enough plushies?"

"Not like this," Emily muttered. Serena pulled one of the bears out of the bag and laughed.

"Samurai Teddy Rangers," she read the tag on its ear. "Blue Teddy."

"That's mine," Mia held out her hands and caught the bear as Serena tossed it to her. The eldest Samurai then pulled out the rest of the bears. She tossed the red and gold ones over to Jayden, the pink one to Mia, and the green and yellow ones to Emily. She then looked at the bottom of the bag, where an extra green bear was sitting.

"Baby?" she looked to Emily. The yellow Ranger nodded.

"It's a boy; I figured I would get him the green one."

"The cashier gave us a funny look when we were checking them out," Mia smiled. "I think what threw her off was the double green."

With the bears in his hands, Jayden nodded and then gestured to the hallway, "I'm going to find Antonio and see if maybe a golden teddy bear can cheer him up and get him to talk."

"Be careful," Serena told him, "He's kind of… fragile right now."

"He's my best friend," Jayden said, "I know what to do."

He set off down the hall to his bedroom and knocked before entering. He heard Antonio telling him to go away but he didn't listen. He pushed the door open and tossed the red bear to the gold Ranger.

"There, now you don't have to be jealous of Amanda. You've got your best friend with you all the time."

"What's this?" Antonio looked at the bear in his hands, then the one Jayden was holding.

"Mia and Emily found them," Jayden took a seat on his bed and looked over at Antonio, "Emily's pretty pissed at you, you know, and I don't blame her. What happened?"

"Nothing," Antonio closed himself up and put his face back into his pillow, "Just go away."

"Antonio, you injured a teammate! You hurt one of your best friends! I know you would never do anything like that intentionally. If something's bothering you…"

"Maybe I don't want to talk about it."

"Ignoring it won't make it go away."

"I can sure as hell try."

"Antonio…"

"Get out!" Antonio pointed to the door, "Talking only makes it worse!"

"Whatever," Jayden tossed the gold teddy bear onto his bed as he got to his feet, "but when Mike gets back, you owe him an apology and a good excuse for breaking his face."

"It's not like he needs it. He's already got a girlfriend…"

"I've offered you…"

"I'm not desperate and I don't want a girlfriend!" Antonio shouted, turning to face Jayden and glaring at him with eyes that could burn the fire Samurai. "You don't get it! Just get out!"

"Antonio…"

"I swear, Jay, I'll break your nose as well. We'll see if pretty little Amanda likes you after that."

"If you're trying to break us up…"

"Of course not," Antonio shook his head, "I just hope Xandred finds out, comes after her, and rips her apart."

"Antonio!"

"Whatever," Antonio jumped off the bed and bumped shoulders with Jayden as he stormed out of the room, "I'm going fishing again. I don't know when or if I'll be back."

"Antonio…"

"Have fun with _Amanda_."

"Antonio, wait," Jayden followed Antonio down the hall and watched as the gold Ranger bumped into Serena. She was on her way to her room with all her new baby gear.

"It's because of you!" he shouted in her face, "This is all your fault."

"We can talk…"

"No! Just because your love life is ruined doesn't mean you have to fuck mine up for me as well!" he shoved Serena into the wall and stormed out of the house. Serena and Jayden traded looks.

"What did you say to him?" they both asked the other. Jayden shrugged and Serena rubbed her forehead.

"I wish he's talk so I knew for sure."

"Knew what?" Jayden asked. Serena looked to him and shook her head.

"I'll only make it worse by telling you. I'll go after him…"

"No," Jayden shook his head. "We won't condone behaviour like this. "He'll come back when he's ready to apologize."

"What if he gets hurt?"

"He's got his Samuraizer on him."

"What if he hurts someone else?" Serena asked. Jayden shared the same worry but shook his head.

"Hopefully he won't."

-Samurai-

After a few hours of waiting, Emily finally heard noise by the front door, and Scruffy racing down the hall told her someone was coming home. She heard the door open and jumped out of her seat, nearly knocking the game board over and ruining the game for everyone else.

She raced down the hallway but Kevin stopped her before she could reach Mike.

"Careful…"

"Dude, I'm not dying," Mike tapped Kevin on the arm and leaned down to give his girlfriend a hug. "It's nothing serious. Barely a break."

When Emily pulled away from Mike she saw what he was talking about. It didn't look like nothing serious. His nose and eyes seemed badly bruised and swollen and there were drops of blood on his shirt from when he had bled. There was also a bandage covering his nose, and Mike seemed to be in some pain.

"Nothing serious?" she asked him.

"It'll heal up in a few weeks," Mike nodded, "As long as I take care of it. I got drugs, though."

"Painkillers," Kevin handed the bag to Emily, "Just for the first couple of days."

"Jayden said Antonio hit you because he lost a game," Emily asked Mike, "Why would he do that?"

"I kind of rubbed his face in it," Mike shrugged his shoulders. "I guess it's kind of my fault for provoking him."

"He shouldn't have broken your nose," Emily argued with some anger as she, Mike, and Kevin joined the others in the common room.

"I'm fine," Mike wrapped his arm around her and leaned in to kiss her, "I pr… ow!"

"I would probably hold off on the kissing until your nose isn't as sensitive," Kevin suggested while Mia got up from her seat to get Mike some ice. Mike glared at the blue Ranger for a moment and then he turned to Emily.

"I think he's got a point. Breathing hurts…"

Emily stood up on her toes and kissed Mike's cheek. He smiled down at her while Mia came back with some ice.

"This should help," she told the green Ranger. He took it from her and winced as he lightly pressed it against his nose. It hurt, but it felt good at the same time. He felt Emily taking his hand as she started to bounce.

"Oh, oh! I just remembered, today's not a really bad day! Pick: green or yellow!"

"For what?"

"I want green so you can have yellow," Emily suddenly took off. Mike, with the ice in his face, couldn't see where she had gone but in a flash she was back. He pulled the ice away from his face and looked down. He let out a laugh.

"A yellow Samurai Ranger bear?"

"We found it!"

"There's a blue and pink one for us in our room," Mia said to Kevin. "We bought the full set…"

"You did."

"Unfortunately," Mia sighed. Kevin laughed and hugged her.

"One day we'll learn how to say no."

"Cute, Em," Mike smiled and took the yellow bear from Emily. "I'm going to call mine Energizer Ranger."

"But it's me…"

"Exactly," Serena chuckled and exchanged smiles with Mike.

-Samurai-

Antonio sat on a rock. He had taken his fishing cart with him but he didn't feel much like fishing.

He couldn't make sense of anything anymore. Everything just felt so backwards to him. Why was he jealous of Amanda? Why was he jealous of Emily? Why was he, only now, starting to notice features about the guys that were always there. Mike must have always had nice eyes. Jayden was always in perfect shape.

A reason was poking its way to the surface of Antonio's mind, but he just couldn't let it out. He didn't want to let it out. He wanted to be a regular guy, like all his friends. Jayden was his best friend, that was it.

"I'm just jealous," he whispered to himself. "I'm just jealous because Jayden has a girlfriend and I don't. I won't deny it anymore."

He was lying to himself, but that excuse was better than the one in his head. He nodded and took out his phone.

"I'll prove it to her. She thinks she knows but she doesn't. There's nothing wrong with me. Nothing at all."

He dialled Serena's number and waited for her to pick up.

"Can we talk? … Yeah, about what happened. I'll apologize to him after we talk … I'm by the river at my usual spot … I'll explain everything to you, just please meet me here."

When he got his answer he hung up the phone and looked into the water. He was a normal guy, and like all the other guys he could have a girlfriend. There was nothing wrong with him. Nothing at all.


	84. Personal Time

It took a bit of convincing, but Serena managed to get out of the Shiba House alone to go out and find the angry gold Ranger. Jayden had seen Antonio's outburst and knew the gold Ranger was mad at Serena for reasons he couldn't understand. Emily didn't want her sister going off to find Antonio. She wanted to find him. Mike may have claimed he was fine, but Emily still had a few words to say to Antonio for breaking Mike's nose.

She found him exactly where he said he would be. He was sitting at his usual spot by the water but he wasn't fishing. He was just sitting there and waiting. She cleared her throat to draw his attention and he jumped up.

"You're ready to talk?"

"You're wrong about me," Antonio glared hatefully at Serena. "I'm not gay."

"I didn't want to offend you," Serena said. "I know I could be wrong…"

"You are wrong," Antonio nodded. "Very wrong. I'm not gay!"

"I'm sorry, it's just that you kept going on about Amanda and Jayden and you kept saying you didn't want a girlfriend. I just thought it was worth…"

Serena was cut off as Antonio pressed his lips to hers. Her eyes went wide and as soon as she realised what was happening she placed her hands on his chest and shoved him away.

"What the hell!" she shouted and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, "Antonio…"

"I'm not gay!"

"There's nothing wrong with it, you know."

"It's not normal. I like girls," Antonio moved in closer to Serena but she pushed him away.

"Who are you trying to prove it too?" Serena asked him. She pointed to a rock, "Sit down, now!"

"I'm normal! I'm not a freak!"

"I know that," Serena shouted and pointed to the rock again, "Sit down or I'll do to you what I sometimes wish I could do to Mike."

Antonio grumbled as he took a seat. Serena sighed and looked down at him.

"I won't tell a soul what happened here if you tell me what's up. Why the hell did you think it was okay to hit Mike?"

"I didn't want to hurt him…"

"So the controller just slipped out of your hand and hit his face?"

"He was looking at me."

"So?"

"It made me uncomfortable."

"Why?"

Antonio remained silent. He wasn't going to admit it. He wasn't going to talk about it. Serena took a seat on the ground and looked up at Antonio.

"Do you like Jayden?"

"He's my best friend."

"Do you like him, like him?"

"You did this to me," Antonio spat. "You put these ideas in my head…"

"Why do you hate Amanda?"

"I just do."

"Because Jayden likes her and not you?"

"No…"

"I wish I had an answer for you, Antonio," Serena said, "but I think you know the truth."

"I'm normal. I like girls. I kissed you, didn't I?"

"And what did you feel? Anything special? Any spark?"

"Yes."

"Please don't lie to me, Antonio. You barely bat an eyelash when you walked into my room as I was changing. Mike looking at you made you uncomfortable, but me half naked didn't?"

"It wasn't like I was totally comfortable either," Antonio shrugged.

"I used to share a room with Mike and Emily, remember?" Serena said. "Mike walked in on me changing more than once. Every time he turned red, stammered, stuttered and stumbled out."

"So you're calling me a freak?"

"Far from it," Serena took Antonio's hand, "I won't tell anyone, I swear, just please don't lie to yourself."

"It's wrong."

"Is it?"

"I shouldn't be feeling this way. He's my best friend. I should be looking at you, or Mia, or Emily. I should be jealous that Jayden has a girlfriend, not that he's spending less time with me."

"Do you want some time off?" Serena offered. "Maybe it'll help. Maybe some time away from Jayden and the Shiba House will help you see things clearly."

"You think I'll come back gay and proud, don't you? I won't do it."

"Antonio, please," Serena pulled his hand as he got up. "You're a good looking guy. Go out, take some time off. Find a girl or a guy, or just be on your own for a little while. Whatever you need to do."

"I…"

"Go home," Serena suggested. "Your dad loves you, Antonio. He can help, I know he can."

"I'll put him in danger."

"You'll put the entire team in danger."

"You're kicking me out!"

"What?"

"Don't ask, don't tell!"

"Antonio, no."

"I'm not gay! I'll show you!"

He leaned in closer to Serena but she shoved him into the ground.

"Gay or straight, I don't care. Make one more move and I'll shove my foot so far up your ass your grandkids will be tasting toes."

Antonio glared at Serena, "Maybe I will go home. Maybe I don't want to be on this stupid team anymore. I only came for Jayden and now he doesn't want me. He'd rather spend all his time with _Amanda._ Well, here, take my Samurai Morpher! Give it to her, or you take it! I don't care. I'm going home!"

Antonio threw his Samurai Morpher at Serena and she just barely had enough of a reaction to catch it before she wound up with a broken nose as well. She watched as Antonio grabbed his cart and started making his way away from the Shiba House.

"That could have gone better," she whispered to herself and turned home.

-Samurai-

To the Rangers, Serena said Antonio was taking a few days off to think about the way he was behaving. She didn't breathe a word about what she had really talked about with the gold Ranger. They didn't need to know. She just hoped he would come to his senses and he would come home.

"He'll be back for Thanksgiving, right?" Mia asked. "I had a whole dinner planned and…"

Serena shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know."

"Is it because of the video game?" Mike pointed to the game system, "Should I have let him win?"

"No, Mike, it's got nothing to do with the video games."

"Is he scared of coming home to an angry Emily?" Kevin chuckled.

Serena shook her head, "No. Look, guys, it's really personal."

"Do you know why he's gone?" Emily asked her sister. "Tell us! We want to know! Maybe we can help."

"You can't."

"But…"

"You can't."

"He will come home, though, right?" Jayden asked. He seemed the most upset by Antonio's disappearance, which was understandable. Antonio was his best friend, even when he was acting like a douche to the other Rangers.

"It's up to him," Serena said. She pulled his Samurai Morpher from her pocket and handed it to Jayden, "For now, maybe you can hang on to this."

"What about the Black Box?" Mike asked. "I know we haven't touched it in months, but what if it needs to be programmed? What if we figure out how to program Mia's and Jayden's stones without killing them? Only Antonio can do that."

"We'll figure it out."

"So, he's really gone?" Mia said. "We're down to five again?"

"Hopefully it's only temporary," Serena nodded, "but yeah, we're down to five."

"Four," Mike pointed to his nose, "I'll help if it's a seriously bad Nighlok, but the doctor did say to take it easy. One blow to the face and that could be it for me."

"That changes things drastically," Jayden sighed and looked to the dojo, "C'mon, guys, let's go figure out how this is going to work."

The Rangers followed Jayden to the dojo and left Serena on her own. She sighed loudly to herself before hearing footsteps behind her. Mentor Ji placed his hand on her shoulder.

"I heard."

"Sorry. I probably should have spoken to you before…"

"You did what was best for your friend," Mentor said.

"He hates me. I can't tell you why, but he hates me."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Serena shook her head, "I'm going to go lie down for a bit."


	85. Accepting Facts

Everything had shifted in the house now that Antonio was gone, but Mia was determined to keep her Thanksgiving dinner going as planned. There were only a few days left before the big meal and she still had to get everything ready.

She had already talked to Mike about what he wanted that would be special for him for the day. She had to reshuffle the teams for the pre-dinner football game, but it would still work out. Serena and Emily were going to get their apple pie, made by Serena.

Mia just needed to find out what Jayden and Mentor Ji wanted. She found them both in the common room. Mentor was reading an old book while Jayden was practicing his symbols. She cleared her throat, attracting their attention.

"Thanksgiving; any requests?"

Jayden and Mentor traded looks and then glanced to Mia and shook their heads, "No."

"You guys didn't do anything special?"

"It was normally just the two of us," Mentor explained. "The most we did was eat together."

"We're doing that anyways, right?" Jayden asked. Mia nodded her head.

"Yeah, of course, but there's nothing you want to do that would make Thanksgiving special. No distant family members you used to celebrate with?"

Jayden bit his lip and then quickly shook his head, "No… though I was thinking…"

"What?" Mia asked eagerly.

Jayden turned to Mentor, "I miss Antonio, I really do… but if he's not going to be here maybe we could have Amanda over?" he quickly turned his head to Mia, "I mean, it's not like you'd have to cook any more than if Antonio had stayed, so it shouldn't be a problem for you there… but."

"Jayden, we cannot bring an outsider to the Shiba House. We took a big risk with Antonio's father," Mentor shook his head.

"I know, but that worked out well. We can pull it off for one night, surely."

"You want her to meet the family already?" Mia asked and glanced over her shoulder and down the hallway. She didn't know what the others were up to, but she knew they were up to something crazy, goofy, or strange enough to scare off any girlfriend.

"Her dad's working; her grandparents are leaving for holidays, her little brother's celebrating with a friend," Jayden nodded, "Why not?"

"Mike! Stop making the teddy bears kiss!"

Mia and Mentor continued to stare at Jayden as if he were crazy while Kevin shouted for Mike to stop with the blue and pink bears.

"It would be a trust test of commitment," Mentor said and Mia laughed. "While the Samurai are all residing in the house, any girl you find will need to be able to handle…"

"Them," Mia flicked her thumb over her shoulder as Mike raced in behind her, pink and blue bears in hand, trying to outrun Kevin.

"I will smash that nose in, Mike! Give them back or at least cut it out!"

Mike jumped up on the table and pressed both bears' faces into each other, "Mwah!"

"That's it," Kevin turned around and stormed off, "This means war."

"What?" Mike dropped his shoulders and followed Kevin out of the room, "Dude, where are you going?"

Mentor turned back to Jayden, "You will need to hide the Ranger equipment," he told his son.

"Though something tells me Amanda's not going to notice Zords flying around with those guys running about," Mia smirked while nodding her head to Ji's statement, "but I do agree with Mentor. And I'm not going to be the one doing it. I already have to cook."

"I'll do it," Jayden said with a smile. "Anything to avoid being alone for the holidays."

"You miss Antonio, huh?"

"He was my best friend," Jayden nodded. "And to be fair, Serena, Mike, and Emily have each other, you and Kevin will have the entire day together… it just… won't be the same without Antonio. No offense, Mentor."

"None taken," Mentor said as he got up. "I will be participating in the football game, but I doubt I would be able to ever take Antonio's place for day."

"Speaking of football, I'll have to reshuffle the teams again if Amanda's coming," Mia groaned. "That little game is turning out to be harder than the dinner prep."

"Just one last time, Jayden," Mentor said with nothing but a look of complete seriousness on his face, "Are you sure you want to bring Amanda home to meet the family?"

"Mia!" Emily suddenly walked into the room and whined with her arms crossed and a pout on her face, "Kevin stole my green Samurai Teddy and he's making him make out with Teddy me."

Mia wrapped her arms around Emily comfortingly and looked to Jayden, "You can still back out."

"I'll give her plenty of warning," Jayden nodded his head, "but I think she can handle it."

-Samurai-

In her room, Serena was sitting on her bed with her phone in her hand. She knew Antonio was on personal leave, but he had left her on such horrible terms she wanted to make sure everything would be okay between them. The gold Ranger had a habit of getting on her nerves, but no more so than Emily did. He was like her little brother, the brother she never had, always pushing her buttons to the very limit and gracefully getting himself out of trouble before he had to face her horrible wrath… well, sometimes she caught him.

But Antonio wasn't answering his phone. In fact, he was ignoring her calls. She hadn't meant to offend him by implying he was gay. She merely meant it as something to consider. She had no issues with it. She had grown up in a very small town with very little exposure to much other than the simple, traditional, farming life, but she had always been taught to view people as people, not labels. Even if she did have some prejudice against homosexuality, she loved Antonio long before she ever could have assumed he was gay. She couldn't imagine turning on him for that simple reason.

Antonio didn't seem to see it that way. If his reaction to her guess was anything to go by, it seemed like he was struggling with the fact. She was almost certain, because of his reaction that he was gay and was trying to deny it. He was extremely hurt and offended by her, and he had let it show by leaving on such bad terms.

So she left another message for him on his cell phone, "Please come home. Everyone here misses you, and I haven't breathed a word about my stupid theories. They know nothing. Please come home, if anything, for them."

She ended the call and set her phone down on her bed. She had half a mind to call his father to make sure he was safe and sound at home. Back when Mr. Garcia thought she was carrying his grandchild, he had given her his number as a contact, in case she needed anything. When the truth came out she hadn't deleted it, just in case she did need something. He took the hard truth very well and was still excited about the pregnancy. His son would just be an uncle instead of the father, but that didn't make the child any less special in his eyes.

It would make contacting him easier, but the matter she would discuss wouldn't be.

Still, she valued Antonio's safety and called his father.

Her conversation with him was brief. Antonio had gone home to his father. Mr. Garcia had offered to pass the phone to the gold Ranger, but Serena declined politely. Antonio didn't want to talk, that much was clear.

"Did he at least tell you why he came home?" Serena asked. There was a long sigh on the other end.

"Yes. He's pretty upset with you."

"Just… if you can, tell him I didn't mean anything by it," she said. "He's just been so… jealous with Jayden and his new girlfriend and with everything else that's happened, or hasn't happened, it was bound to come up."

"I will tell him," Mr. Garcia assured Serena. "And I will take care of him. Hopefully he'll want to return home. He loves being with you guys."

"I know. Before I go, tell him to check his voicemail. He doesn't have to call me back… but yeah."

"I will."

"Thanks," she hung up the phone again and groaned loudly. At least Antonio was safe, but she still wished he felt safe enough to come home.

There was a knock on her door, which pulled her from her thoughts and would hopefully distract her. Before she could invite the person into her room, Emily opened the door. She had her arms full with four Samurai Ranger Bears: blue, green, yellow, and pink, and did not seem happy to be holding them. She dropped them on Serena's floor.

"Can you hide these for me?"

Serena chuckled, "Emily, hide and go seek with your teddies was cute when you were three. Now it's worrisome."

"Mike and Kevin keep making the bears kiss each other," Emily pouted. "It was funny when it was green and yellow or pink and blue, but now they're mixing it up."

"You and Kevin, and Mike and Mia kissing creeps you out too?"

"No. Well, yeah, but that's not what I meant."

"Then what did you…" Serena looked down at the bears and finally realised what combination Emily was talking about. She glanced back over to her sister, "What's wrong with that?"

Emily stuck out her tongue, "Me and Mia? Kevin and Mike?"

"So?" Serena found herself feeling very defensive of the matter. Emily shrugged her shoulders.

"What?"

"There's nothing wrong with it," Serena turned her sister around and gently pushed her out the door, "Go tell the boys to stop messing around. It's not funny."

She closed the door behind Emily and leaned against it as she sighed. It was no wonder Antonio wasn't coming out, even to himself. She may have had no problem with the fact that he was (might be) gay, but she had no idea what the rest of the house thought. She wasn't even sure where her own sister stood on the matter. She couldn't change the entire world's opinion for Antonio, but he at least needed a house where he felt safe and free.

"Dumbasses," Serena muttered about her friends as she walked to her desk and tried to come up with the next training lesson. She was sure Mentor or Jayden wouldn't mind if it deviated away from symbol and sword training, as there would be an aspect of team bonding imbedded, but this exercise was mostly going to be about acceptance, especially within the Samurai family.


	86. Embarrassing Shirts

The team sat around the common room in the very early morning. They didn't know why they were up at this hour, but apparently Serena wanted them up for a special training lesson.

They were all seated in a circle on the floor and were shifting around uncomfortably as they waited. Mike was slowly falling asleep and without thinking he leaned to the side and rested his head on Kevin's shoulder. The blue Ranger frowned and pushed Mike in the other direction, so he was sleeping on Emily. Serena walked into the room at that moment with five shirts, each in the Rangers' colours. She handed the first one to her sister.

"Go to your room and write down one thing about yourself you don't want anyone finding out. Write it on the back of the shirt."

"Like what?" Emily asked.

"Something embarrassing. I'll know if you're lying, so please do it right."

"Okay…" Emily took the shirt and nervously walked out of the room after taking the special pen from Serena.

While her sister was gone, Serena looked at the four other Rangers, "I want you guys to do the same. Grab a shirt and write something really embarrassing and private about yourself."

"What if we don't want to do this," Mike shot his hand up in the air. "There's a reason we don't want people knowing these things."

"Sometimes you have to do things you don't like," Serena shrugged her shoulders and handed him a shirt. "Besides, Emily's is bound to be extremely embarrassing. I already know what it is. Do you really want her to be the only one making herself vulnerable?"

Mike, Mia, Kevin and Jayden all grumbled. Serena smirked. She watched them take their shirts and head to their own rooms. Fortunately, her little sister whom she knew so well was the heart of the team. She knew the others wouldn't intentionally make Emily feel left out or vulnerable. This was one way she could ensure they all participated properly in her exercise. It was the only way it would work.

They came back with their shirts conveniently folded up under their arms so no one could read what had been written. She held out her hands.

"Give them back."

Nervously, the Rangers all handed Serena their shirts. She then pointed to their bedrooms.

"Go back to bed," she told them. "We're done."

"Seriously?" Mike asked and jumped to his feet. "That's it?"

"That's it," Serena nodded. "You're all good to go."

"You're not going to read them out loud or anything?" Jayden asked. He looked around at the others worriedly, "Not that I want you to, but…"

"I won't even read them," Serena promised and sent them on their way. She heard them muttering how useless this exercise seemed to be and smirked to herself.

-Samurai-

Several hours later, once regular training was complete and the Rangers were ready to start their regular day, they all went off to the showers to get washed up. Serena had been noticeably absent, but no one worried much about it. She was in her fourth month of pregnancy and getting bigger and bigger as the weeks went on. As long as the baby was growing, Serena would be up and down in her activity level. Sometimes she would be ready and pumped for training in the morning, other times she would prefer to sleep in.

With their random 3:00 AM lesson, the Rangers assumed the latter. They went off to their bedrooms and bathrooms without once thinking of what Serena could have possibly been doing while they were in the dojo training.

Kevin had just finished up his shower and, with nothing but a towel, he walked to his dresser to pick out his clothes for the day. He grabbed a pair of clean boxers and pants and slipped them on. Then he put on a pair of socks and finally he reached to the second drawer from the top for a shirt.

When he opened it up he found it was empty. There was only one blue shirt sitting neatly in the drawer. He furrowed his brow and looked over to the laundry hamper. All his clothes were gone from there as well.

He walked to the closet. He was already finding this odd but maybe Serena had decided to do the laundry and collected all his shirts already. It didn't matter. He opened his closet and reached for a sweater. Anyone would do.

His hand caught nothing but thin air and he gasped. All his sweaters were gone as well. Not a single one left in his closet. He turned back to his dresser and picked up the one remaining shirt. As it unfolded itself in his hands, he caught something written on the back.

_Bed wetter._

He clutched onto the shirt tightly and looked around, hoping Mia hadn't come out of the bathroom to see it. It was the shirt Serena had given him to write one embarrassing fact about himself. He had done what she had asked and had been thankful when she didn't read them a loud or expose them in anyway.

Before Mia could even know this shirt had found the light of day, he hurried out of the room and down to the laundry room to grab a new shirt. He didn't care if it was dirty, stained or torn; he would wear anything but this shirt.

But the laundry room was cleaned. There was not a single article of clothing anywhere in sight.

He clutched the shirt tightly in his fists as he figured out what was going on. Serena's lesson wasn't over. She had all the shirts.

Stuffing the shirt into his pocket (there was no way he was going to wear it around the house), Kevin set out to find Serena and demand she give him his clothes back. They belonged to him; she had no right to take them.

In the hallway he bumped into Mike. The green Ranger was also walking around shirtless, and like Kevin, had a shirt tucked into his pocket. The two men looked at each other and nervously held onto their shirts just to prevent the other from snatching it and reading their secret.

"Laundry room's clean," Kevin said. "If you're looking for a shirt, there's nothing there."

"Seriously?" Mike groaned. He looked down at his one embarrassing shirt, "There's no way I'm wearing this."

"I guess we go shirtless, then," Kevin said.

Suddenly the furnace started to roar. Neither Ranger made anything of it until they walked past a vent and Mike felt cool air coming out. To his horror he realised it wasn't the furnace blowing warm air into the house, but it was the A/C.

"I can find the thermostat," Kevin assured Mike with a pat on the back and the boys raced to the common room. Kevin opened up the thermostat and tried to set the house to a temperature that would be good for everyone.

But somehow the thermostat was password protected. Kevin couldn't make any changes unless he knew the password. He tried punching one in, hoping for something generic, but it was declined. He turned to Mike and sighed, "The house is set for a cool sixty-three degrees."

"Sixty-three? And I can't find a single sweater or shirt except for…?" Mike glanced down at the shirt before shaking his head. "I would rather freeze."

"Same," Kevin agreed. The boys turned around to find Jayden in the same predicament as they were in. He was also carrying around his only shirt and choosing to walk around half naked, even if the house was cooling down. He tried walking over to the thermostat, but Kevin shook his head.

"Don't bother."

"The laundry room is bear as well," Mike sighed.

"Serena took all our stuff," Kevin said.

Jayden seemed uncomfortable, but he shrugged.

"At least we still have pants. She could have left us in our boxers."

"Good point," Kevin nodded.

Mike let out a long sigh, "Alright… I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I think I'm going to go see if there's anything Emily owns that'll fit me."

"Seriously?" Kevin chuckled. "You remember when we swapped colours, right? Mia barely fit in Emily's biggest sweaters. How do you expect to…?"

"I'd rather wear a shirt that's too small for me than nothing at all," Mike shrugged, "Or your girlfriend's clothes. Pink's not my colour. I don't care if true men wear it or not."

Kevin and Jayden exchanged looks, "Think she's got an extra-large shirt that might fit…?"

"Don't bother," Emily said as she and Mia walked into the common room, also half dressed. "All our shirts are gone too."

"Except for these," Mia held up her embarrassing pink shirt while making sure to hide the words on the back.

Serena walked in at that moment, whistling happily. The five Rangers turned to their fully dressed friend and glared angrily.

"Where are our shirts?" Jayden asked.

"Hidden," Serena shrugged, "and before you ask, so are all my shirts. Well, except what I'm wearing. I can't exactly walk around in my bra, can I?"

"We're doing it just fine," Mia gestured to herself and Emily. "Give us our shirts back!"

"Why?"

"For starters, it's getting cold in here," Kevin pointed to the thermostat.

"And we're not about to walk around half-naked all day!" Mike added.

Serena pointed to the shirts they were holding in their hands, "Put those on."

Jayden scoffed and shook his head, "Yeah, right."

"Your clothes are missing and there's nothing I can do about them," Serena said. "Either you guys can walk around here half naked, or you can put on the shirts I gave you."

"I'm going topless, then," Mike crossed his arms over his chest. "It's not like I have anything to hide."

"Then why won't you put on the shirt?" Serena smirked. Her brother in-law glared at her. She simply shrugged her shoulders and turned away.

"I'm going to get started on lunch. Any requests?"

"Our shirts back, please!"

Serena thought about it for a moment, "I don't think I know how to make that."

As she left the room, the Rangers exchanged looks.

Suddenly, there was a snap and a howl from Mike as he jumped away from Mia. He rubbed his side with a pout as he glared at her. She glared back.

"Stop staring."

"It's hard," he whined. She twisted her shirt back up again and he backed away and closed his eyes. "Alright, alright! Are you happy? I'll just walked around with…" he continued to back up with his eyes closed but didn't see the table behind him. He ran into it and fell backwards, knocking everything over.

"Your shirt doesn't say clumsy, does it?" Jayden asked as he helped Mike up to his feet. The green Ranger shook his head and opened his eyes.

"If it did, I would wear it."

"I say we burn these things and go on strike," Kevin suggested, holding up his shirt.

Emily shook her head, "Then we'll never get our shirts back."

"We could go to the mall and buy new shirts," Mia suggested

"One problem," Jayden said, "That would involve wearing these shirts in public. I don't even want to wear them around the house."

"Jackets!" Mike cried and raced to the front hallway. The others exchanged looks before they heard a loud groan. "She took those too!"

Mia sighed and rolled her eyes before she caught Jayden and Kevin looking at her. Feeling very self-conscious, even in front of Kevin, she held up her shirt and threatened to snap it on them.

"Stop staring," she warned them and wrapped her arm around Emily, "C'mon, I have to show you something."

"What?" Emily asked.

"Anything that isn't in here."

Mia led the yellow Ranger away from the boys and to another room while Mike came back, looking very disappointed about the missing jackets.

"What are we going to do now?" he asked. "There's no way any of us are wearing these, right?"

"I'd rather walk around naked," Jayden said.

"Fortunately you don't have to," Kevin looked down at his shirt. For a moment, he contemplated wearing it but then quickly decided he would rather freeze and roam around the house shirtless than let all his teammates know his he had been a chronic bed wetter. He could already hear the teasing and the name calling he would receive if anyone every found out.

"This is cruel…" Mike whined as he and Jayden came to the same conclusion as Kevin. There was no way anyone was finding out their embarrassing secrets.


	87. Public Humiliation

"Will it come off?" Emily asked while Mia scrubbed the shirt, trying to remove the ink before it set in permanently. Mia groaned and shook her head. Whatever pen Serena had given them to use was a good pen. It didn't smear or smudge when they wrote, it worked perfectly on the cotton fabric, and there was no way it was going to be washed off any time soon. She held up her wet, soapy pink shirt with a sigh.

"Nope."

Emily looked at her own shirt and tried not to sneak a glance at the words printed on Mia's. She flipped the shirt inside out to see if she could wear it like that, but the one thing the ink from Serena's "magic pen", as Mia called it while scrubbing, had done was bleed through to the other side of the shirt. While the wording was backwards, it was still obvious what had been written.

"That sucks."

"Remind me to smash your sister's head in next time I see her," Mia grumbled, tossing her shirt aside.

Emily played with her yellow shirt.

"Maybe this isn't that bad," she said. "Serena's obviously trying to teach us something."

"She's got a funny way of doing it," Mia looked up at Emily, "Either we're walking around a house full of guys half naked, or we're reliving the whole Negatron incident all over again. I know you lived through it, but the rest of us…"

"What does your shirt say?" Emily asked. Mia was quick to shake her head and refuse to answer. She didn't want anyone, not even Kevin, knowing her biggest, darkest secret. It was too embarrassing and too terrifying to expose to the public, even if the only public who would ever know was her friends.

"What does your shirt say, Emily?"

Emily lowered her head, "Nothing you don't technically already know."

"We know you've been bullied, you've had self-esteem issues, we were there when your mother ran away," Mia started to list everything off for Emily, "We shared a room, squirt. There's not much I don't know about you. What could be more embarrassing than that time you feel into the bag of peas? Twice? In under five minutes?"

Emily held up her shirt and pointed to Mia, "Whatever we wrote on these shirts."

"Yours can't be much worse."

"It feels like it is."

"Serena knows, right?" Mia asked. She remembered threatening Emily with her embarrassing shirt, saying she knew what Emily was supposed to put. The yellow Ranger nodded her head so Mia smiled, "And she still loves you."

"She had to," Emily said. "She was my sister."

"I'm your sister too, right?" Mia pointed out. "Trust me; whatever's on that shirt won't change my opinion of you."

"Same here," Emily picked up the pink shirt from the floor and held it out to Mia, "What's on your shirt?"

"It's private."

"But my life's an open book?" Emily shook her head, "No way. I'm not telling you anything until you tell me what's on your shirt."

Mia sighed, "Well, one thing's for sure."

"What's that?"

"We're not leaving this bathroom until one of us is brave enough to put on a shirt."

"I can wear your shirt and go beg my sister to give us our clothes back," Emily suggested and Mia scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Nice try, but it doesn't say stupid on the back of my shirt."

"Worth a shot."

-Samurai-

Jayden tapped his foot against the floor both because he was nervous and because he was starting to freeze. If he didn't get his shirts back from Serena soon, he was going to have to cancel his dinner date with Amanda, and there was no way to explain it so that he didn't sound like he came from a family of lunatics.

"_Amanda? Hi. I'm just calling to reschedule our date to another night at some point in the future. My pregnant, hormonal, sister-roommate kind of lost her marbles and hid all my shirts, as well as the shirts of everyone else in the house and turned the thermostat down so we can all freeze. I think she's trying to teach us a lesson, but I have no idea why. She won't give us back our shirts until we publicly humiliate ourselves, and for reasons I don't think I have to explain, we're not ready to do that yet. Please accept my apology and wait for me to call and set up a date when I finally have a non-humiliating shirt to wear on our date and someone shoots my pregnant, crazy friend."_

He sighed. Either he was going to have to say that, or he would have to lie to her. It was bad enough he couldn't tell her he was a Samurai. He didn't want to have to lie to her about anything else.

He was fiddling with his shirt and he hoped he could find a way to worm out of this one when suddenly Scruffy raced into the room. The boys watched as the dog grabbed the first thing he could in his mouth, which turned out to be Jayden's shirt, and ripped it from the red Ranger's hands. Jayden's eyes widened and he dove to grab his shirt back.

"Scruffs, this isn't funny!" he called, missing the dog and his shirt by a hair. "Drop it!"

"Maybe he'll tear it up! Maybe you'll be the lucky one," Mike said.

Jayden shook his head, "I'm not taking that chance. What would I tell Serena?"

"The dog ate your homework?" Kevin chuckled.

Jayden lunged for the dog again, but Scruffy jumped away just in time. Jayden tried for a third time, but Scruffy got the better of him. The dog tackled Jayden to the ground and landed on top of him. That was when he dropped the shirt on the red Ranger's face, and before Jayden to snatch it, Mike had read what was printed.

"Thumb sucker?" his eyes widened and he tried to contain a laugh, "You suck you thumb?"

"Sucked!" Jayden corrected quickly, turning the colour of his shirt and he felt sick as he watched both Mike and Kevin try to not explode with laughter.

"That's better than mine!" Mike wiped a tear from his eye, "Jay, that's embarrassing. Does the wittle wed Wanger get scarwed of the big, bad Moogers?"

"It's not funny!" Jayden shouted. "I used to suck my thumb, okay. I don't anymore."

"How long ago did you stop? Right now?"

"Shut up!" Jayden stomped his foot and stormed off, hating Serena, hating Mike, and hating this lesson. What was he supposed to learn from it? His friends would find any excuse to laugh at him? He had no idea what Serena was thinking, but this was not a good exercise.

In the common room, Kevin was trying to hold in a laugh, but he was a little more diplomatic about it than Mike. He smacked the green Ranger on the arm.

"Mike, wasn't that a little mean?"

"Thumb sucker!" Mike clutched his stomach and fell off his stool to roll around on the ground. "Our fearless leader is a thumb sucker."

"And he can still kick your ass blindfolded," Kevin reminded the green Ranger. "I think you really hurt him."

"Thumb sucker."

"Imagine how you would feel if Jayden laughed at your shirt," Kevin said.

"Kevin, I don't think you get it," Mike said and then repeated the words on Jayden's shirt slowly. "Thumb. Sucker."

"What if Emily laughed at your deepest, darkest secret?" Kevin asked and shook his head. "You wouldn't like it. Jayden's your friend. He wasn't ready to tell us about that and you laughed in his face."

"You laughed too," Mike said. "I saw it."

"That doesn't make it right," Kevin sighed. "I'm going to go apologize. Are you going to come with me?"

Mike stopped his laughing and looked at his shirt. Kevin did have a point. Mike would have been humiliated if Scruffy had stolen his shirt and exposed his secret for the others to see.

"I did it again, didn't I?" Mike asked. Kevin nodded his head.

"Old habits die hard," he said. "One day, I'll sign you up for an empathy class."

"On the bright side," Mike was pulled up to his feet by Kevin, "I'm a pro at apologies."

"After what you did to Jayden, you better be."

-Samurai-

Jayden knocked on Mia and Kevin's bathroom door. He knew the girls were hiding out in there while they were forced to walk around shirtless. Now that Kevin and Mike knew his big secret, it was bound to come out to them sooner or later.

The door opened a crack, "You're not here to stare, are you?"

"Of course not," Jayden shook his head and offered Mia his shirt, "Sorry about that. That was… the first time… well, you get it."

"What's that?"

"My shirt," Jayden told her. "You or Emily can wear it. Mike and Kevin figured out what was on it."

Mia opened the door wide and looked at Jayden, "How did they find out?"

Jayden glared at Emily, "Her stupid dog."

"Jay, you don't have to do this," Emily walked up beside Mia, "We don't have to know if you don't want us to."

"Mike's laughing pretty hard," Jayden said. "You'll hear about it eventually. Might as well be the truth from me. I sucked my thumb until I was fifteen. I don't know why. It was comforting. I stopped because it got to the point where I was so embarrassed about it."

When Jayden looked to the girls he saw they were trying to hold back a snicker. His face fell. He thought they would have been more compassionate than the boys.

Mia noticed and took the shirt from his hand. She smiled at him.

"Sorry, Jay. We didn't mean to laugh."

"Yeah. It doesn't change how we see you," Emily added.

Jayden took the shirt back from Mia and handed it to Emily, "Put this on. I don't want to see my little sister half-naked."

"Sorry we laughed, Jay," Emily apologized for herself and Mia and slipped the shirt on. She wasn't going to argue with Jayden's orders, even if she felt bad for taking the shirt from Mia. When the shirt was on she hugged Jayden. "You're still good old Jayden to us, I promise."

"Nothing's changed," Mia nodded.

"Thanks, girls," Jayden smiled and it was then the bedroom door opened again and Mike and Kevin walked in.

"Jay, look, man, we're really sorry about what happened," Mike said as he walked into the room. "It was wrong to laugh."

"You can punch him if you want," Kevin suggested.

"How about you tell me what's on your shirts, I'll laugh, and we'll call it even?"

"What if I clean your bathroom for a month," Mike offered a different deal. "C'mon, Jayden, you know how embarrassing these things are."

"Let me kick your ass next training session and you clean my bathroom for two months and we'll call it fair."

"Just not the face," Mike pointed to his broken nose and then held out his hand for a shake. Jayden nodded in agreement with Mike's terms (not that he couldn't kick Mike's ass anyways), and shook Mike's hand. He then looked to Kevin.

"I saw you laughing too."

"And it was wrong, I'm sorry," Kevin said. "I shouldn't have laughed. I wouldn't have liked it if my shirt was revealed. I should have thought of that before I laughed. Really, Jay, I'm sorry."

There was a slow clap from the doorway and the Rangers turned to see Serena with a smile. They all got excited.

"Did we learn our lesson?" Kevin asked.

"Do we get our clothes back?" Emily bounced.

Serena shook her head, "Not quite," she asked for Emily's Samuraizer and when she received it she walked out of the room and traced a symbol. When she came back, she had an eraser in her hand.

"Magic eraser," she explained to the team and walked up behind Emily. She erased the words _"Thumb sucker"_ from the red shirt and just like that, the eraser was gone. "It gets rid of the ink. Unfortunately, until you guys learn the real lesson, you all still have to choose whether or not to hide your secrets or tell the world and make yourselves completely vulnerable."


	88. Secret's Out

Thanksgiving was only a day away. Less than a day away, actually. Mia had less than a day to get ready for her big night and she had nothing to wear.

Literally.

She had taken Jayden's shirt from Emily after convincing the yellow Ranger she would need it for cooking. At least she wasn't cooking half naked, but it was the principal of the matter. She was going to need her clothes back.

As she prepared the stuffing (and followed the recipes Kevin left for her), she caught a glance of her embarrassing pink shirt which sat rumpled up on the counter. She was sure no one would sneak in and steal it. They respected each other too much to do so, but she couldn't help thinking what it would be like to take initiative and be the brave soul who came out and just admitted what it was she was trying to hide. Maybe then she would get her clothes back and she would have something to wear to her own special dinner.

Then she shook her head and got back to work. There was no way anyone was going to find out. Her cheeks turned red just at the thought of her embarrassing secret. She didn't know what she was going to do if anyone else found out.

Jayden was lucky, in a way, that his secret was forced out and the others had been accepting. Now, if he wanted, he could wear his shirt, cover himself up a little bit, and keep from freezing in the cold, cold house. Mia was sure Serena turned the thermostat down again.

On one hand, if she told her secret, she could give Jayden back his shirt, wear her own, not have to worry about hiding this big, dark, issue from her friends, and just enjoy Thanksgiving dinner like it was meant to be enjoyed.

On the other hand, she could tell her secret and be publicly humiliated in front of the entire Shiba House. When they found out they would either laugh or take pity her and possibly treat her differently. She didn't want that to happen; not at all.

-Samurai-

In the common room, the boys and Emily had found blankets and were using them to keep warm. They only had one shirt to share between the five of them and Mia was wearing it in the kitchen that was being warmed up slightly by the oven being turned on.

Someone hadn't thought their idea to give Mia the shirt through.

"It's colder in here, I swear," Kevin muttered but he couldn't get up to check what temperate the room was at. He was partially warm under the blankets and if he shifted even a little bit, he would lose that warmth. He looked over to Mike and Emily. Emily was curled up in a ball on Mike's lap, hugging her boyfriend for warmth while he wrapped his arms and a blanket around her, keeping them both slightly warm. He wished he had Mia with him so they could share body heat, even if it didn't seem to be working for Emily.

"Stop vibrating," Mike chuckled.

"It's not vibrating, it's shivering. My hands are frozen, my feet are cold, and I want to murder my sister for hiding all my sweaters," Emily pouted.

"We're being punished for something," Kevin said, "I know it. Did someone call her fat? She doesn't like that."

Kevin looked around the room as his three friends shook their heads.

"You guys are really close," Serena walked into the room, wrapped snuggly in a sweater. Even she was starting to feel the cold but she had a shirt and a sweater to keep her warm. Her eyes fell on Mike and Emily. She had seen Mia in the kitchen wearing Jayden's shirt, and all the other shirts were sitting on the table in the middle of the room. "Get your filthy hands off my sister."

"Not until you turn the thermostat back up," Mike stuck out his tongue.

"Why can't I wear a sweater?" Jayden asked. "I told them my secret. Doesn't that earn me points or something?"

"For starters, Scruffy told your secret," Serena shook her head, "Second; none of these guys have told you their secret. If they don't feel comfortable enough coming to you, you haven't completely passed the test."

Jayden looked to the rest of the crowd, "Look guys, what can be more embarrassing than sucking your thumb? I swear, I won't laugh if someone just…"

"I wet the bed until I was twelve," Kevin looked down nervously, finally deciding to just go for it and bring the team one step closer to being fully clothed and living in a warm house.

"You wet the bed and you laughed at me for sucking my thumb?" Jayden asked. Kevin shot him a look and he backed off. "Sorry."

"Dude, that's nothing," Mike said. "You can't help bed wetting. It's embarrassing, sure, but, I can think of much, much worse. My secret, for example, is much worse."

"Which is…" Kevin encouraged the green Ranger. "C'mon, Mike, I just shared mine. The least you can do is share yours."

"We're sharing?" Mia asked as she walked into the room. She was done with the stuffing and could now join the others. Kevin nodded his head and grabbed his shirt from the table. He showed her the back.

"Bet wetter," she frowned as she read it. She looked to her fiancé, "That's not horrible."

"I've never told anyone before," Kevin said. "I thought everyone would make fun of me and laugh."

"I learned my lesson with Jayden," Mike shook his head. "I will not be laughing at anyone's secret anymore… no matter how much I want to."

"It takes guts to share," Serena smiled to Kevin. "For what it's worth, I wet the bed until I was six."

"Now we're just waiting on you three," Jayden looked to Mike and the girls. "Kevin and I shared, we survived."

"You know I won't laugh or make fun of you," Kevin said to Mia specifically. "Whatever it is, it won't feel as big once it's shared."

"Trust me, it will," Mia nodded with certainty.

Emily sighed and poked her hand out from under the blankets. She grabbed her shirt and slipped it on. She showed what was written on the back to Mike, and then to the rest of the room.

Mike looked at Emily curiously, "But I've seen you read before. And write, and…"

"I've learned how to manage it," Emily answered him and then leaned back into him, hiding the word _dyslexic_ from the others, who had already seen it. "It still takes me a little longer than everyone else, but I can read and write just fine."

"We found out when she was still struggling to read and write in fourth grade," Serena said.

"That's not as embarrassing as bed wetting or thumb sucking," Kevin pointed out.

"It is when the teachers kept asking me to read in front of the class," Emily whispered. "Especially when I was already being bullied. I was called stupid and retarded even after everyone knew I had dyslexia. It hurt a lot."

"You had no luck as a kid," Mike said and then let out a deep sigh. He reached forward and grabbed his shirt, "My parents were really good friends with the neighbours. Growing up, they had a daughter several years older than me. Until she moved away, she was kind of like a big sister and I was… well…"

He flipped his shirt around, revealing his secret to everyone.

Mia crossed her arms over her chest, "What's wrong with being a girl, Mike?"

"I used to walk around with pink and purple bows in my hair and I would wear frilly dresses because she liked to play dress up!" Mike cried. "Reese still reminds me about it! His mom has pictures of it, too!"

"I'm sure you would make a very pretty girl," Serena smirked, trying to hold back a laugh. She knew it was wrong, but she couldn't stop herself from picturing Mike in a dress with his hair done up nicely.

"It was embarrassing," Mike said. "I never wanted anyone to find out. I knew they would tease me and make fun of me for it."

"Like how you laughed at me for sucking my thumb," Jayden pointed a look at Mike. The green Ranger lowered his head.

"I know. I'm sorry about that, Jayden. You know how I can be. I act then think."

"Sometimes you don't think," Emily teased and pulled her shirt on over her head, happy to finally have some warmth and something to cover herself up. Mike and Kevin were quick to do the same now that they were allowed to wear their shirts.

"We all have things we're embarrassed about," Jayden pointed out, "but just because we were thumb-suckers, bet wetters, we dressed in girls' clothes or can't read or write like the other kids, that doesn't change who we are."

Serena smiled and sensed they were finally starting to understand her lesson. They were on the right tract, at least, "Who you are is not what you were, but what you were makes you who you are. You can't ignore the past and you can't be ashamed of yourself and the things you've done. You have to accept every part of your identity, no matter how big or small an impact it had on your life. When you do that, you'll find friends who will accept you even with all your faults, or quirks, or challenges."

Serena took Emily's Samuraizer again and drew up the magic eraser. She walked around the room, erasing the words on Kevin, Mike, and Emily's shirts. She then stopped and realised there was still one person who hadn't come out with her secret yet.

"Mia?" she turned to the pink Ranger, "Do you want to share?"

Mia shook her head, "I should go read the instructions for the turkey. I want to be ready for tomorrow."

Just as Mia was about to walk out, Serena grabbed her arm, "You don't want to do this?"

"I'd rather walk around town topless all through winter than tell anyone what's written on my shirt," Mia nodded. "I love you guys, but I just can't do it."

"Why not?" Serena asked. She pointed around the room, "They all shared their secrets. It wasn't easy for them to do. It was just as hard and scary for them to come out."

"Not to belittle your embarrassing shirts, but it's nothing compared to mine."

"Mia, you can tell us!" Emily looked to the pink Ranger sympathetically. "You'll still be Mia to us. We won't change the way we see you."

"You can't promise that," Mia shook her head. "I just can't do it, okay? Can we just drop it?"

Kevin got up and took Mia's hands, "We all shared…"

"I don't care if you all shared," Mia pulled away from Kevin. "You all should know how scary and hard it was coming out. Maybe I'm just not ready like the rest of you. Maybe I need a little more time."

Jayden nodded in agreement with Mia, "I know my secret's out, but if Scruffy hadn't of stolen my shirt, I probably wouldn't have said anything just yet," Jayden turned to the pink Ranger, "Take your time, but if you ever need to talk about it, or want to get it off your chest, I won't judge."

"Neither will I," Emily smiled.

"I won't laugh, I swear," Mike nodded.

Kevin looked at Mia, "Do I even have to promise? I love you; of course I won't let some secret change the way I think about you."

Mia smiled and wrapped her arms tightly around Kevin. While she did this, Serena picked up Mia's shirt and handed it and the eraser to the pink Ranger.

"Here. You've all learned the lesson. I'll go get you your shirts and sweaters back and I'll turn on the heating."

"Serena, wait!" Emily called and jumped off of Mike's lap. She grabbed Serena's arm and pulled her sister back into the room, "We all shared our embarrassing stories. You know our humiliating moments, but we know nothing about you. _They_ don't know your most humiliating moment."

"I told you guys," Serena gestured to Jayden, "I'm like Jay. I used to wet the bed…"

"Until you were six. Big deal," Emily smirked. "That's nothing embarrassing. What's really embarrassing is…"

"Little sisters, huh?" Serena chuckled nervously to the others as she grabbed Emily and held her hand over Emily's mouth. She leaned forward and whispered into Emily's ear, "Shut it, half pint or I will find some way to… EW!"

Serena pulled her hand away from Emily's mouth once the yellow Ranger slobbered all over her palm. Emily, now free to talk, looked to her friends.

When Serena was fifteen she brought her city-boy crush home and showed him around the farm…" Emily was cut off again as Serena clamped her hand, now protected by her sleeve, over her mouth.

"Kids say the darndest things… OW! She bit me!"

"Serena slipped and fell into cow poop when she was showing off. She got a face full of fresh manure and the splatter got on her crush! He puked! Don't hurt me!"

Emily squirmed out of her sister's arms and ran for shelter behind Mike who, like all the others, was trying to hold back a laugh.

"I'm going to kill you," Serena glared at her sister. "You better watch your back, Goldilocks."

"Whole new meaning to the word shitfaced," Kevin smirked, "and in front of your crush, too?"

"Watch the laughing," Serena turned her glare to the boys and Mia, "I am the only person in the house who can get you your clothes back."

The Rangers straightened up and put on a serious face. Serena smirked, "Good. Now, if you guys promise not to laugh, I will get you your clothes back."

"Laugh about what?" Jayden asked. "That wasn't funny. That was horrible. Are you okay?"

"You're all desperate for shirts, aren't you?" Serena asked with a chuckle. "I'll go get them."


	89. A Ranger Thanksgiving

It was Thanksgiving Day and the house smelt just as good as it did back home for Kevin. He knew Mia would be able to pull off Thanksgiving dinner without a problem. Even if the food only tasted half as good as it smelt, it would still be one of the best meals she ever made.

He found her in the kitchen, working hard with all the ingredients. He snuck up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist as he leaned in to kiss her neck.

"It's football time," he told her. "Do you remember the teams?"

"Is Amanda here yet?" Mia asked. She wasn't about the start the football game until their guest arrived and was settled in. It would have been rude to start without her.

"She just got here," Kevin nodded his head. "Jayden's introducing her to everyone."

"Is she traumatized yet?" Mia said with a chuckle, though a part of her was serious. Kevin shook his head.

"Not yet. Maybe we are still normal enough to function within society."

"Just barely," Kevin joked and took Mia's hand. The turkey would be fine in the over for a couple of hours and there was nothing that needed to be tended to. Mia had timed her schedule just right for Mike's football game. He walked her into the common room and introduced her to Amanda.

"My girlfriend Mia," he pointed to the pink Ranger and Mia reached her hand out and shook with Amanda.

"Glad you can make it."

"Thanks for letting me come," Amanda smiled and turned to look at Jayden for a brief second, "For a while I thought my Thanksgiving was going to be a total dud."

"Who's reader for football?" Mike asked, tossing the ball into the air as he looked around the room. "Mia, I think we agreed the teams were me, Kevin, Mentor and Serena vs. you, Emily, Jayden and Amanda."

"All girls for teammates?" Jayden looked around the room, "how is that fair?"

"Antonio used to be on your team," Mike shrugged, "but now that he's gone we figured we would just replace your best friend with your girlfriend."

Jayden turned to his team and shrugged, "I hope one of you knows how to play football, because you're going to have to teach me."

"Just watch and learn," Amanda said as she stole the ball from Mike and walked out into the yard. The Rangers exchanged looks and Kevin gave Jayden a pat on the back.

"She'll be one of us by the end of the day."

"I'm not sure that's a good thing," Jayden chuckled as he and the Rangers followed Amanda outside and split off into their teams. Jayden pulled his teammates into the huddle and looked at the girls. "So who knows how to play?"

"Mike kind of told me about it last night," Emily said, "but I wouldn't be surprised if he gave me the wrong instructions on purpose so his team could win the bet."

"I played in gym class for a couple of months," Mia nodded. "I think I remember how it's done."

"Alright, then Jayden and Emily listen up," Amanda smiled and started listing off the rules and strategies of the game.

In the other huddle, Mike was running his best strategies by his team. He knew he had an odd bunch, perhaps odder than the other team, with a pregnant woman and a middle aged man, but he knew how to make this work.

"They won't hit Serena, we can use that to our advantage," he said. "Get the ball to her as soon as you can."

"Just remember, this game is supposed to be fun," Mentor chipped in, just to make sure none of the Rangers would injure themselves or the other players. They were playing tackle football, but that didn't mean someone had to get hurt.

"It'll be more fun if we win," Mike smirked.

The huddles broke up as everyone took their positions in the yard. Mike looked to Jayden as he picked up the ball from the grass and handed it to the red Ranger.

"Ladies first."

"You're loving my team of girls, aren't you?"

"I get to kick your ass and make out with the wide receiver at the end of the game," Mike shrugged. "What's not to love?"

Jayden sneered playfully at Mike before starting off the game. The green Ranger was almost sure he knew what to expect from Jayden, Mia, and Emily, but he had no idea what kind of player Amanda was, or even where he skill was at. Before he knew it, he found himself choking on dirt as he hit the ground. When he looked up (while coughing the dirt up from his lungs) he saw his leader's new girlfriend holding out a hand to help him up.

"Emily told me you played. You aren't the only one."

"Good play," Mike smirked and turned to where the game was, "I'll keep my eye on you."

Both teams got back into position and the game continued on, back and forth, up and down the yard. No touchdowns had been scored yet, but Jayden's team was so close to the end zone they were sure to get their first touchdown at any moment.

Mia tossed the ball down to Emily who managed to catch it and dodge Kevin gracefully, but soon found herself blocked by Mike. She knew he had her and she couldn't run any further and braced herself for his tackle, but suddenly felt herself being lifted off the ground.

"Hey!" she cried as he picked her up and ran with her the opposite way down the field. "Cheater!"

"All's fair in Thanksgiving football!" Mike laughed as he carried her to the end zone and set her down. His team cheered while Mia, Jayden, and Amanda rolled their eyes.

"So we're playing like that, are we?" Mia asked Mike.

"You chose to have the shrimp on your team," Mike nodded to her.

"Tell your quarterback to watch out, then," Mia smirked as her team regrouped. "You may have gotten the first point, but we're winning that bet."

"Bring it," Mike taunted her.

The game continued, back and forth, up and down. Some sneaky moves were played and the game of football was turning more and more into a game of tackle catch. A free for all, whoever could steal the ball, catch the ball, keep the ball or hold onto the ball the longest scored a point for their team.

Kevin held the ball tightly between his hands and watched Mentor run the length of the field, ready for his catch and point. Amanda was going after him quickly, getting herself into position to tackle her boyfriend's father (revenge for a couple of plays before when he knocked her into the ground). Kevin was just about to throw the ball when Mia walked up to him, placed her hand behind his neck and pulled him into a deep kiss. Kevin lowered his arm and the ball and then let the ball drop to the ground.

He soon realised what happened and tried to recover, but he was tackled, from out of nowhere, by Jayden and the ball was scooped up by Mia. She took off running down the yard and Mike's team was too far behind her to stop her.

Mia reached the end zone and turned around she smiled to Mike and Kevin, "I told you two to watch out."

"You should have given me the ball," Serena threw her hands up in the air, finally releasing Emily from her head lock, "No one's tackled me!"

Finally free, Emily pushed her sister backwards so Serena fell onto her butt. She stuck her tongue out at the older Samurai and grinned happily as the timer went off, indicating the end of the game.

"We win!" she cried as she bounced over to Mia to celebrate. "We don't have to clean!"

"I told you we would win," Mia gave Emily a high-five as she turned to Mike. "It's a good thing I decided not to wash a single dish while cooking. The kitchen's extra messy just for you four."

"Way to go," Mike groaned as he looked over to Kevin, "Distracted by a kiss? You should have seen that coming, dude?"

"What?" Kevin shrugged and smirked playfully at Mia. He may have lost the game, but the kiss made it worth it.

The Rangers and Mentor Ji were beginning to make their way inside. Everyone was slowly headed for the door to finish up with pre-dinner prep except for Jayden and Amanda. He carefully and very nervously took her by the hand and smiled.

"You warmed up to my friends pretty quickly. We were all sure we'd have scared you off by now."

"I like them," Amanda nodded her head, "They're fun people."

"I will warn you, we're also having a really good day," Jayden chuckled. "Most times, someone's doing something that makes me wonder why I'm friends with any of them."

Amanda chuckled. Jayden wasn't her first boyfriend so this wasn't the first time she had to meet the family, but it was the first time it had happened so quickly. While she and Jayden were doing more than just dating at this point, they hasn't spoken much about making things between them official. In fact, they hadn't even kissed yet. She could understand Jayden's reservations up until now, but was going to assume he was ready to take that leap if he invited her home.

So she pulled him into a kiss and was delightfully surprised when he didn't pull away. It didn't last long, and wasn't much more than a peck on the lips, but it was, unmistakably, a kiss. She blushed and looked down as they parted. Her face and cheeks were pleasantly warm. Jayden was slightly flushed as well and shifted nervously away from her.

"Wow… that was…"

"I leave for a few days and you already replace me?" a familiar voice cried out hurtfully and Jayden and Amanda turned to the front gate around the Shiba House. They found Antonio standing at the entrance way with his father, holding up a pie. He didn't have any of his belongings with him, but Jayden wasn't sure if Antonio had taken anything when he left.

"Antonio?"

"Forget it!" Antonio dropped the pie onto the group and turned to run away but his father caught him.

"Let him explain…"

"No!" Antonio shouted and shoved his father. Mr. Garcia stumbled backwards but grabbed his son's arm.

"You're not here for Jayden anyways. Go wait by the car."

"I…"

"Go," Mr. Garcia demanded. Antonio let his head fall forward and walked over to the car while his father shook his head and sighed. Mr. Garcia approached Jayden and Amanda.

"He was just coming to drop off a pie I baked for you," Mr. Garcia looked over his shoulder, where the pie had make a mess on the walkway, "I guess it won't taste very good now."

"Should I head inside?" Amanda asked. Jayden looked to her and sighed.

"Maybe it's best."

"Is Serena there?" Mr. Garcia asked her. "If she is, can you ask her to come out?"

Amanda nodded her head and left her boyfriend alone with the stranger. Jayden turned back to Mr. Garcia.

"What's going on with Antonio? Why did he leave?"

"He's going through something right now."

"Is it something I did?" Jayden asked. He couldn't help but feel responsible for whatever Antonio was going through. He had no idea what it was, but it had all started when he asked Amanda out on a date. Antonio had protested Jayden started a relationship from the very start, and everything seemed to just spiral out of control for the gold Ranger from there.

"Don't blame yourself," Mr. Garcia assured the red Ranger. "It is something you did, but it's not your fault. It's complicated."

"Can I talk to him? Maybe I can…"

Mr. Garcia shook his head, "We were just here to wish you all a happy Thanksgiving, drop off the pumpkin by and talk with Serena. I don't think it would be a good idea to do anything else."

"Can you at least tell him he's missed," Jayden said, "especially by me?"

"I'll do what I can," Mr. Garcia promised just before Serena walked out. Jayden watched her pass him and Mr. Garcia and noticed she had a gold-coloured shirt in her hand, a lot like the shirts she had used to embarrass the rest of the team. He furrowed his brow and wondered what the older Samurai was up to. She knew more about what was going on with Antonio than he did, but he doubted this was a good time to humiliate the gold Ranger.

Serena rushed over to the car and found Antonio standing, kicking at the dirt with his foot. He looked up when he heard her footsteps and seemed to close off slightly. She tucked part of the shirt into one of her pants pockets and smiled at him.

"It's good to see you."

"I'm not coming home."

"That's too bad. We miss you."

"Did you tell them?" Antonio asked her. "Did you say a word about your assumption?"

"Of course not," Serena shook her head, "It's not my place. I just told them you had to leave for a little bit."

"Did they ask why?"

Serena nodded, "Yeah, because they care about you, Antonio. A lot. They are worried about you."

"Good."

"Good? You want to worry them?"

"No… that's not how I meant it. At least they care… for now."

"What does that mean?"

Antonio lowered his head and shrugged his shoulders, "You've been calling my phone every day."

"I just want to make sure you're okay," Serena answered with a small smile and a quick nod.

"Even if you think I'm gay."

"What does that have to do with me caring?"

"Well, you can stop calling. I talked to dad about what's been going on and I've done a bit of research with him and on my own. You were right. I'm pretty sure I'm gay."

"Are you okay?"

"Of course," Antonio frowned at her, "It's not a disease. It won't kill me."

"I just meant… it's a lot to take in. How do you feel about it?"

"Doesn't matter."

"Antonio…"

"You were right, okay? Isn't that what you've been waiting to hear? I'm a freak so just stop worrying about me. I won't be coming back…"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down," Serena took a cautious step forward, "I've never called you a freak."

"Who wants to be friends with a freaking homo?" Antonio asked. "I'll save you the embarrassment and…"

"I want to still be your friend," Serena smiled. "Just because you're gay… that doesn't change anything about us. You're still the gold Ranger. You'll still be Jayden's friend, you'll be the team fisherman. You'll be everything you were before."

"You're just saying that."

"That's really what you think?"

"Yeah. Perfect Serena's just going to do what she thinks everyone expects from her. In front of the gay guy she's going to pretend like she doesn't have a problem with homosexuality, but as soon as you go home, you're going to tell Mike or Emily or Mia or any of them, and you're going to laugh about it with them. You'll make fun of me…"

"No I won't!" Serena raised her voice. "I'm working my ass off in that house to try and get the Rangers ready for whenever you tell them your big secret. Whether it was because you were gay, straight, confused or anything else. Would I really do that if I was just going to turn around and laugh behind your back?"

"Yes."

"No!" Serena stomped her foot. "Not everyone's a closed minded pig, Antonio. I can't guarantee you'll never run into people who'll treat you like you're inferior because you're gay. Maybe one of the guys in the house will have a problem with it, but I don't, I swear! You're doing this to yourself."

Antonio lowered his head to hide the tears. Serena took a deep breath to calm herself down. She stepped in closer to Antonio and placed her hands on his arms.

"For Pete's sake, I've got a Nighlok growing in my stomach. I fell in love with a man who murdered people for sport because a sword told him to do so. Am I really in a position to judge who you should and shouldn't love? I should be condemned long before you. I'm on your side, Antonio. Please believe me."

"Don't tell them," Antonio whispered to her. "If you don't tell them, I'll come back eventually."

"You'll tell them," Serena handed Antonio the golden shirt she had been holding onto. Already it had the word _gay_ printed on the back. "When you come home, and when you're ready to tell them, wear this shirt."

"Fine," Antonio took the shirt from Serena and tossed it through the open window into the backseat of the car.

"Do you want to stay for dinner? I could eat for one instead of two. I'm sure we've got enough food to go around."

"Jayden's with _Amanda_," Antonio shook his head. "I don't think I can stick around for that. I don't know if you've noticed, but I kind of… well… he's the reason why… you know."

"He is cute," Serena smirked. "I would be a gay man for him too."

"I think you have a better shot the way you are," Antonio chuckled. "He's got a girlfriend, I doubt he's gay."

"Maybe not," Serena said and then she looked at Antonio, "but you can really never tell. You and he were really close, and he does miss you _a lot_."

"False hope, much?"

"He hasn't turned you down yet," Serena shrugged, "and even if he does, you two are too good of friends to let that get in the way. I'm sure he'll always be a part of your life. And just think, if he isn't the one, you'll find someone better than him. You'll be a spoiled man."

"Thanks, Serena. For everything," Antonio smiled to her as he waved his father over, signalling that it was time to leave.

"Happy Thanksgiving, Antonio. Come home soon, okay?"

"I think I will. Once I get myself figured out first."

Serena nodded and gave her golden friend a hug before parting.

-Samurai-

Part of Kevin's special treat for Thanksgiving was the chance to be the one to carve the turkey. His parents had always promised to let him have the honours when he was twenty-one. Because he wasn't home, he wouldn't be able to take over from his father, but Mia and all the other occupants of the house and the guests at the table, allowed him to carve their special bird for dinner.

As he handed around the plates he cast a smiling glance over to Mia. The Rangers (well, Mike) were already digging into their meals but he was still going to remind himself of all the things he had to be thankful for.

It was hard for him, being away from home. He had seen his father recently, but that had been a blessing and a curse. It lifted his spirits, but reminded him of what he was missing. But he wouldn't trade his life now for anything. He was in a great home, surrounded by people he loved. While no one could ever take his father's place, Mentor Ji was a good father figure whenever Kevin needed a hand with anything. As reserved as the older man was, the Rangers were never uncomfortable approaching him with an issue.

He also found three amazing brothers in Jayden, Mike, and Antonio, and even though they weren't all here with him, he was still thankful for each and every one of them. He had also earned himself two sisters. A strong, role model sister in Serena, and a fun-loving, sometimes exhausting little sister in Emily.

But the thing he was most thankful for was Mia. He loved her more than anything else. He knew having her in his life was more than he deserved, so he was thankful he could wake up every morning next to her.

"This is amazing," Mike said through a mouthful of food as he complimented Mia's cooking, "Just ignore all the bad cooking jokes from now on. You're totally redeemed."

"I did have a little help," Mia cast a glance over at Kevin. He whispered he loved her and she blushed. She knew how lucky she was to have him. She had a dark secret looming over her and he was well aware of that now, but he wasn't pressuring her to tell him. He was waiting. She wasn't ready to bring it up yet, but she was confident he would never walk away from her. He made her feel good. He made her feel special. He was her Prince Charming, or her Knight in Shining Armour. However her fairy tale was supposed to end, it would end with him.

She looked around the table at the rest of her friends and smiled. No one could ever take Kevin's place in her heart, but Mia had a special spot for each of them. Without her friends, she wouldn't have gotten this far. A lot of the time they leaned on her, but what they didn't know was that they were her rock.

Mentor Ji was enjoying his food, but snuck an occasional glance at Jayden. He was thankful for the Rangers, but above everything in his life, including all his other "children", he was thankful for Jayden. He always thought his life would be a lonely one, and while he would do anything to bring Jayden's father back, he was thankful for the opportunity to raise Jayden as his own. Jayden was, and forever would be, the one person Mentor Ji was most thankful for.

Jayden was happy to have Amanda at the table with him, even after the drama with Antonio a couple of hours before. He was happy to have his friends and he was happy they were his friends, but he was thankful for their safety. Nothing was more important to him than their safety. None of them had ever asked to be Rangers and Jayden couldn't bear to watch anything happen to them. But after a little over a year together, they were all still sitting around this table with smiling faces. He was thankful they were alive, happy, and healthy, and he was thankful he was still here to see it.

"Peas, please," Emily asked for the pot from the other side of the table. She was already bouncing excitedly in her seat and dinner had only just begun, but she had a lot to be thankful for.

She was thankful for Jayden, who every day trained her and helped her be the best Samurai she could be, all while being a good friend.

She was thankful for Kevin, who took care of her like any older brother would take care of his little sister.

She was thankful for Mia, who immediately jumped into one of the most needed roles in Emily's life, standing in for Serena when Emily first arrived at the Shiba House and who still, to this day, even with Serena alive and well, treated Emily like her sister.

She was thankful for Mentor, who looked out for her like she was his own. It was a great comfort while she was away from her family and her own father.

She was thankful for her lovable dog, even if he was trying to steal her piece of turkey off her plate. He always kept her laughing.

She was thankful for Serena's health, safety, and everything about her sister in general, especially the fact that Serena was here with her for Thanksgiving.

She was even thankful for Dekker and Dayu, even though they were the worst monsters she had ever faced. Without them, Serena wouldn't be with her today.

But most of all, she was thankful for Mike, because even if she lost everything else she was thankful for, she knew he would be by her side and keep her standing strong.

"A toast," Mentor held up his glass and the rest of the table followed, "to one of the most memorable Thanksgiving dinners we will ever have."

_Author's Note: While Thanksgiving is long past for me, happy Thanksgiving to all my American fans. Try not to eat too much turkey (if it's possible)._


	90. After Dinner

It was late into the night, or early morning, but none of the Rangers were ready for bed just yet. Thanks to Mike's bet and the fact that his team lost the football game (by a hair), Mike, Kevin, Serena, and Mentor were responsible for cleaning up the whole house while Jayden, Mia, Amanda, and Emily got to sit and relax.

"I think this worked out for the best," Mia smiled to Amanda, "There's no way we would have asked you to clean, so the bigger group will have it done a lot faster than we would have."

"You were awesome in football," Emily bounced happily and grinned brightly to Amanda, "We wouldn't have won without you."

"Thanks, it was fun," Amanda nodded and checked her watch. She turned to Jayden, "It's really late. I should probably be getting home. It's not a short drive."

"Yeah, we kind of live in the middle of nowhere," Jayden chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. "I'll walk you out to your car."

"Thanks," Amanda smiled and said goodbye to her new friends. She called out her goodbye to the cleaning crew and hugged Emily and Mia before walking out the door with Jayden.

He slowly walked with her down the hallway, lacing his hand with hers. He liked her. He liked her a lot. She was definitely a very special girl, especially if she could handle his family.

"Are you sure they didn't scare you off?" he asked. "I mean, we're just starting off and…"

"Your friends are nice," Amanda said. "What makes meeting the family so… nerve-wracking is the awkward moments. There weren't many of those."

"Many?"

Amanda nodded her head, "There was that little scene with your friend and his dad. He's the guy you were shopping with when we met, right?"

"And the guy who was spying on us on our first date," Jayden said. "Look, about Antonio, I'm really sorry. He was my first best friend, and my oldest friend. I'm finding his behaviour just as odd as you are."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"For a best friend, he sure was pissed off when he saw us kissing. You'd think he'd be giving you high-fives or something when I have my back turned."

"That was Mike," Jayden chuckled, thinking back to their Thanksgiving dinner. Amanda laughed. She had heard a few hands slapping together throughout the meal and now she knew why.

"I take it he likes me then."

"Why wouldn't he?" Jayden smirked. "Don't worry about Antonio, okay? Whatever his problem is, it's his problem. He's got nothing against you personally."

"So, what does that mean? He just doesn't want his best friend dating in general?"

Jayden bit his lip. When she put it like that it sounded bad.

"Dating for me is a little complicated. I make it work for you, but there's a reason you're my first girlfriend."

"So we're boyfriend and girlfriend now?" Amanda asked with a grin, "Officially?"

"Officially," Jayden leaned forward to kiss her. "Drive home safe."

Amanda parted away from him slowly, her smile lighting up the night, "Thanks, Jay. Thanksgiving was really special."

She hopped into her car after stealing another kiss from her boyfriend and waved goodbye. Jayden stood out on the walkway and watched her go, his smile just as bright as hers.

-Samurai-

"If you keep eating leftovers I'm not going to have anything for breakfast," Mike said, ripping the pie pan away from Serena as he started picking at the crumbs, "Get off your butt and help."

Serena stole the pie pan back and glared at Mike. Mia's dinner had been amazing, but for Serena, the best part had been the pie she made following her mother's recipe. It wasn't because she thought her pie tasted better, but it was because it reminded her of Thanksgiving with her family, her entire family. Her mother, her father, her sister, and, on most years, her grandparents, would all sit around a table happy, healthy and together.

Mike watched as Serena finished off every last little bit of her own pie and frowned, "Haven't you and junior eaten enough for one night."

"Shut up, Michael."

"Leave her alone, Mike," Kevin said as he wiped his hands dry with dish towel. The dishes were done and Mentor was putting them away, the final task before the house was clean. "Besides, there are still plenty of leftovers, although, with the way you were eating, I was surprised there was anything left. You guys really liked it? Like, really liked it?"

Serena, Mike, and Mentor nodded their heads. They knew how important it was for Kevin to get the truth out of them. With Mia's history as a chef, he wanted to make sure she got as much help as necessary so she could become the best cook she could be. Before she knew her cooking was horrible, it had been a skill that made her proud. He wanted to give that back to her, but couldn't do it if her taste testers lied.

"Amazing, dude," Mike promised. "I'm just going after Serena's pie because it was dessert."

"Thanks for letting her do this, guys," Kevin smiled.

"Maybe she can make Christmas dinner," Mike suggested. "You know, her cooking cuts our chores in half…"

"You're not using my fiancée to get out of your chores," Kevin shook his head. "We're still sharing kitchen duty."

"Worth a shot," Mike shrugged.

Serena tossed her empty pie pan into the garbage bag and sighed heavily.

"Do you guys mind if I pull Emily out of training tomorrow?" she asked Mike, Kevin and especially Mentor.

"Depends on the reason," Mentor said. "After eating so much food, she may need the exercise."

"We all do," Kevin tapped his stomach with his hand and laughed.

"There's just… something I have to do tomorrow morning and I can't do it without her. I think she can afford to miss the training session where everyone's too bloated to put in their best effort."

"Yeah, sure," Kevin and Mike both nodded, and in the corner of her eye Serena saw Mentor doing the same. Once that was done and settled, and Mentor put the last of the dishes away, Mike and Kevin went off to find their girlfriends for bed. Serena stuck around in the kitchen and Mentor hung around with her. He looked to her sympathetically.

"None of the Rangers had their families for dinner."

"They're families aren't dying, though," Serena played nervously with her hands. "Now I know how Emily and my parents felt when I was sick. I know it's going to happen, Mentor."

"You can never be sure…"

"I felt the pain. I know what she's going through. I know the stress it's putting on her body, and as the baby gets bigger and stronger… I'm scared it's going to get worse."

"We can only hope for the best."

"I should have listened," Serena sighed and lowered her head as she felt her eyes beginning to water up. "Dekker was a monster and people don't change. Not when they've been set in their ways for centuries. Several times, you guys told me he was bad news. I should have listened."

"You loved him."

"I was stupid, and now, because of me, mom and dad have split up, Emily's going to lose her mom, and my baby's never going to know grandma. And you can't forget what I did to Dayu."

"What you did to Dayu?"

"Dekker was her husband," Serena nodded. "She loved him first and because of me, she lost him. He's dead, gone forever, and she's so pissed and hurt she's out for revenge."

"I doubt she'll target Emily again," Mentor assured Serena, certain that was her biggest concern. Like himself, she worried for every single one of the Rangers, but especially one in particular. She couldn't help it. Emily was family. Just like Jayden was family to him.

"It doesn't matter," Serena whispered, "if it weren't for me, maybe Mia wouldn't have been obsessed with her and earned herself a spot on Dayu's hit list. Mike definitely wouldn't have been the one to kill Dekker, and I wouldn't have been the reason Dekker's dead now. They're all in danger too, not just Emily. I screwed up, Mentor, and I can never take it back."

"You don't believe you're perfect, do you?" Mentor asked as he came to Serena's side. "Your sister thinks the world of you, and I can see that rubbing off on the other Rangers, but I thought you knew better than to assume you were holier than thou."

"I know I make mistakes, Mentor," Serena shook her head, "I know I screw up from time to time. Probably just as much as Mike or Emily. I did fall into cow-shit. But no one else has ever screwed up as badly as I have. Someone's going to die from my mistake, and if it's not my mom, it's going to be someone else, completely innocent: Emily, Mike, Mia, Dayu, Jayden, Kevin, you, Antonio. What if they all die?"

"Go visit your mother tomorrow," Mentor smiled, "she would be the first to tell you that no matter how dark things may seem, a light can always shine through."

"Fantastic," Serena muttered sarcastically as she walked away from Mentor. "Words of wisdom from my comatose dying mother. Urumasa and Dekker should have just let me die. If this is what I do with my second chance, maybe it wasn't worth it."

Mentor watched Serena leave with a heavy heart. He knew Thanksgiving would be difficult for the Rangers because they weren't able to celebrate with their families, but it seemed he had underestimates just how much they had been through and how much had happened over the year. None of the Rangers were the kids he had taken in a year before. They had all grown and changed, and it hadn't been without heartache.

-Samurai-

The night was starting to catch up with Mia as she lied in her bed next to Kevin, but even with her heavy eyes and long yawns, she couldn't fall asleep.

"Was it really good?"

"Yes, Mia," Kevin muttered, rolling over on his side of the bed as a smile appeared on his lips. He was tired, but he was happy for her. "Everyone promised it was good and I didn't notice any funny faces at the table."

"I was really nervous."

"It didn't show."

"So it was good."

"Yes."

"Seriously?"

Kevin rolled back and looked to Mia, "Would it help if I told you that you were never a bad chef? Just a misguided one."

"Maybe a little bit."

"Good," he kissed her and dropped his head back into his pillow and rolled over, "Goodnight."

Mia smiled and snuggled into Kevin, wrapping her arms around him, "Your instructions really helped."

"I'm glad."

"Thanks for believing in me."

"I always will."

Mia squeezed him lovingly, "I love you."

Kevin rolled back over and looked down at Mia as she rested her head against his chest. He wrapped his arm around her and smiled happily.

"I'm serious," he told her.

"I know," Mia looked up at him. She noticed the look in his eye. He always had that look right before they had a serious discussion. She sat up slightly, "What?"

"I haven't forgotten about your shirt."

"Kevin."

"I won't tell a soul," Kevin crossed his heart. "Please, Mia. You're still sharing a bed with me even though I was a bed wetter."

"Exactly; you _were_ a bed wetter and if it happens again, it's just an accident and it can always be washed and forgotten."

"Yeah, the humiliation of the incident can be washed off."

"You know what I mean."

"You mean you love me, no matter what. Let me return the favour, please. It won't change anything between us, and if it does… it just won't. I love you too much."

Mia sat up completely and started tugging nervously on the bed.

"Fine, but before I tell you, you have to swear not to breath a word or leave any clues, even unintentionally."

"Promise."

"And you also have to know that I'm fine now. I've got it all sorted and you don't have to worry about it anymore. It was just a bad time when I was sixteen. When I was caught, I was so humiliated I swore never to do it again."

"Did you rob a bank?"

"I'd have a lot more money if I robbed a bank."

"You mentioned getting caught."

"I was bulimic," Mia whispered. "I was self-conscious for a few months, so I started throwing up. I thought I was bigger than all the other girls in school and tried to do something about it."

"That tops bed wetting for sure," Kevin sat up and wrapped his arm around Mia, "that must have been horrible."

"My best friend at the time caught me doing it once and convinced me it was bad. She got the school counsellor involved and some of the teachers. I was so humiliated… but that's what helped me to stop. Everyone keeping an eye on me at school, grandma watching me at home, they all tried to build me up again," Mia smiled and turned to Kevin, "It was handled by the end of the school year. I'm one of the lucky ones."

"One of the very few," Kevin nodded. "But you said you were fine now?"

"The school psychologist helped me work through my issues," Mia said. "My family life was different from all the other kids, as you know. I lived with my grandma, not my parents. I guess I let it get to me. It made me feel different, and when I felt different, I tried to blend in."

Kevin smiled and kissed his fiancée, "This is an _I told you so_ moment."

"Still love me?"

"Duh," Kevin smirked and he kissed her again.


	91. Undo It

Serena didn't have much to say to her mother as she sat in a corner in the hospital room. It had been her idea to visit because she felt guilty for what had happened to her mother and everyone else in her life as a result, but she was still so angry at her mother for leaving.

She could hear Emily whispering words of comfort as their mother laid completely still in the bed. The hospital staff had no idea what had happened to her, or what kind of state she was in, and Serena hoped it could stay that way. They were treating her, and there was nothing they could do to help her wake up and recover so they didn't need to know the details.

Emily got up from her seat and looked to her older sister, "I'm just going to run down to the cafeteria. I didn't eat before coming here."

"I'll come with you…"

Emily shook her head and Serena rolled her eyes. She knew her little sister was trying to get her to bond with her mother but these things couldn't be forced.

"What's the point of eating in the cafeteria if we're both there? We may as well go to a restaurant with better food," Emily said. "Stay with her. You don't have to talk to her if you don't want to. Keep my seat warm."

Serena got up and sighed as she took her sister's spot. Emily offered her a small smile and walked out of the room, leaving Serena completely alone with her mother. The earth Samurai knew it would be a while before Emily got back and could sit comfortably in the silence for only a few moments before everything started to feel strange.

"It's quiet," she whispered. She wasn't trying to talk to her mother, but there was no one else to talk to. Her eyes strayed to Ellie and she sighed. She didn't expect a response, but it was odd not getting one, "I guess you're not going to do anything to change that."

The door to the room opened up. Serena thought Emily was back early but it was just one of the nurses. He glanced curiously at Serena.

"You are…?"

"Her daughter," Serena explained, "How's she doing?"

She had to fake concern for the nurse's sake. In reality, she knew more about her mother's condition than any doctor in this hospital, but they weren't supposed to know that.

"Stable still," the nurse replied as he started looking over the charts and checking the machines. "It'll probably still be a while before she wakes up."

"That's what I thought."

"Do you have any idea what happened?" the nurse asked. "The man who dropped her off couldn't tell us. All he kept saying was that she was protecting her daughter. Was he talking about you?"

Serena sighed and looked down at her mother, "Yeah."

"So what happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"It would really help the doctors out if you told someone," the nurse said. "We might be able to figure out what's…"

"Just do your job," Serena snapped and took her mother's hand.

"All I'm saying is that your mother might have a better chance at a full recovery if we know what happened to put her in this state," the nurse marked down some notes on his chart before heading to the door. "If it's true, and she was protecting you from whatever, don't you think you owe it to her to give her her best shot?"

"I owe her my life, I get it," Serena growled. "Just go check up on the other patients. I'm sure they aren't all lost causes like my mom."

The nurse gave Serena a sympathetic look. He understood how difficult this must have been for her and left her alone. There was nothing he could do to get her to talk. For all he knew, Serena was still recovering from a trauma and couldn't bring herself to relieve it enough to tell anyone what had happened. He walked out of the room, leaving Serena be.

Serena glared down at her mother, "I don't know how you do it, but ever since I told you about the baby, you've always found a way to make me feel like shit. I do get it, you know. I know what you did. I know I owe you everything. You're not the first person to save my life."

Serena rested her elbows on the side of the bed and held her head with her hands, "If I could, mom, I'd give back everything I took from you, from dad, from Dayu, Emily, Dekker, the other Samurai. I know what I did."

She got up from the chair and paced around the room, "If I knew the secret symbol to fix everything I would do it. I would fix you so you don't have to… So you don't…"

Tears welled up in Serena's eyes but she brushed them away and walked back to the bed.

"I wish you didn't have to die," she whispered as she took a seat back on the chair and gently grabbed her mother's hand. "Please pull through."

-Samurai-

"C'mon, Winnie the Pooh," Mike groaned and tossed his video game controller onto the couch. He looked down at his Zord, "You suck at this game, you know that."

The little Zord gave him a dirty look. Mike sighed and rolled his eyes.

"I don't care if you don't have hands, I expected better."

"You must be bored," Mia chuckled as she walked into the room and noticed Mike arguing with his Zord over a video game.

"Antonio's not here to play with me and Emily's out with Serena visiting their mother."

"You didn't go with them?" Mia asked.

Mike shook his head, "If it had been Emily's idea I would have offered to go with her, but Serena was the one who wanted to go. I figured I would leave them be."

"And so, instead of going, you're trying to play video games with your bear?" Mia gently scooped up the bear Zord in her hand and tickled it. Normally the bear would hardly react to her, but after being reprimanded by his master he needed a little love. He rolled over onto his back and Mia tickled his stomach. "Why don't you ask Kevin to play? Or Jayden?"

"They're both worse than the bear," Mike shrugged.

Mentor stepped into the room with a look of concern on his face. He spotted the green and pink Rangers and sighed in relief.

"Good, you're both here."

"What's up, Mentor?" Mike asked.

"Take a seat," Mentor told Mia as he pointed to her stool. Mia let go of the bear Zord and did as she was told while Mentor found his own stool and sat down. He looked to the two Samurai with worry. "I had a talk with Serena last night."

"So?"

"You missed your families yesterday, did you not?"

Mike and Mia exchanged looks. It hadn't really been a conversation they wanted to have over Thanksgiving. They were all a little sad they couldn't spend the holidays with their families, but they had had a fun time with their Ranger family.

"Of course," Mia nodded her head, "but what does that have to do with…"

"I wanted to ask you both to keep an eye on Serena. Last night she seemed upset about her mother. My little talk with her played over and over in my head last night as I tried to sleep, and I noticed something that worries me."

"What?"

"I'm worries she feels she's been nothing but trouble for us since her recovery."

"Nothing but trouble?" Mike asked. "Dude, she's been awesome. We've had a few bumps, sure, but we all make everyone's lives complicated from time to time."

"We'll keep an eye on her," Mia promised Mentor while shooting Mike a look, "Thanksgiving must not have been easy for her with her mom in hospital."

"Have you talked to Emily?"

Mentor shook his head, "Not yet."

"Emily knows her better than anyone," Mike said, "If something's wrong, she'll pick up on it."

"Serena might not want Emily to know, though," Mia pointed out. "Don't worry, Mentor, we'll watch her. I'm sure everything will be fine anyways."

-Samurai-

"Serena."

"Leave me alone," Serena grumbled, hiding her face in her arms as someone tried to pull her from her rest. She wasn't sleeping, but she was definitely close enough.

"Serena."

"Emily…"

"It's not Emily."

Serena sighed and looked up at the clock. The nurse had already been in the room so she wasn't expecting anyone else to come disturb her except Emily. She turned around and nearly fell out of her chair when she saw a dark, ghostly figure in the room. She couldn't make it what it was exactly, but it didn't appear human.

"What the hell are you?"

"I've been watching you."

Serena rose to her feet slowly as her muscles tightened up, ready for an attack. A general rule of thumb was that if she couldn't see the face of her opponent, they usually weren't on her side.

"Relax," the figure told her, "I'm here to help."

"Show yourself, then."

"I will not," the figure said and then pointed to her mother, "She's here because of you."

"Get out."

"You feel responsible."

"I don't care if you're a big cloud of smoke; I know how to kick your ass…"

"I can let her live."

Serena's guard dropped, "You… you can?"

"I told you, I'm here to help. I can give your mother her life back. I can undo all the mistakes you made. All the pain, the suffering, and the hurt, I can take it all away."

It was a tempting offer, but Serena knew there was more to it than what the ghostly figure was offering her.

"What's your price?"

"Let's just say, you'll owe me," the figure said.

Serena looked to her mother and then back to the ghost, "What'll I owe you?"

"I've got an idea in mind. It will be costly to you, but you will find the rewards to be very worth your sacrifice."

Serena shook your head, "I'm not giving myself up to you."

"It's not you I want," the figure said. "I will come to collect my payment when it is ready. You will have plenty of time to enjoy your happy, peaceful life. I can ensure your mother makes it to the birth of your child and makes a full recovery, I can rebuild your family back into what it was before you made this costly error, and I can give back everything you stole."

"For a price," Serena said and the figure nodded slowly. She scoffed, "I don't know what you're trying to pull, but I'm…"

"Come with me," the figure held out his hand, "I can show you what life will be like if you don't take me up on my offer."

Serena shook her head, "No. Get out!"

The figured grabbed her arm roughly and suddenly the room changed. Serena was back in her bedroom at the Shiba house, but there were a few noticeable differences. The baby furniture had arrived and was already completely set up. Serena had no idea when that had happened, but assumed the ghost had something to do with it.

"What are you…?"

"Look," the figure pointed over Serena's shoulder and she glanced over. Her heart warmed as she laid eyes on a little bundle being held softly in her sister's arms. She knew instantly what it was.

"Is that…?"

"Your son," the figure nodded. "A healthy boy. Unfortunately, I can't say anymore. He's not exactly going to be a happy little guy. His father was a Nighlok."

"Half Nighlok," Serena corrected, "And how do you know?"

"I do," was the figure's simple answer. "Maybe the only good thing I'm going to show you is your sister caring for your son."

"What do you…?" Serena trailed off as the door to her bedroom opened and she walked in. She rubbed her eyes for a minute before remembering the figure had done something. She noticed she had been crying and wondered why.

Emily looked up when she heard her sister coming into the room and Serena gasped. Emily's eyes were white.

"What the hell happened?" Serena roared, turning to the ghost, "What did you do?"

"It's what I didn't do," the figure said. "You turned down my offer to help. Your mother passed away shortly before the birth of your son. You and your sister are getting ready for her funeral."

"What does that have to do with Emily being…?"

When you went into labour, Dayu re-emerged in the hospital. She was going to take your son. Your friends tried to protect you."

"What does Dayu want with my son?" Serena asked.

"It is Dekker's child and part Nighlok. She feels it's her right to raise the child. After all, it's all she has left of her husband, because you refused my deal."

"The Rangers protected me?" Serena looked back to her sister.

"As you can see, Dayu was unable to kidnap your son. But the Samurai weren't all as fortunate as your sister. After your mother's burial, you will be attending another one."

Serena's eyes filled with tears, "whose funeral?"

"The green Ranger's," the figure answered. "It was a messy fight. The injuries the Rangers suffered were extensive. Many left their scars. The blue Ranger will never walk again, but we won't focus on him."

The figure gestured to Emily, "In one day, she will bury her mother and the love of her life. All because…"

"I didn't accept your offer?"

The figure nodded, "It's a shame everyone else suffers more than you do. Your sister has never even seen your son."

"Where's my dad?" Serena turned to the figure. "He's mad at mom, but he's got to be here, right?"

"Nope," the figure shook his head. "He walked. Once he heard all the damage caused, he couldn't take it anymore. His wife is dead, his son in-law is dead, his youngest daughter is blind, his grandson is a Nighlok… and this is all because of a mistake you made. One night, one selfish night, and it destroys everyone you love."

"Dad walked?"

"Do you blame him?" the figure asked.

Serena sighed and watched herself as she walked over to Emily and took her son.

"_He's smiling at you,"_ she said and set the little boy down in his crib, "_I've laid out some clothes for you. __They're on your bed. You'll find them." _

The real Serena looked to the figure, "If I accept your offer… what can you change?"

"You mother will live," the figured answered. "She will see her grandson and she will love him for eternity. Your father will want to teach him everything he needs to know about working on the farm so one day he can take over and enjoy the happy country life."

"My parents will be happy?"

"Yes."

"What about Kevin and Mike?"

"I can stop Dayu," the figure said. "I can keep her from coming after you son. I will protect you. The Rangers will have nothing to worry about. The blue Ranger will never know what it's like to be confined to a wheelchair, and the green Ranger won't die because he will never fight Dayu."

"And Emily?"

"She will see her nephew, and eventually will marry the love of her life and start a family of her own. She will pass the powers of the yellow Samurai down to your son, and the green Ranger will give his powers to your niece."

"My niece?" Serena smiled.

"And your son," the figure said, "If you take me up on my offer, your son will not struggle with a half-life. He will never be torn between a human half and a Nighlok half."

Serena placed her hands on her stomach and smiled. The offer had been tempting before, but now there was no way she could say no. The figure was offering her a chance to correct all her mistakes. For a price, he could make her family happy again.

The room shifted back and Serena was back in the hospital. She turned to her mother, still sleeping in the bed.

"What'll it cost me?"

"Does it matter?" the figure asked. "Is there anything you value more than your family's happiness?"

Serena shook her head, "No."

"Excellent," the figure held out his hand, "A shake to seal the deal?"

Another look to her mother and Serena couldn't refuse the offer. Her mother had been the bad guy by running away from her family, but everything was Serena's fault.

"Come on," the figured grumbled impatiently, "I've got an eternity, but I would rather not wait around here forever."

Serena shook the figure's hand, causing him to smile. Suddenly, she felt a painful burn stinging her hand and pulled away from the figure.

"I'll be back to collect my little payment," the figure promised as it disappeared. Serena looked down at her hand where in her palm she noticed the Kanji for happiness had been marked.

She sat down in the chair by her mother's bed and closed her eyes for a quick minute.

"Serena," she heard a voice call her name and she felt someone gently shaking her.

"Go away."

"Serena, wake up! My samuraizer went off!"

Serena lifted her head and looked at Emily, "What?"

"I was in the cafeteria when my Samuraizer went off. There was something in this hospital, did you see it?"

Serena shook her head and in the corner of her eye she saw the time. She furrowed her brow. It hadn't moved from the last time she checked, before the figured showed up.

Emily bit her lip, "You were sleeping… I guess you must have missed it."

"It? A Nighlok?"

"I don't know," Emily shrugged her shoulders, "I'm assuming. My Samuraizer was beeping like crazy. It's gone now, though."

"And I slept through a Nighlok attack?"

"I guess," Emily answered.

Serena sighed loudly and ran her hand through her hair. It must have all been a dream. The figure appearing and offering the perfect fix to all her problems must have only been a dream. As much as she wished someone could undo all her mistakes for her, she was glad she didn't have to be put in that position.

But as she ran her hands through her hair she felt a stinging pain in her hand. She pulled her hand away and inspected it to see what was wrong.

"Are you okay?" Emily noticed the pained look on her sister's face. She watched as the colour drained from Serena's cheeks when she looked at her hand. "Serena, let me see. Let me…"

"It's nothing, Emy," but Emily didn't believe her. The yellow Ranger took her sister's hand and gasped at the burn.

"What's that?"

"It must have happened last night."

"And you didn't notice until today?" Emily asked. "What does it say?"

"What do you mean?" Serena pulled her hand away from Emily and stuffed it in her pockets.

"It's Japanese, isn't it? I can't read it, but I know it when I see it."

"Emily, don't worry about it."

"What does it say? Did you do that to yourself? Serena, are you okay?"

"Leave it, Emily!" Serena snapped. "I'm fine. It'll heal."

"How did it happen?"

"Don't worry about it."

"Serena."

"Say goodbye to mom," Serena grabbed her sister by the arm, "We're leaving."

"But…"

"I want to go home, Emily," Serena pull Emily forcefully down the hallway, trying to escape the hospital before anything else weird happened.


	92. Serena's Deal

The Rangers were sitting in the common room, practicing their symbol power when they heard the door opening up and instantly there was shouting.

"Why won't you tell me?"

"Because, Emily, there's nothing to tell!"

Mia, Mike, Kevin, and Jayden exchanged looks. Serena and Emily had raised their voice before, but never like this. It was almost like they hated each other.

"Just go get changed. I'll help you make up for the…"

"No!"

"Emily!"

"Tell me what happened!"

"Go to your room, Emily, and get…"

"No!"

The Rangers heard what sounded like a slap and again exchanged looks before finally getting up to see what was going on.

"EMILY!" they saw Serena grab Emily's arm and shove her down the hallway. Emily stumbled on her feet and when she caught her balance she turned back to sister and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Stop protecting me! Tell me what happened."

"Emily, maybe you should leave her alone," Mike suggested while he gently took her by the arm. He tugged in the direction of their room, "She's not going to talk."

"I can…

"No you won't," Mike lifted Emily over his shoulder and carried her off. He wasn't sure what was going on between his girlfriend and her sister, but he knew when it was time for them to cool down. Fortunately for him, he fell in love with the Ranger who was easiest to carry. "I'll help you catch up on training today."

Serena hung up her jacket as Mike led Emily away and she could already feel the stares of the other Rangers as they waited for some kind of explanation for what they had just seen.

"What?"

"You don't want to worry her, we get it," Mia said, "but we're not your little sister."

"Is your mom okay?" Jayden asked.

"She's fine," Serena answered and made sure to hide the palm of her right hand. The minute they all saw it, they were going to start asking questions just like Emily had the entire way home and unfortunately, these three could read Japanese.

"Then what's Emily flipping out about. Are you okay?" Kevin asked.

"I'm fine, I…"

"You look exhausted, that doesn't look fine."

"I had to bring that thing home," Serena pointed down the hall to Emily's room. "She's always been stubborn, but I think living with you guys has made it worse."

"She's worried about something," Mia said, "Why don't you just tell us what it is?"

"It's nothing, guys, seriously."

"If it's nothing then show us."

Serena glared at Mia before sighing loudly, "I burned my hand last night, okay? I didn't tell anyone because it's no big deal."

"How badly?"

"It'll heal."

"How badly?" Mia asked again. "Let us see."

"This morning's been a bit crazy, can I just…?"

"Just show us the burn," Kevin groaned, unless you've got something to…"

"I reached to pull out the pie from the oven last night and burned my hand while getting it," Serena groaned. "I've had burns before and I've treated burns before. You guys don't have to worry. Now, I'm going to my room, I didn't sleep well last night. No one bother me."

Serena walked past the three Rangers and disappeared down the hallway and into her room. Jayden watched her go and crossed his arm over his chest.

"I think I'm taking Emily's side on this," he said and turned to Kevin and Mia.

"Emily's probably burned herself a hundred times," Kevin shrugged, "Serena's probably treated those burns every time. Maybe it is no big deal."

"She's lying," Jayden stated. Kevin and Mia frowned.

"How do you know?"

"Unless she's letting her hair colour get to her, what reason would she have for forgetting to wear oven mitts to grab the pie?" Jayden asked. "And I've made enough meals in the oven to know our mitts work just fine."

"And they cover your whole hand," Kevin sighed and looked down at Mia, "She's lying to us."

Mia bit her lip and remembered her talk with Mentor only a couple of hours before. Mentor was worried for Serena, and it seemed rightfully so. If Serena's burn had just been an accident, there would have been no need for her to lie about.

"I'm going to talk to her."

"Are you sure?" Kevin asked. "She seems kind of pissed."

"I'll talk to her," Mia nodded her head and followed Serena's footsteps down the hall. She knocked on the door but didn't get a response. She rolled her eyes. Serena had demanded she not be disturbed but Mia was not about to be bossed around.

She walked into the room and saw Serena sitting on her bed, holding her hand and looking at the palm. Mia assumed she was staring at the burn and cleared her throat. Serena looked up and frowned at Mia.

"I said…"

"You're going to talk to someone," Mia interrupted. "I know you lied."

She didn't want Serena to know the boys were onto her lie as well. If Serena knew more people around the house were suspicious of her she wasn't going to open up.

"About what?"

"Can I see the burn?"

Serena placed her hand down on her leg, "No."

"Why not? I worked in a day care. Kids burned themselves all the time on the strangest things. I can tell you if it's bad or not."

"I can take care of myself."

"Doesn't mean you're not allowed help," Mia said and walked over to Serena's bed, "Can I see?"

Serena shook her head. She couldn't let Mia see. If Emily could tell the burn was in the shape of a Japanese Kanji, Mia was surely going to be able to put the pieces together and she would be able to read what it said.

"You can talk to me, you know. I'm a good listener," Mia said. She gently grabbed Serena's hand by the wrist, "I just want to see."

Just before Mia could turn Serena's hand to look at the burn, Serena heard her cell phone ringing. She thanked her luck for the good timing, pulled her hand away from Mia, and reached to answer it.

"Hello?"

Mia watched and listened in as Serena spoke on the phone. She wasn't about to give up on the burn.

"You're coming into the city? Why? … Mom? Dad, how did you find out about mom? … What do you mean, you're worried about her? Didn't she leave you? … Seriously? … Okay, I guess. I love you too."

Serena hung up the phone and set it down on her bed.

"Your dad?" Mia asked and the earth Samurai nodded her head.

"Yeah… he found out about mom," Serena felt her stomach turning. She remembered every part of the deal she made with the ghostly figure that had left the burn on her hand and she knew this was part of it. He had promised to make her family happy again. Her father, after getting a call from the hospital, heard that Ellie was a patient and was going to drive all the way down from the farm to sit by her side until she recovered. Serena couldn't understand why he would go to such lengths after her mother walked out on him, but she knew it had something to do with her deal.

"How did he find out?" Mia asked. As far as she was concerned, Kevin's parents were the ones the hospital called if they had any news on Serena's mother. Unless someone had given them Jack's number, he shouldn't have been contacted.

"Maybe they thought it was time to track her family down?" Serena suggested. She tried to keep her hands together and in her lap. She was feeling shaky and she still didn't want Mia to see the burn. The pink Ranger noticed she didn't look well and furrowed her brow.

"I know you don't want to put him in danger, but your dad is in town, that's got to be good news, right?"

Serena nodded her head, but her thoughts strayed back to the deal she had made. The figure had told her he would fix everything for a price, but she had no idea what that price was. Had she put her friends in danger? He told her he didn't want her. Either he was going to steal something of value from her, or he was after her friends and family.

Serena's lip quivered, "Mia… I think I did something stupid."

"You forgot to use the oven mitt?" Mia asked.

Serena shook her head, "I fixed everything."

Mia looked confused, "What?"

"Mom and dad are going to be happy," Serena said. "Emily's going to get her family back. My son's going to be safe and mom will live through the pregnancy. Kevin won't be in a wheelchair, Emily's not going to be blind, and Mike's not going to die."

"For starters, Kevin's not in a wheelchair and Emily's not blind. What does that…?"

"It's not going to happen."

"And I hope it never does," Mia nodded. "Look, Serena, if there's something…"

Serena showed her hand to Mia, "I screwed up again."

"Is it just me?" Mia asked, looking to the burn, "or does this say happiness?"

Serena pulled her hand away, "I made a deal with someone who promised he would fix everything and he would stop things from getting worse."

"What do you mean by fix?"

"My family's screwed up," by now Serena was crying, "And don't tell me it's not, or that it's not my fault. I'm not a moron."

"What did you do, Serena?" Mia asked with a tone of worry and concern.

"I don't know who I made the deal with, but he's going to fix everything."

"What does that mean?"

"He's going to fix everything for me… but there's a price, and I don't know what it is."

"You made a deal with the devil?" Mia asked and jumped up to her feet, "Serena, I know you're not afraid of the dark side, but now you're just being reckless!"

"He showed me what would happen if I didn't take him up on his offer!"

"He made it horrible, didn't he?"

"Kevin was in a wheelchair!" Serena nodded. "My mom and Mike were dead! Dad walked and Emily was blind! And it was all because of me!"

"Stop it, Serena…"

"Dayu's mad because of me!" Serena shouted. "She already wants to hurt you and Mike because of what I did with Dekker! And he's dead! He's dead because of me! Mom ran away because of me, and all that bad stuff was going to happen because of me!"

"And you think it won't now that you pledged your soul to some stranger?"

"It's not me he wants," Serena lowered her head.

"That means you put someone else in danger," Mia growled. "Serena…"

"I don't know what he wants," Serena shook her head.

"It'll be something big."

"How do you know?"

"You were played, Serena!" Mia shouted and slapped the older girl upside the head. "You idiot! That thing wants something you have and he tried to make it seem like you could afford to lose it!"

"Please don't tell anyone…"

"What do you have?" Mia asked. "What is something you have that some stranger could possibly want?"

Serena gestured around the room, "Does it look like I have much? I'm a broke, young mother, living for free in Mentor's house. I technically don't even own that pen on my desk. I didn't even buy the diapers I'll be putting on my kid."

Mia growled, "He played you, Serena, you're losing something. Think of what it could be."

"I don't even know who the guy was," Serena shook her head. "How would I know what he wants from me?"

Mia stormed off to the door, "Whatever it is, Serena, I hope you can afford to lose it."

"You're not going to help me?"

"How can I help? You already made the deal! I can't just snap my fingers and break it."

"Please don't tell them," Serena begged.

"I don't know what I'm going to do," Mia shook her head and walked out.


	93. Serena's Prized Possession

Mia felt so burdened by Serena's deal she couldn't eat. Mentor had even made her favourite food for lunch, but she couldn't stomach it. Serena had made a deal with some stranger and by the sound of it, it wasn't even a human. If he had the power to undo all of Serena's mistakes, there was no doubt in Mia's mind that he could claim whatever he wanted.

The big problem was that Mia or Serena had any idea what he could want. Mia was certain it was something belonging to Serena, or something of high value to her because the figure had chosen to help her. There would have been no point to promising Serena her happiness if he wasn't going to get anything in return from her. All the dark strangers Mia had met wanted to cause as much suffering as possible and by the looks of things, he was succeeding.

Serena finally came out of her room to eat lunch. Now that the house knew about her burn she could wrap it up. As long as Mia never said a word, they would never know what was written in her hand. As she took a seat at the table, Kevin looked up at her.

"You seriously forgot to use an oven mitt?" he asked.

"Too much excitement, I guess," Serena nodded her head and turned to Mia. If the boys believed her oven mitt story it could only be because Mia hadn't told them or, better yet, Mia had confirmed the story, thus lying to her friends. Serena could see Mia was not happy about that. One of the things Mia hated most was lying to Kevin. She mouthed a thank you to Mia, but the pink Ranger turned away. She grabbed her plate, still full of food, and placed it on the counter before walking off.

Kevin looked from the plate and then over to his retreating fiancé. He excused himself from the table and followed her. When he caught up to her he grabbed her by the arm and whispered, "You're not eating?"

"Don't do this, Kevin," Mia could see what he was getting at. She had just told him she had been bulimic in High School. He had promised not to make a big deal out of it, but she could see he was worried. "I'm seriously not hungry."

"You're not trying to diet, are you?"

"Kevin, we're Samurai. We're training around the clock. I could eat nothing but movie theatre popcorn for a week and still be in better shape than most of the country. I know that."

"I'm just…"

"I'm fine," Mia pulled her arm away from Kevin and walked into her room. She slammed the door shut but heard it open shortly after.

"Mia, what's wrong then. I saw you giving Serena your death stare when she walked in. Usually you keep that for Mike and Antonio."

"I'll tell you later, I promise," Mia pointed to her desk, "Can you just let me work for a little while?"

"Work on what?"

"I'll tell you later."

"Mia…"

"I'll tell you later," Mia then pointed to the door, "Please, Kevin."

"You can tell me anything."

"I know," Mia nodded, "And I want to tell you, but before I do I want to figure this out first. Can you wait a little while?"

Kevin let out a long sigh before he nodded his head, "Alright… fine."

"Thank you," Mia smiled. "I promise it's got nothing to do with me or us… at least… I hope it doesn't."

"Does it have to do with Serena?" Kevin asked. Mia lowered her head. She could only lie to Kevin because she had been lying to Jayden as well. Now that her fiancé was asking her directly, she was finding it very hard to shake her head no. Kevin noticed this, "Mia…"

"Can you let me figure it out first?"

"Do you want me to keep an eye on Serena, then?"

Mia nodded her head, "Don't let her know you're watching her."

"You promise you'll tell me what's going on?" Kevin asked. "If I let you think about it for a minute, will you tell me what's bothering you?"

"I'll tell you," Mia nodded. "Of course I'll tell you. For now can you just believe everything Serena says, even if it sounds like a cover up?"

"I can play dumb," Kevin said before turning to leave.

-Samurai-

Mike had finally gotten Emily to calm down and she had explained to him what she saw. She couldn't recognise the kanji on her sister's hand, but she knew it was Japanese. Unfortunately, Mike couldn't read Japanese either, but he could help her identify what the kanji looked like. Mentor Ji had given the Rangers a book of characters for them to study. Of course, Mike and Emily never studied. Mike for obvious reasons; he was Mike. He wouldn't study when he was in school, never mind in his down time. Emily, as Mike had just found out, had her own reason for ignoring the book filled with words.

They had been flipping through the book for a couple of hours now and Emily was rubbing her head.

"I don't think I even remember what the burn looks like anymore. Mike we have to stop."

"Are you okay?" Mike noticed Emily was rubbing her head and she had been trying hard to focus on the book for the last little while of their studying. "I thought you were okay with reading now?"

"Even normal readers start seeing the words all funny after a while," Emily muttered. "It doesn't help that I don't know half the stuff printed on the page, and what I can read just doesn't make sense and… just stop."

"Definitely worse than being dressed up as a girl, huh?"

"You have your embarrassing moments and I have mine," Emily took the book from Mike and closed it. "She's not telling me something."

"Maybe it really is nothing," Mike said.

"I'm sure she didn't burn herself last night, though," Emily shook her head. "And that Nighlok appearing in the hospital, but disappearing before any of us could see him?"

"Are you sure you just didn't miss it?" Mike asked. "Maybe it was just that squid-face roaming around, keeping out of sight. Maybe he's planning something."

"Something to do with my sister?" Emily groaned and fell back onto her bed, "Aren't I supposed to be the one that's always making her worry? Isn't she supposed to be protecting me all the time? Why is it, every time I turn around, she's always in trouble?"

"She's too brave?" Mike suggested with a chuckle. "It takes a lot of guts to fall in love with a Nighlok. Especially if that Nighlok is Dekker."

"Her bravery's going to get her killed one day," Emily huffed.

"Her, or one of us," Mike shrugged. He moved over next to Emily and hugged her tightly in his arms, "Your sister loves you, okay? I know it's frustrating when you know she's hiding something and she won't tell you, but she does love you."

"I know," Emily rested her head on Mike's shoulder. "I'm just wish she would talk to me."

"I'm sure, when she's ready, she'll tell you everything. You mean the world to her, Em."

-Samurai-

Since her talk with Mia, Serena had been making a list in her head of everything that could be taken from her by the ghost but she couldn't come up with much. Being sick for so long meant she didn't own very much. She barely had enough clothes to fill her closet, and often times had to borrow a sweater or shirt from Mia. She had pyjamas coming out the whazoo, though, because that was all she really wore when she was in bed sick.

She didn't own a lot of stuff either. Everything that belonged to her was in her room, but had been purchased by her friends or belonged to Mentor. This was his and Jayden's house. And in any case, there was no material possession that couldn't be replaced. Even her son's toys were replaceable because they were just objects. Maybe the one thing that would break Serena's heart if she lost was the baby blanket Emily had given her son, but still, that could be replaced.

She tried to think of things she valued but couldn't own. For instance, her health. But the stranger told her he didn't want her. What was the point of her getting sick again if he didn't care to see her dead? Not to mention, if her family was happy, she would die happy. It wouldn't be a loss. It would be a tough trade for Serena, but she would do anything to make her family happy.

Serena rubbed her stomach gently as the baby moved. She tried to think of something the stranger could take from her, but she really had nothing.


	94. The Visitors

Serena had taken her thinking to the park. Her deal with the devil, as Mia called it, was really starting to weigh heavily on her mind. She couldn't remember why she had accepted the figure's offer. He had definitely come to her in a time where she was feeling vulnerable. It was smart thinking on his part. Whoever he was, he was definitely thinking his plan through and if this continued he was sure to get what he wanted.

But Serena needed to turn the tables back in her favour, or at least back out of the deal. If she knew what he would be coming back for, she could start thinking of a plan, but she had no idea.

A walk around the farm always used to help her when she had a lot to think about. The park was the closest thing she had to her farm but it hadn't helped. There had been too many people, making the place way too crowded for Serena's thoughts to blossom into anything productive. There was too much noise, too many people and too many distractions. She kept spotting parents playing with their kids or siblings and friends playing with each other and she kept wishing for that. She wanted it all back, but she wanted it the right way. Not through some dark deal.

As she walked home, she kept thinking she heard a strange, mechanical noise but she never saw anything on the streets that could make such a noise. Everything had been so weird for her lately; she started to think it was just her own mind playing tricks on her. Why not? It seemed everything else wanted to mess with her.

Suddenly there were people screaming. Serena looked up from the sidewalk and saw everyone running in different directions, trying to clear the street as if the Moogers were invading. It had been a while since there had been any Nighlok activity, aside from the strange presence at the hospital Emily had spoken about, so it made sense that there would finally be an attack.

But as Serena looked around, she saw no signs of Moogers or Nighlok. Not even Dayu was roaming the streets seeking revenge for Dekker.

"What the hell is going on?"

The mechanical sound started up again, like a machine moving and beeping. Serena followed the noise and turned around only to come face to face with, what looked like, an army of robots.

"Alright, this is new."

She wished she had been able to take something from the Tengen Gate when she had gone. Her great, great grandmother's old paintbrush Samuraizer still worked to make symbols and would have been really helpful for her until the Rangers showed up, but she was empty handed.

At least she knew how to fight. As the robot swung at her, she kicked his arm away and hit him square in the chest. He stumbled backwards, but was completely unharmed.

Serena's foot, however, throbbed painfully.

"I should have seen that coming," she muttered to herself before jumping out of the way of another attack. It was clear at this point that she couldn't hurt them. All she could do was defend herself and wait for the Rangers to show up.

And when they started firing lasers, Serena began to pray.

She didn't have to wait long for help, though, as a yellow blur jumped over her head and swiped at the robots before a blast knocked a fair part of them out. Serena smiled to herself. She and her sister had been fighting, but they always had each other's backs.

Serena turned around to see the other Rangers fighting the robots. Red: Jayden, blue: Kevin, green: Mike, and yellow: Emily. But there was something off. There was no pink. Instead, there was a black Ranger.

"Maybe that was the secret Mia should have put on her shirt," Serena whispered before another difference caught her eye. The Ranger uniforms were different. These weren't Samurai Rangers. "Who are you guys?"

"This is usually the point where you run off screaming," the black Ranger said to her as he finished off the last of the robots with his team and he turned his head to her. Serena couldn't see through his helmet, but judging by his tone of voice, she could tell he was glaring at her.

The green Ranger bounced excitedly. Either Serena had missed a uniform and colour switch, or these weren't the Rangers she knew.

"It's been so long since the Earth's been this big!" he exclaimed and looked around. He stopped when, in the distance, he saw the sea, "Look, a real horizon!"

"Who the hell are you?" Serena asked. She had heard from the real Rangers that there were other teams, but they were in other cities. They didn't dare turn up in this city uninvited. That would mean leaving their own town vulnerable to attack and it was something none of the Rangers could afford. So these Rangers must have been new, and anything new had the potential of being dangerous.

"Are you okay?" the yellow asked her and showed Serena the most concern. Serena looked the yellow Ranger right in the eye.

"You're not Emily, are you?"

"Summer," the yellow Ranger said and then pointed to the others, starting with red, then blue, then black and finally green, "That's Scott, Flynn, Dillon, and Ziggy."

"Ziggy?" Serena chuckled. "What's that short for?"

"It's his real name," the black Ranger playfully nudged the green, "And it's the most normal thing about him."

"It's a cool name!" Ziggy protested but Black shook his head.

The red Ranger, Scott, walked up to Serena, "This is the home of the Samurai Rangers, right? You know, people like us who walk around in…"

"Spandex?" Serena nodded her head. She knew who the Samurai Rangers were.

"We try to avoid that word," the blue Ranger, Flynn, said and Serena noticed his thick Scottish accent. At least he had a reason for not being from around here. Flynn chuckled slightly as he looked around at his team, "It makes the doc angry."

"I know who the Samurai Rangers are," Serena nodded her head, "What the hell do you want with them?"

"We need to talk," Scott said, "Do you have any idea where they hang out?"

"Of course she doesn't know where they are," Dillon shook his head, "They have _secret_ identities, remember?"

"What do you want with them?" Serena asked. She couldn't just play dumb and pretend she didn't know the Samurai Rangers, but she didn't want to announce who she was until she knew for sure who they were. "The last time I met up with a guy who wouldn't show his face, I got cursed."

"That sucks."

"Dillon," the yellow Ranger swatted him in the chest, "Be nice."

"Well, it does suck," Dillon shrugged his shoulders and then stepped forward. He had no problem going toe to toe with Serena. In fact, he was going to enjoy it. "Look, preggers, your entire world is in danger. Now we saved you from those Grinders, the least you can do is tell us what you know about the Samurai Rangers."

"Power down, first," Serena demanded while the red Ranger backed Dillon away from her, like she needed the rescuing. She wasn't afraid.

"We don't know if we can," the blue Ranger said. "We might not be able to morph again."

"At least take off your helmets," Serena suggested. "How do I know you're not colourful robots dressed in spandex?"

"Nano-fibre," the blue Ranger corrected her.

"Show me your face, prove to me you're at least human, and maybe then I'll talk," Serena crossed her arms over her chest and stood, waiting for the Rangers to do as they were told. She didn't need anything from them and she had no problem walking away without sharing her information. If they wanted to meet her family, they were going to have to play by her rules.

"She probably knows nothing," Dillon turned his back to her; "We're wasting our time."

"Bye then," Serena turned to leave and started walking off.

Suddenly she felt someone grab her arm. She turned around and saw the yellow Ranger and come after her.

"It's really important we find the Samurai Rangers," she said. "If you know where we can…"

"Show me your face," Serena demanded.

Summer sighed, looked over her shoulder to the boys before looking back at Serena. She let out another big breath as she reached for her helmet.

"This is the best I can do," blonde hair fell out of the helmet just before Serena saw Summer's face.

"You look human."

"Thanks," Summer smiled. "We're here to help the Samurai Rangers. Those robots you saw, they're called Grinders. They come from our dimension."

"Like, another galaxy?"

"Like an alternate universe," Summer said. "A universe where the bad guys won. Almost."

"Summer, c'mon," the black Ranger called her, "She obviously doesn't know anything and what you're saying doesn't sound believable."

"Give me your weapons," Serena held out her hand. Summer looked down before hesitantly handing over her Nitro Blaster. Serena gestured to the boys, "If they show their faces and hand over their weapons, I'll take you to the Samurai Rangers."

"You know where they are?" Ziggy asked.

"I know where they live," Serena nodded her head. "I was supposed to the yellow Ranger."

"Until you got knocked up?" Dillon asked. Serena glared at the black Ranger.

"Next word that comes out of your mouth will trigger my foot making its way up your ass."

"I trust her," Scott chuckled and reached for his helmet, "If anything, just for the fact that she's not afraid of you, Dillon."

"You think she's funny?" Dillon scoffed and crossed his arms, "No way."

"Look, man, it's the only lead we have," Flynn put his hand on Dillon's shoulder, "We're going to have to trust her. Why not just do as she asks?"

"Maybe I don't want to show my face to some stranger," Dillon shrugged. He watched as the other Rangers followed Summer's lead, removed their helmets and handed over their weapons to the stranger.

Serena smirked at Dillon, "Scared the first mirror you're going to walk by shatters?"

Behind his helmet, Dillon hissed and smirked, "You don't give up."

"And you're not going to be able to save the world until you remove that pretty little mask and hand over your laser pointer."

Dillon pulled off his helmet, "If you betray us…"

"Me betray you?" Serena shook her head. "Do you suffer from memory loss? You came to find me, remember?"

"Just show us the way, preggers. I'd like to save the world before your kid pops out."

-Samurai-

"Still haven't figured it out, huh?" Kevin asked as he joined Mia on the couch in the common room. She had been spending a lot of time on her own trying to deal with… Kevin had no idea what; he just knew there was a problem.

"It's harder than I thought," Mia nodded.

"You know, two heads are better than one."

Mia sighed and was about to open her mouth to respond when the front door opened and Scruffy's barking echoed through the entire house as he greeted whoever was at the door.

"Puppy!" an unfamiliar voice cried and Kevin and Mia exchanged looks. "Why do they get a dog and not us?"

"Dr. K doesn't like animals," another unfamiliar voice answered the first.

"Guys!" Serena called into the house, summoning the Rangers and Mentor to the common room while she led their guests in. She saw Mia and Kevin were already waiting for her and their jaws were on the floor as the five Rangers followed her into the room.

"I thought you went out for a walk," Kevin said.

"Please tell me these guys aren't more posers," Mia groaned. "They don't even have the suits right."

"Posers?" Ziggy frowned. "I'll have you know, we're real live Power Rangers! Not in this dimension, but…"

"Ziggy," Scott dropped his hands onto Ziggy's shoulders, "Leave the talking to me."

Jayden, Emily, Mike, and Mentor greeted the Rangers with the same reaction as Mia and Kevin. Even after Serena introduced them, they were still very confused on who these new Rangers were and what they were doing at the Shiba House.

"If you guys are Power Rangers… why have we never heard of you before?"

"We're from an alternate universe," Scott answered, "A universe where evil won."

"Almost," Summer corrected him. "Humanity is still fighting for survival, but the entire planet's been confined into one dome."

"At least, we were," Flynn smiled. "About, two years ago we defeated the Venjix. That's our big bad, but what we didn't know was that he was still alive."

"What's a Venjix?" Mia asked.

"A computer virus," Scott explained. "A really bad virus."

"Wipe out the planet bad," Flynn nodded. "Our mentor, Dr. K, recently tried to reactivate the morphers. With Corinth city expanding its borders and with no idea what we would find in the wastelands, we thought it was best if we put on the suits again."

"Just to be safe. When Dillon, Tenaya, and I were out exploring, we had run into a few Grinders and robots and couldn't risk them getting into Corinth while the shields were down," Summer said. "Unfortunately, someone had the Venjix hiding in his morpher, and when Dr. K went to reactivate it, all of our computers were reinfected and Venjix started to, once again, take over."

"Mike, are you sure these aren't characters from one of your video games?" Kevin asked his green Ranger. "Don't you have a game like that or something?"

"Sounds like it would be awesome," Mike smirked.

"It's not a video game," Scott shook his head. "We're not characters. We're real."

"If that virus is infecting your world, what are you doing here?"

"Venjix couldn't win," Flynn explained. "His army was destroyed and Dr. K knew how to stop him. Before we managed to defeat him for a second time, though, he built a machine. Now, he's going to try and wipe out your world, and he thinks he'll have better luck here."

"But we're here to stop him," Summer smiled to the Samurai, "And we need your help. We read up on your universe before coming. Right now you're being invaded by Nighlok?"

"How do you know that?"

"Dr. K's really smart," Ziggy said. "She knows everything and she has eyes everywhere."

"If your Nighlok and Venjix team up, or if they butt heads, that could spell disaster," Scott said. "We need to keep them apart and we need to stop Venjix once and for all."

"Without downloading him into another morpher," Summer looked at Scott, "I know it was you."

"It could have been anyone," Scott rolled his eyes.

"She's usually right, though," Dillon wrapped his arm around Summer's shoulders and smirked at Scott, "This time, it's your fault the world's going to hell."

"Mentor," Jayden turned to Ji, "What do you think?"

"I've seen the Grinders for myself," Serena chimed in. "I don't think these guys are lying about the Venjix."

"And if they are, it's our duty to stop them," Kevin nodded.

"Them?" Mike pointed to the Rangers, "Or the robots?"

"The robots," Kevin groaned. "Why would we want to stop the Power Rangers?"

"You talk pretty," Emily giggled to Flynn. He smiled proudly.

"I'm Scottish."

Serena looked from the Samurai Rangers to the RPM Rangers, as they called themselves. She wasn't too sure about this, but at least everyone seemed distracted, even Mia. No one was paying any attention to the bandaged burn on her hand or its origins.

"Wait, your yellow Ranger's twelve?" Dillon's voice pulled Serena from her thoughts.

"Seventeen!" Emily argued with a pout.

"The pigtails make you look eight," Dillon said.

"They're cute," Scott smirked.

Emily glared at the black Ranger, "Someone needs a hug."

"Good luck," Ziggy told her with a sigh, "I've tried."


	95. Serena Opens Up

"Are you sure you can't take off those suits?" Emily asked the RPM Rangers while they sat around the common room, trading stories and adventures while Scott and Jayden searched the map for any sign of Venjix or Nighlok.

"If we power down, we may not be able to morph again," Summer explained, "We don't want to risk it."

"I don't know," Ziggy leaned back against the couch and put his hands behind his head, "Not having to live in a dome sounds pretty sweet. We can go travelling and sightseeing."

"We can go sightseeing in Corinth, Ziggy," Dillon smirked. "There just won't be much sight to see."

"Except for big, empty wasteland," Flynn chimed in.

"That must have been horrible," Mia said. "Watching your entire planet be destroyed by a computer virus."

"See what happens when you play too many video games, Mike," Kevin looked over to the forest Samurai. Mike shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't think it would be that bad. Sure, watching your home blow up must suck, but you guys get to kick robot ass!"

"You would find that entertaining," Jayden smirked from the map. "Still, it must be horrible losing everything."

"We didn't lose everything," Scott said.

"But we lost quite a bit," Ziggy nodded.

"Like what?" Emily asked. "Aside from the entire world, I mean."

"Just stuff," Summer shrugged, "but that was all replaceable."

"And people," Scott said, "Not everyone made it to Corinth. Most of the world's population was wiped out."

"Did you lose your families?"

"Some of us," Flynn nodded and he looked to Scott and Summer.

"It was the worst thing Venjix took from us," Summer said.

Serena, who had been quiet for most of the conversation, suddenly got up and walked out. Everyone watched her leave, but no one really knew why she left.

Dillon was fastest to move on, "Anyways, we're here to make sure that doesn't happen to you guys. It sucks that it happened to us, and captain perfect over there won't let us spread around the misery to alternate universes."

"If Venjix can jump from universe to universe, there's no telling what he can do," Scott said. "He may never come back to us, but if he did, after conquering several worlds, he'll be much stronger. We might not be able to take him."

Scott pointed to the map, "Everything seems clear for now. We should take this time to rest."

"That's probably a good idea," Jayden nodded his head. "I've got some space in my room. You boys can dump your stuff there and get settled in. Summer, you can bunk with Serena."

"Where's her room?"

"Down the hallway," Emily pointed before taking Summer's hand, "I'll show you."

"And I'll show you to my room," Jayden signalled for the boys to follow him. Scott thanked him as they walked behind him.

Dillon pushed through to the front of the crowd and walked side by side with Jayden, "So, what's up with preggers. If she's not a Ranger, who the hell is she?"

"Dillon," Flynn scolded.

"It's fine," Jayden assured the blue Ranger, "She's Emily's older sister. She was supposed to be the yellow Ranger but she got sick."

"She's sick?"

"She was," Jayden clarified. "She got better."

"And instead of switching out the twelve year old for her, you whore her out to make more Samurai babies?"

"Dillon!" Scott, Ziggy, and Flynn growled.

Jayden chuckled and shook his head, "Look, she needed a place to stay and she's family. If pregnant women make you uncomfortable, though…"

"Everything makes him uncomfortable," Flynn tapped the black Ranger on the shoulder as he smiled at Jayden. "Just ignore him."

Jayden nodded and opened the door to his room, "You guys can drop your stuff in here."

"Thanks a lot, Jayden," Scott smiled. The RPM Rangers had gotten their weapons back from Serena but they weren't going to carry them around all day when they were just hanging out in the house. It was good to have a spot to put them. Flynn, Ziggy, and Dillon walked into the room to put their stuff away, but Scott pulled Jayden aside.

"Look, before he really starts pulling the anti-social act, I just want to explain what's wrong with him."

"It's fine, you don't…"

"Dillon and Summer can't have kids," Scott said. "Dillon's not really the kind of guy, who wants the whole white picket fence life, but Summer does and he would do anything for her."

"They can't have kids?"

Scott shook his head, "They've got a one in a million shot. We're the lucky survivors of the end of the world, but I doubt we're that lucky. Summer's coping but Dillon's…"

"I thought he didn't want kids?"

"Like I said, he would do anything for her. He knows how hurt she is and… well… he's frustrated he can't do this for her."

"Oh."

"Look," Scott glanced over his shoulder just to be sure no one else was listening, "I'm only telling you this so you know why he and Serena are butting heads. Seeing her pregnant is probably hard for him, especially if this was unplanned. Was it unplanned?"

"Oh yeah," Jayden nodded. "Very unplanned. Do you see a dad around helping?"

"I guess not," Scott shook his head.

"Thanks for the heads up with Dillon. Serena can usually take care of herself when it comes to guys like him, but it's good to know just in case they really do start to clash."

-Samurai-

"Serena?" Emily poked her head into her sister's room before pulling Summer in, "Jayden says you have a roommate!"

Serena was sitting on her bed and looked up when she heard her sister's voice, "Thanks, Emily."

"Why did you run off earlier?" Emily asked while she pointed to a corner where Summer could put her things. "Did you have to throw up? Are you sick again?"

"Morning sickness? No," Serena shook her head. "It's nothing, Emily."

Emily rolled her eyes. She was really starting to hate that word _nothing._

"It's always nothing with you. There's never anything wrong with you, is there?"

"Drop it, Emily."

"Fine," Emily growled and stomped out of the room unhappily, her mood having changed completely. Summer looked back and forth between the two sisters and frowned at Serena.

"Where did that come from?"

"We're in the middle of a fight," Serena shrugged her shoulders and showed Summer her hand, "I won't tell her how I burned myself."

"How did you burn yourself?" Summer asked.

"It's not important."

"Then why don't you tell her?"

"Because… I did something stupid. I don't want to worry her."

"She's your sister, right. Isn't she supposed to help you with stuff like that?"

"Do you have a sister?"

"Only child."

Serena sighed loudly and fell back into her bed, "Then you have no idea what it's like."

"She's probably annoying, sure," Summer shrugged and pulled out the chair from Serena's desk to sit down, "but I'm sure she's just trying to help."

"You said something earlier," Serena said, "when you guys were talking about what you lost when Venjix took over your earth. Say it again."

"The stuff we lost was replaceable?"

"After that?"

"Losing our families was the worst thing Venjix took from us?"

"Was it really?"

Summer nodded her head, "My butler Andrews was more like a dad to me than my own father. He raised me and in the evacuations he sacrificed himself to save me. If he hadn't of done that, I never would have made it to Corinth," Summer wiped a tear from her eye, "I still can't think of him without…doing this."

"That stupid thing I did," Serena said, "It's going to cost me."

"Doesn't it always?" Summer asked.

"Since I realised I was pregnant, as your black Ranger so rudely pointed out, I've done nothing but screw up and it's hurt more than just me. Emily keeps taking the most hits, but everyone else is suffering because of it now too. Someone, I'm not sure who, offered me a way out."

"What do you mean?"

"He said he could fix everything," Serena explained. "He showed me what life would be like if I didn't let him fix it for me and everything just got worse for them. Like, really bad. I couldn't let that happen, and I wanted everything to be fixed, so I took him up on his offer. Now he's going to come back to take something from me as payment… and I think it's something I can't afford to lose."

"Like what?"

Serena was silent as she averted her gaze away from Summer and focused on her blankets. Summer looked to the door, then back to Serena.

"You think he tricked you?" she asked before getting up and walking over to the bed. She sat in front of Serena and held her hands, "Look, this guy can't take anything you won't give. You're not powerless against him. If he cheated you, you have a right to fight."

"I don't know what he wants," Serena said, "but I can't let him take my family. They mean everything to me."

"Then maybe you should talk to your family about this," Summer suggested just before both women heard loud beeping.

"Gap sensor," Serena said. "It means trouble."

"When I get back, we'll talk about what you're going to say to the others. If we all put our heads together, I'm sure we can find a way around this."

"She's going to hate me," Serena whispered.

"It just means she cares."


	96. Jayden Finds Out

Grinders and Moogers alike flooded the city, creating a panic as people rushed to safety, trying to get away from the old and the new monsters.

The Rangers escorted the civilians to safety before stopping to look around.

"This is the most Moogers I've ever seen," Emily pointed out and jumped to try and see over their heads, "We can't fight them all!"

"We're a team of ten now, Em," Mike reminded her. "I'm sure we can handle them."

He pulled out his sword and turned to Ziggy, "Let's show these guys that green is the best colour for a Ranger!"

"I'll take the Grinders," Ziggy nodded.

"I'll get the Moogers," Mike and Ziggy were the first to jump into action.

Scott and Jayden exchanged looks behind their helmets before they shrugged, "I guess we're following their lead."

"There's no way I'm letting Ziggy be the best Ranger," Scott chuckled.

"Blue and Blue?" Kevin offered to Flynn and the Scot nodded his head.

"Of course."

Summer and Emily traded looks and nodded, silently joining the others in a battle as the yellow team.

Dillon turned to his teammate, "Seriously, guys? Summer, want to trade? Pink's not really my colour."

"And yellow's not mine," Summer shot back teasingly, "I guess we'll both have to make it work."

Mia crossed her arms over her chest, "And what, pray tell, is wrong with the colour pink?"

"Do I look like the kind of guy that wears pink?"

"You look like the kind of guy who'll defeat fewer monsters than the pink Ranger," Mia jumped into battle and started swinging her sword at the Moogers, "I'm already at three."

"I hate this team," Dillon groaned.

A little ways off, watching the battle, Venjix in his new body stood confidently, a smirk on his face. He had come to this universe to try his hand again at eliminating the human race, and at first he had been angry that the RPM Rangers had followed him, but now he saw this as an opportunity to wipe them out completely. In this world, they were without help from Dr. K or the gold and silver Rangers. If they were to fall and power down even once, that would be the end of the RPM team.

All he needed to do was wear them out.

Beside him, Octoroo waddled over.

"You think you're so tough?" he asked. "But if you don't destroy the Rangers, Master Xandred's going to destroy you. For your sake, I hope you know what you're doing."

"Shut it, squid face," Venjix snapped, "Go back to your boat. I've got everything under control."

"Ooh ah ooh, no need to be rude," Octoroo turned around and waddled off, "I just thought I would give you a fair warning. Master Xandred won't take pity on a bucket of bolts."

Venjix watched as Octoroo waddled back to the Netherworld and then looked back at the fight.

"All I've got to do is take out the RPM Rangers," he said. "Those Samurai and their swords will be no match for my Grinders."

He snapped his fingers and another wave of Grinders rushed up behind him. The Moogers Master Xandred were using were falling like flies. Not only were they vulnerable to the Samurai's swords, but they couldn't stand up against the blasts from the RPM Ranger's weapons. Grinders were the only thing that stood a chance, and Venjix was going to flood the Rangers until they were too worn out to fight.

"Is it just me?" Mike asked as he found himself fighting against more and more Grinders and less and less Moogers, "or are these freaks coming out of nowhere."

"My sword won't cut it!" Kevin smashed his Spin Sword into the Grinder's chest but the robot barely flinched and the sword didn't leave a mark. "Are you kidding me?"

Seeing the Rangers were getting tired, Venjix decided it was time to end this fight. His new body had just what he needed and his left arm shifted into a cannon. The red Rangers were fighting right in the center of all the others. He could hit the reds dead on, and catch all the others in the blast.

"This is too easy," he smirked as his cannon powered up.

"What's that noise?" Mia asked as her ears picked up on a high whistling sound. She turned to the rest of her team and saw Mike pointing over her shoulder.

"Bigger robot!"

"And he's got a gun pointed right at Jayden and Scott!" Kevin shouted.

"Summer, run!" Dillon ordered her but Summer shook her head.

"No way."

"If you power down you can't go home!"

Mike, Mia, Kevin, and Emily heard this and traded looks. Not only was Jayden in danger, but if the RPM Rangers were hit, they could never go back to their universe.

Venjix fired his cannon and a big explosion tore up the city, filling the streets with smoke and sending cars and buildings flying everywhere. Thinking his job was done; he turned on his heels and walked away from the wreckage.

"Too easy," he laughed to himself.

As the smoke began to clear, Jayden coughed. He was still in his Ranger suit, but he could feel his powers slowly leaving him and decided to power down.

"Who was that guy?"

"Venjix," Scott answered and was thankful he was still in his suit. It meant he could still go home, "The robot we told you about," Scott tried to see through the smoke for his team, "Flynn, Summer, Dillon, Ziggy, are you guys okay?"

"Unfortunately," Scott heard Flynn answer back and he looked to Jayden curiously. The smoke was really beginning to clear and the red Rangers could see the damage that had been caused. Small shops and homes had been completely destroyed, gone without a trace, and bigger buildings had been taken down and reduced to rubble. Had it not been for their Ranger suits, the boys knew they never would have lived.

Finally, when the smoke was gone, Jayden saw the rest of the damaged caused and Flynn's response made complete sense. To save him, the red Samurai Ranger, and all the RPM Rangers from getting hurt or dying, Mike, Mia, Kevin, and Emily had taken the hit. Their RPM counterparts were kneeling over them, fully morphed, trying to see if they were okay.

"They saved my team," Scott breathed in amazement and he looked to Jayden. The Samurai kicked a shattered rock and growled in frustration.

"They need to stop doing that!"

"What are you…?"

"They need to start thinking about their own safety," Jayden limped over to Kevin and Flynn and checked his blue Ranger for a pulse. "Kevin, can you hear me?"

"He's out cold," Flynn shook his head. "He's still alive, but I think barely."

"Can you help me get him home?" Jayden asked. Flynn nodded and he started to lift the blue Samurai with Jayden's help. Scott rushed over to help Ziggy with Mike.

"Is he okay?"

"I can't believe he did that," Ziggy breathed. "What if he dies?"

"Don't talk like that," Scott shook his head. "Help me get him back. Dillon, Summer, can you…?"

"We've got them," Dillon nodded his head as he scooped Mia up in his arms and checked on Summer and Emily. "On the bright side, we've got no Grinders to worry about."

"Not now, Dillon," Summer muttered as she lifted Emily.

-Samurai-

The RPM Rangers and Jayden sat in the common room, waiting for news from Mentor Ji or Serena on the Samurai's condition. Jayden couldn't believe what his friends had done. He had seen the cannon was pointed straight at him, and they must have jumped in its way to save him. Up until now, they had been lucky, but this time Jayden wasn't so sure.

"Why would they do that?" Ziggy asked as he fidgeted nervously on Mike's stool. Not only had the Samurai jumped in Jayden's way, but they had shielded the RPM Rangers so they were less likely to power down and be stuck in this world. Ziggy was thankful, but he didn't want anyone to die for him.

"They think that's what they're supposed to do," Jayden answered.

"Why?" Scott asked.

"Protect the innocent, help those in need, and keep me safe. They think I'm the key to stopping Xandred, and God forbid they think of their own safety."

"Either way," Scott said, "We owe you big time."

"Pink's got guts," Dillon whispered before Serena appeared in the doorway. When Jayden and the RPM Rangers had brought the Samurai home, she couldn't be removed from their side and insisted she stay in the room while Mentor examined and treated them. If she was coming out, it was either because she had some news or she lost her cool and Mentor had to kick her out.

"How are they?" Jayden asked gently.

"If they don't live he lied to me," Serena muttered to herself. The only thing keeping her from going made was the deal she made with the strange figure. Part of his deal was that Emily was going to have a daughter with Mike. For that to happen, they needed to survive this. For the first time since the deal had been made, Serena was thankful for it.

"What?" Jayden asked.

Serena shook her head, "Nothing."

Jayden groaned, "Dammit, Serena," like Emily, he was tired of hearing that word coming from Serena's mouth. Mia had tried to assure him that Serena's apple pie story was the truth for how she received the burn, but Jayden wasn't completely convinced. Now she was trying to keep something else to herself, "You can't keep these things bottled up."

"Just shut up, Jayden," Serena shook her head. "My sister's in that room…"

"They're my family too, Serena," Jayden growled. "I'm just as worried as you are. And I'm worried about you too."

"Don't be! Just leave me alone…!"

Scott jumped to his feet and threw his helmet onto his stool, "Stop it, you two. Those Rangers made a huge sacrifice for all of us. You're one of the bravest teams I've ever met, but this fighting has got to stop! It's not helping them, and it's definitely not helping either of you."

Serena turned around, "I'm going to check up on my sister."

"Maybe now would be a good time to tell Jayden where you got that burn," Summer said and Serena tensed up. The yellow Ranger was playing a very dangerous game now.

Jayden shook his head, "I knew that oven mitt story was fake."

"I trusted you," Serena hissed to Summer.

"You trusted me because you wanted my help," Summer nodded her head. "Now you're getting it, whether you like it or not. You care a lot for the Rangers in there. What if that stranger decides he's taking one of them now? Don't you think you owe them an explanation?"

Serena growled, "What are you saying?"

Summer stood up and walked over to Serena. She stood face to face with the Earth Samurai.

"Do you really not know what that stranger could take from you?" she lightly poked her finger into Serena's stomach, and then pointed down the hallway, "I can narrow it down to one of two things. If I had either one, I would never want to lose them."

Serena grabbed Summer's finger, "Threaten my baby, or my baby sister again and you'll lose this hand."

"What's she talking about, Serena?" Jayden asked. "What did you do?"

"Summer," Dillon called his wife over, "Stop threatening the angry pregnant lady before I have to jump in and save you."

Summer glared at Serena, "If you don't tell him now, I'll do it."

"Every time," Ziggy leaned over and whispered to Flynn, "Summer does this every time."

"It's her nature to fix things," Flynn shrugged, "Or, at least, she tries to."

"She fixed Dillon," Ziggy said before looking to the brooding black Ranger, "Well, as fixed as he can get."

Serena fixed her glare on Summer before she sighed loudly and turned to Jayden, "I made a deal with the devil."

"What did you trade?"

"You know how everything's screwed up?" Serena asked and Jayden nodded, "He told me he could fix everything. He could make life better for all of us, my family especially."

"Serena, the devil lies. Anything that tries to make those deals lies!"

"I couldn't help it. And he's already starting to fix things. Dad's coming here to be with mom until she wakes up. Maybe he'll forgive her and…"

"What did you trade him?" Jayden asked. He didn't care what Serena thought she was getting in return. Odds were she was going to be ripped off anyways.

Serena shrugged her shoulders, "He didn't tell me. He just said he would be back."

"Antonio should have stayed," Jayden growled as he got up and walked out, "He should have sent you packing."

Jayden stormed out, leaving the room in an awkward silence. Everyone was scared to talk, afraid they would upset the earth Samurai and her wrath would fall on them.

Suddenly, Ziggy twisted his hands together and held them up to the window. On the opposite wall, a shadow puppet rooster appeared.

"Look, it's funny," he tried to break the tension but Dillon shook his head.

"Not now, Zigster."

Ziggy lowered his hands, "Awkward silence time. I get it."


	97. The Recovery Time

The awkward silence from the argument between Jayden and Serena filled the room until Mentor Ji arrived and told the Rangers they could visit their injured teammates. Most of them were starting to come to and Mentor thought it would be good for them to have a team member to talk to

Dillon, Ziggy, Flynn, and Summer went to see the Samurai. To Scott, that was enough. Anymore people in one room and the place would start to feel crowded. A crowd caused stress and stress was the last thing the Rangers needed.

He thought about going to check up on Jayden, but stopped himself from getting up when he saw Serena sitting on her stool. She was looking down at her stomach and rubbing it gently. As hurt as Jayden must have been, Serena was probably feeling ten times worse.

He moved stools and sat down next to you.

"How far along are you?"

"Four and a half months," she answered him.

"What exactly happened that made you make that deal?" Scott asked her. "It's got to be something bad."

"Do you have time?"

"There's nothing else to do."

Serena sighed, "The baby's father was half-Nighlok. He used to be a human, but a deal his wife made turned him into a half-human/half-Nighlok. He's been around for centuries just… lost. He used to be the bad guy… until he met me."

"What happened?"

"I feel in love with the wrong kind of guy," Serena shrugged her shoulders. "Dekker forgot his past, and forgot he had a wife. Dayu's serving Xandred and she's trying to get him to remember. She got crazy jealous and she's tried more than once to take me out of the picture so she can have him back."

"Why would you take her husband away from her, though?"

"I did ask him if he wanted to remember his past. He always said he didn't. He said he liked the life he had with me. I made him feel like a human and it felt good for him. But it didn't last," a tear ran down Serena's cheek, "Dekker and I slept together and Dayu found out. Obviously she was pissed I was sleeping with her husband so she started coming after me. She wasn't going to stop until I was dead, and Dekker was so scared…"

"Sounds like he really cared for you."

"He took me somewhere… I still don't know where," Serena shook her head, "Some Nighlok prison. The Nighlok couldn't get in or out, so Dayu couldn't get to me without getting past Dekker. He took me away from my friends and family and locked me in there."

"Locked you in?" Scott asked, "As in…"

"It was a prison and he kept me there," Serena nodded. "The only time I ever saw him was when he came in to feed me or check up on me. I told him to let me go and that I would take my chances with Dayu, but he didn't care. He did what he wanted, not what was best for me. When he finally realised what he was doing was killing me, and he would lose me no matter what, he brought me home. A couple of weeks later I found out I was pregnant. This was after I broke it off with him and promised myself I would never fall in love with him again."

"He locked you up when you were pregnant?"

"He didn't know. I didn't even know… but I guess that's how it worked out," Serena nodded. "I fell in love with a monster. He's tried to kill the Rangers several times. He's kidnapped and beat them, Emily included. He had an obsession with dueling Jayden… he was a monster and I didn't see it."

"It sounded like he was different when he was with you," Scott assured her. "He was changing for you."

"Never fall in love with someone who's trying to change," with the back of her hand Serena wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Emily was kind of pissed with me when she first found out I was pregnant, but like everyone else, she came around. She's been a big help lately. But when I told my mom… she wasn't as accepting. She turned her back on me, left dad, and abandoned Emily. It took a toll on my family and on everyone else as well."

"That's horrible."

"To make things worse…"

"It gets worse?"

"Mom came back and I couldn't help Emily cope with that. The Nighlok half of my baby was slowly killing me. Emily and the Rangers were on their own to figure out a way to save me, and deal with my mom coming back. When she realised what was happening to me, she made the ultimate sacrifice. Emily and I needed each other and my baby needed me. Now, if the pregnancy was supposed to kill me, it's going to take her life. She literally gave up her life for me."

"That's screwed up," Scott placed his hand on Serena's arm. "I'm so sorry."

"That's why I had to make that deal. When whatever it was promised he could make things better… I had to take it. I didn't think of what it would cost me."

"Summer seemed to think it's Emily or the baby," Scott pointed out. Serena hugged her stomach.

"I'm scared she's right. Emily's meant the world to me since the day she was born. My baby's already everything to me. Everything else I can replace or live without. It was only for a few months, but I was fine without my mother. I couldn't lose them, but I could live life without parents better than life without my sister."

"Or your kid."

"I'm scared, Scott."

Scott pulled Serena into his arms and hugged her tight, "I wish I could help."

-Samurai-

Flynn gently pushed Kevin back down into bed as the blue Samurai tried to get up. He wanted to check up on Mia, knowing she was in just as much pain as he was, but Flynn wouldn't let him up.

"Just rest up," Flynn said, "Dillon may be brooding, but he can take care of her."

"You don't get it…"

"I do," Flynn nodded his head. "I have a girlfriend back home; a really serious girlfriend. But seriously, man, if you don't rest up, you won't get better and all she's going to do is worry about you. Do you want that?"

Kevin shook his head no. Flynn smiled.

"Good."

Kevin leaned back into his pillows. He handed being confined to his bed but Flynn did have a point. And if he rested, he would be able to get up and get back to saving the world a lot faster.

But he didn't have to be bored while resting. He looked up at his counterpart, "You have a girlfriend back home, huh? Does she know you're a Ranger?"

"She's a Ranger too," Flynn nodded. Kevin's eyes shifted over to Summer and the Scot chuckled, "Not her. She's our silver Ranger. Her name is Gemma."

"Silver Ranger, huh?"

"Her brother's gold. I feel like we've got the entire set."

"No pink," Kevin shook his head. "You can't be a full set without pink."

"Alright, so we're missing pink. You can tell that to Dr. K. I'm sure she'd _love_ to hear you criticize her choice of colours."

"How did you meet her? Gemma, I mean," Kevin asked. "Was she on the team from the start?"

Flynn shook his head, "She joined long after I did."

"How long did it take for you two to start going out?"

"You ask a lot of questions," Flynn chuckled. "It took us a while. She's a little… different."

"Different how?"

"I won't go into details," Flynn said with a smile, "But it's like someone fed her coffee instead of milk when she was a baby and the caffeine rush hasn't worn off."

"You should have seen Emily the day after Halloween," Kevin chuckled.

"It took us all a little time to get used to her and her brother," Flynn said. "At first we thought they were really weird. They liked to blow things up, they finished each other's sentences, they were inseparable. But one night, I got Gemma alone and we worked on a project together. I saw a whole new side to her and… well, that's when I really started to fall in love with every part of her."

Kevin smiled up to Flynn, "She sounds lovely."

"I wish you could meet her," Flynn nodded. "She couldn't come with us. She had to stay and protect Corinth with her brother, just in case there are a few Grinders or robots laying around waiting for a moment like this."

"Are you worried about her?"

"She can take care of herself," Flynn smirked, "and her brother promised me he'd look after her for me. I trust him."

"Sounds like you get along with her family."

"It took a while. So, what's going on between you and Mia? I noticed a ring on her finger…"

On the other side of the room, the green Rangers were also having a chat and Ziggy was teaching Mike how to do shadow puppets.

"And voilà!" Ziggy grinned proudly, showing his shadow bear to the green Ranger, "Easy as that!"

Mike looked at his fingers, intertwined together in a jumbled mess.

"Uh… maybe I'll leave it to you."

"It's always a crowd pleaser," Ziggy said. "Maybe you'll have it mastered by the time Serena's baby comes along."

"Somehow, I doubt a baby will know to look at the wall to see the shadow."

Ziggy shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe in a few years, then."

Mike sat up slightly in his bed, "So, seriously, Zig, what's it like living in a dome. It's got to have its perks, right?"

"Save money on airfare," Ziggy nodded. "But for the most part, it's not really that different. Corinth is a pretty big place, and there's everything we need in the dome. But it kind of gets depressing when you realise that's it."

"Kinda makes it hard to date, I guess. Going to the same restaurants and stuff all the time must be a bit of a bummer."

"Uh… dating's not exactly… I mean… I guess it would be… uh…"

"Ziggy," Mike furrowed his brow curiously, "Have you ever been on a date?"

"Contrary to popular belief," Ziggy said with a smirk, "This isn't really something the women go for. Not when you're competition is the lost bad boy, the brave, heroic soldier, and the foreign, lovable mechanic."

"Surely you have a personality," Mike chuckled. "My competition was Kevin and Jayden, and I still managed to win the heart of the most amazing girl."

"Lucky."

"Do you have your eye on anyone?" Mike asked and nudged Ziggy gently. Ziggy began to blush and shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't… I mean… Venjix didn't wipe out all the hot girls on the planet… but…"

"Yes or no," Mike said. "Is there a girl you like? If so, I can give you tips. I did score Emily."

"She's cute," Ziggy looked over to Emily and then back at Mike. "Okay, so there is one girl."

"Who?"

"Uh…" Ziggy leaned in closer to Mike and whispered, "Tenaya. She's Dillon's sister."

"If I can survive Kevin, Serena, Mia and Emily's father; big man, by the way, he makes Dillon look like a stick; surely you can survive Dillon."

"He's really protective since he found her… and besides, it's not like Tenaya notices me. I'm better off…"

"Dude, just go for it," Mike shook his head. "How the hell are you going to know how she feels if you never make a move? What's the worse she can do?"

"Laugh at me?"

"Then she's not worth it," Mike smiled. "I'll help you stop Venjix and I'll make sure you don't de-morph so you can go back home, but promise me, when you do, you'll tell her how you feel."

"I don't…"

"Don't make this for nothing," Mike pointed to the bruises and scars covering his face. "Seriously, Zig, you have to take a shot. Trust me, it'll be worth it."

Unaware Mike was trying to help Ziggy hook up with his sister Dillon was sitting on the end of Mia's bed, trying to be helpful to her. He never really knew what to say to anyone, and usually left the comforting to Summer. But his wife was busy dealing with the yellow Samurai, so Dillon was on his own.

"So…" he started nervously and Mia looked up at him, "How… uh… this Samurai thing, huh? …"

"It's a family thing," Mia nodded her head. "For centuries, my family's been fighting off the Nighlok as the pink Ranger."

"All girls, right?"

"I've got a few great grandfathers who proudly wore the pink suit."

Dillon's jaw dropped, "Seriously? Tell me they at least didn't have to wear the skirt."

"No," Mia chuckled and shook her head, "They didn't have the skirt."

Dillon wiped his brow, "That would have been humiliating. Thankfully I'm the black Ranger."

"You still haven't told me what's wrong with pink."

"Nothing, for a girl," Dillon shrugged. "It's just not my colour. You couldn't tempt me with a million dollars."

"Sure," Mia rolled her eyes and then she looked across the room to check up on both Emily and Kevin. Dillon noticed she glance in two different directions and frowned.

"Who are you looking at?"

Mia held her left hand up, "Emily and my fiancé."

"I didn't notice that," Dillon frowned.

"You don't look like the kind of guy who would."

"Summer likes the ring I bought her," Dillon shrugged. "That's good enough for me."

"You're engaged to Summer?"

"Married," Dillon smiled proudly and glanced over his shoulder at his wife. Mia sat up, her eyes glistening in excitement.

"What was the wedding like? Where was it? Was it romantic? Was it a big wedding? How many people? How long have you been…?"

"Ah!" Dillon moved down the bed, away from Mia, "So many questions."

"Sorry," Mia chuckled, "I'm a bit of a wedding freak."

"You got the freak part right," Dillon nodded. "And to answer your wedding questions, we had a small wedding; just her family, a few friends, and the RPM team. We decorated the garage and… yeah."

"A garage?" Mia frowned, "That's no place for a wedding."

"Where else could we have gone?" Dillon asked, "Our world was destroyed, remember?"

"Good point. But still, there's got to be better places than a garage."

Dillon shrugged, "I don't know. Weddings aren't really my thing. I kind of just… did it."

"Did you propose to Summer?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Have you seen her?" Dillon asked. "She's amazing, and she saved my life. Without her I would have been wandering the wastelands to this very day."

"It looks like she's really good with Emily," Mia nodded her head. "She's keeping her calm. Probably just as well as Serena or Mike could."

"My wedding may not have sounded perfect," Dillon shrugged his shoulders, "Especially to a wedding freak like you, but at the end of the day, I knew she was mine forever. That's why I married her. I loved her and I wanted to make sure she got the best in life. She deserves everything she wants."

"I'm sure you'll do you best to give it to her," Mia smiled to comfort him.

"I can't have kids," Dillon breathed. "She wants a family and I can't…"

"You can't...?"

"Give her kids," Dillon whispered so the whole room wouldn't hear. "It broke her heart, I know it did. She says she's okay, and she's happy being a family of two, but I want to give her a child."

"Aren't you living in a world where most of the population was wiped out?" Mia asked. "Why can't you adopt? Surely there's a kid out there who needs a home."

"It's not the same…"

Mia looked to Mike and then Emily.

"Family's family," she said, "They don't have to be related to you. If you were to ask me right now, how many siblings I had, I would tell you I have five. I don't care where they come from. I'm sure Summer wouldn't either."

Dillon looked back to his wife and smiled. She had brought up the matter of adoption a few times before, but he had always turned it down, thinking giving her her own child was the better choice, no matter how impossible it seemed, but maybe Mia was onto something.

He turned back to her with a genuine smile, "Maybe pink's not a horrible colour."

"Just think about it," Mia nodded.

Summer wasn't used to this method of comforting. Her team consisted mostly of boys, and the few girls she had weren't very different from the boys when they got upset or scared. Normally, whenever one of her teammates needed someone to talk to, that was what Summer did. She talked with them, brought their confidence back up and made them feel better about themselves and ready to take on their problem, or move forward from it.

Emily was different. She responded to comforting words just like Summer's team would but Summer found the best way to help her relax and recover was through touch.

And somehow, the younger yellow found her way into Summer's arms. The RPM Ranger gently held the Samurai and stroked her back as she whispered comforting words.

But the topic had somehow changed. Emily made sure Summer knew she was thankful for the support, but she couldn't stop asking where her sister was and why she wasn't coming in.

"Does it have something to do with the burn?" Emily asked. "She won't tell me where she got it and I'm scared it's serious."

"I don't know much about the burn," Summer said, "but your sister is worried about you, I promise."

Emily pulled away from Summer slightly. She looked up at the yellow RPM, "Then where is she?"

"She'll be here," Summer gently leaned Emily back into the pillows and held her hand. "She just has a few things to think about first."

"She's hiding something."

"I know."

"Do you know what it is?"

Summer nodded her head, "I do, and your sister's going to tell you before I leave. I'll make sure of it."

Emily crossed her arms, "No she won't. She still treats me like a kid when it comes to stuff like this. She thinks she has to protect me."

"Stop pouting," Summer told her, "It makes you look like a kid."

Emily relaxed slightly, "Fine, but I still wish she would talk to me. I want to help."

"I've been here less than a day, but I know your sister loves you. Maybe more than you realise. I know it's frustrating, and I know it hurts, but she's not doing this to be mean. She's scared."

"Of what?"

"Losing you."

Emily lowered her gaze and sighed heavily. Summer brushed her hair away from her face.

"She'll talk to you soon," Summer promised before the door opened. A smile crept up on Summer's face when she saw Scott leading Serena in. She looked at Emily, "Or maybe now."

She gave Emily a gentle tap on the leg as she got up and walked over to Scott and Serena.

"Talk to her," Summer said to the eldest Samurai. "Almost everyone knows but your sister."

"Thanks to you," Serena spat.

"Your sister should have been the first to know," Summer said, "Especially seeing as it's possible you traded her life for your happiness."

"I would never do that. I made that deal for them. For all of them. He's going to take something from me."

"Someone," Summer corrected, "And that person's going to suffer."

"Summer's right," Scott nodded. "Whoever tricked you wants something he can't get on his own. I doubt he'd do all this for you just to get something he could buy in a store."

"Tell her or you're going to lose her anyways," Summer cleared a path to Emily's bed and waited for Serena to move.

For Serena, her choices were really beginning to sink in. Summer was right. Even if she didn't want the secret to come out, hiding her problems from Emily was hurting her. If she didn't fix it herself soon, it didn't matter if the stranger wanted Emily or not. Serena would lose her regardless. And if she lost Emily, she would lose everything.

She walked past the RPM Rangers and took a seat on Emily's bed. She wasn't surprised when Emily jumped into her arms. Even if they were fighting, Emily always needed Serena. The eldest Samurai hugged her little sister tightly for a moment before gently pushing her away. Then, in front of Emily, she unwrapped the bandage and showed Emily her burn.

"It says happiness… and it's something I might never get…"


	98. The Fight With Venjix

Serena had spoken loud enough for everyone to hear as she explained to Emily the origins of her burn and what it meant. Only Mike and Kevin were left to be surprised by the news. Mia had been the first person Serena had told and the RPM Rangers had listened in as Serena explained it to Jayden.

"You traded her soul?" Mike asked after a long silence. He clenched his fists and the only thing stopping him from jumping out of his bed and attacking Serena was Ziggy's hand on his chest, keeping him down.

"I don't know what I traded," Serena shook her head, "but it seems likely."

"That or her baby," Summer said.

"It makes sense," Mia nodded her head. She hadn't been able to come to these conclusions on her own, but now that they had been brought up, she couldn't see how she had missed them. Serena didn't have much. All she had was her family. It made perfect sense that the most valuable thing she had to lose was a family member.

"I don't care how much sense it makes," Mike shook his head and punched his mattress, "Dammit, Serena!"

Serena lowered her head sadly, knowing the mistake she had made. She couldn't do anything right, and instead of the consequences falling on her, it was going to fall onto someone else. Someone she cared about deeply. She gazed up slightly at Emily, who had been silent for a while now as the news processed. Serena had been sure to tell Emily that she wasn't sure what the stranger wanted, and they could be worried for her for nothing, but if there was a chance any of the Samurai were in danger, they needed to know.

"Emily…"

The yellow Samurai looked over to Summer, "Do you really think it's either me or the baby?"

"I don't know your sister like you do," Summer shrugged her shoulders, "but if I learned anything while running for my life in those wastelands, it's that the family you make for yourself is always the thing you can't ever live without. I don't know about your parents or any of your friends outside of the Samurai, but when Serena was telling me why she made that deal… she made it to try and make your life better."

Serena nodded her head, "I was vulnerable and stupid, Emy. Summer's right… all I have to lose is you or the baby."

"We'll have to figure out what that stranger wants and why before we can fix Serena's stupidity," Kevin grumbled. "But until he comes back, we've got something else to worry about."

"Venjix," Scott nodded, "He's going to make his next move soon. He's too smart to wait for you guys to recover."

"What he doesn't know is that I'm dead anyways," Emily shrugged her shoulders and started pushing herself out of bed. Serena grabbed her by the arm but Emily flinched, "Don't touch me."

"Emily, you need to…"

"Don't touch me," Emily hissed. Serena let go of her arm and Emily got to her feet. She was a little shaky but Summer steadied her. The yellow Samurai looked to her older sister, "I get why you did it…"

"Emily…"

Emily shook her head, "That's why I'm making this easy for you. You can keep your baby… I don't want to be your sister anymore."

The Gap Sensor had always had terrible timing, but this seemed to be the worse as it blared loudly, startling the Rangers. Jayden rushed in, calling the RPM Rangers into battle. As he did, his eyes didn't even fall on Serena. He couldn't look at her. He couldn't even speak to her.

"We need to go," he told Scott and the RPM team, "It's Venjix."

The RPM team nodded and were about to leave when they saw the Samurai were trying to get out of their beds. They furrowed their brows and shook their heads.

"You guys can't come. You're hurt."

"It wouldn't be much of a team up if there was only one Ranger from one of the teams, huh?" Mike stated and rubbed his ribs as he stood on his feet. "One thing you need to know about us is that we don't give up until we're dead."

Scott looked to Jayden but the fire Samurai shrugged. At times, he hated his team's bravery, but he knew there was no stopping them.

"Venjix is no match for a team of ten," he said.

"Alright, let's do this, then," Scott nodded and led the way out.

As the Rangers left, Serena looked down at the bed, unsure if this was what the stranger meant or not when he told her he would take something from her. She had lost her sister, and by extension, all her friends. The only people who had stuck by her since day one had just turned their back on her and forgotten all about her as they ran off to fight evil.

But she still remembered the deal she had made. Though everything was falling to pieces now, she could still count on her mother surviving the pregnancy, her parents being happy, Emily and Mike obviously being happy enough together to have a daughter, and her own son wouldn't struggle with a half-Nighlok life. The stranger had promised to give him a full life.

Serena's eyes widened suddenly and it all made sense. The mysterious figure wanted to _take_ something from Serena. Emily leaving her wouldn't give him anything, and if he took her away, part of his deal wouldn't come true. Emily wouldn't be able to have a daughter with Mike.

_"Your mother will see her grandson and she will love him for eternity."_

_Your father will want to teach him everything he needs to know about working on the farm."_

"_I can keep Dayu from coming after your son. I will protect you."_

"_Your sister will see her nephew, and eventually will marry the love of her life and start a family of her own. She will pass the powers of the yellow Samurai down to your son, and the green Ranger will give his powers to your niece."_

"_If you take me up on my offer, your son will not struggle with a half-life. He will never be torn between a human half and a Nighlok half."_

None of those promises guaranteed Serena would be able to keep her son. The last one didn't even promise her son would be human. If everything worked out like the stranger promised, he would be in possession of a Nighlok child who possessed the powers of the yellow Samurai family. The Nighlok would have complete control over the powers of the Earth and everything that came with those powers.

Serena jumped to her feet and raced down to the common room, where she knew Mentor Ji was watching the battle on the map. She looked at him with her eyes filled with panic and regret.

"My son's in danger…"

-Samurai-

Jayden could never remember ever being this frustrated in battle. They had all been stressful, but he felt like nothing he was doing was hurting the Venjix, or helping the RPM Rangers. His sword was sharp, but Venjix' body was made of metal. The most harm Jayden or the other Samurai were doing was maybe leaving a scratch or two.

"You fools!" Venjix roared as he grabbed Scott's Street Sabre and ripped it from the red Ranger's hand. He then used Scott's weapon against him and the other RPM team, knocking them all down. "In this body, you can't defeat."

As Jayden came to Scott's side to help him up, he was worried the Venjix was right. He had made himself a tall body and was standing over the Rangers. And, just like any other robot, his body was large and clunky, and unfortunately that didn't slow him down at all. If the Rangers weren't careful, he could take them all out by sitting on them.

"How did you defeat him last time?" Jayden asked while the team regrouped behind him and Scott.

"We dropped a building on him," Flynn rubbed the back of his helmet. "Not the most graceful way of finishing off the big bad, but it had been effective at the time."

"Great," Kevin grumbled, "Now all we've got to do is get him to stay still long enough for us to drop an entire building on him?"

"I've always wanted to use the Megazord to squish the monsters in their first form," Mike smirked, clapping his hands together."

"What if we can get him back to our world?" Ziggy suggested. "Dr. K knows the code to stop him. That's why he ran away."

"What are you talking about, Ziggy?" Dillon asked.

"Think about it," Ziggy bounced slightly in excitement, "We can't stop him here, or in any other world, because if we drop a building on him, he's just going to do what he did last time!"

"Download himself into Scott's morpher?" Summer glared at the red Ranger.

"It could have been yours," Scott replied back.

"Exactly. There's enough technology around this place for him to jump around, and there's no Dr. K to stop him!"

"Can't we create a portal to send you guys home?" Emily asked and looked up at Jayden, "Symbol power can do almost anything, right?"

"The first red Ranger was able to create an entirely different dimension to seal the Nighlok away," Kevin nodded his head. "Every good Samurai knows the red Ranger created the Netherworld."

"But we don't know how to seal things away. I haven't mastered the sealing symbol yet," Jayden shook his head. "There's too much of a risk that Venjix could jump back. If I create a portal back to Corinth, I won't be able to lock him away."

"You'll leave that to us," Flynn said, "Once he's back home, we can keep him from coming back, and one Doc K finishes him off for good, we'll never have to worry about him jumping back here."

"Um, guys…" Mia tapped Scott on the shoulder. He didn't pay attention to her. He looked at Jayden.

"It's the only thing we can do. Dr. K's the only one who can stop Venjix."

"Guys…"

"Are you sure about this?" Jayden asked.

"Unless you want to try slicing through his armour with those pretty little swords of yours," Dillon tapped at Jayden's Spin Sword. "I say it's worth a shot. You work on that portal, we'll…"

"GUYS!" Mia finally shouted, catching everyone's attention. She pointed to Venjix, "Haven't you guys ever wondered what the bad guy does when we just sit around and plan his defeat?"

"What are you…?" as Mike turned to see what Mia was talking about, he saw Venjix with his large cannon pointed straight the team. The whistling sound and the glow coming from the cannon signalled it was only seconds away from being fired. Still feeling the pain from the last time he had been shot, Mike did not want to get hit again, "Run for it!" he shouted as he grabbed Emily and like the others he tried to run. It was too late, Venjix had already shot and the explosion knocked them right off their feet, but it never hit them.

When the Rangers rolled over and looked up, they saw why.

"Antonio!" Jayden smiled. The Gold Ranger had deflected the attack downwards, which had caused the explosion but kept any of the Rangers, and himself, from getting hurt.

"Now that I'm gone you're doing all this cool stuff, huh? Like team ups?"

"Who is this guy?" Scott asked.

"Our gold Ranger," Jayden jumped to his feet, "Are you back?"

"I couldn't let my friends die," Antonio shrugged, "but we'll see about coming back permanently once we deal with this hunk of metal.

"We'll keep him distracted," Summer said, gesturing to her team and all the Samurai but Jayden, "You make that portal."

"Good luck," Jayden nodded his head and powered down. He could use more symbol power that way.

"You too," Scott answered.


	99. RPM Rangers Head Home

Even with Antonio's help, the fight against Venjix was not an easy one. While Jayden slowly traced another stroke of the symbol for the portal, he watched his team and the RPM Rangers get beaten and thrown around like they were amateurs at best while Venjix was obviously skilled in battle. It didn't surprise Jayden either. Venjix seemed to be learning as he fought, picking up on some of the moves the Rangers preferred to use against him, and he would turn it around on them.

He dropped to his knee with only one stroke left. Creating a portal to an existing world was already exhausting; he couldn't imagine how powerful the first red Ranger had to be to create an entirely new dimension for the Nighlok to reside in. And if the sealing symbol was stronger than this, Jayden wasn't sure he would ever be skilled enough to master it.

"One more…" he traced the final stroke and spun the symbol. Just like that, a portal appeared right over Venjix' head and Jayden breathed a sigh of relief, thinking the fight was over and the portal would suck him up.

But the Venjix' body was too big and heavy. The suctionfrom the portal slowed him down, but it couldn't lift him up.

"Are you kidding me?" Dillon, who was lying on the ground, pounded his fists into the cement. "The son of a bitch is too fat!"

"Guys, you need to get him in soon!" Jayden shouted, "I can't keep it open for much longer!"

Kevin nodded his head and turned to the RPM, "He's right. Symbol power is extremely draining. We need to…"

"Lift his fat ass?" Dillon pushed himself to his feet. He stumbled slightly as he rushed to take on Venjix, but he was knocked to the ground and to everyone's horror, he powered down.

"Dillon," Summer shouted and hurried to his side. She knew what this meant. Without his Ranger suit, he would never be able to get home. Dr. K couldn't bring him back. She was about to power down herself, seeing no point in wasting her energy keeping the suit on, but Dillon grabbed her arm and shook his head. He pushed himself back up to his feet. He wasn't about to give up.

Mia raced over to the couple, "We've got another plan."

"Speak fast, pinky," Dillon said to her, "It looks like your leader's about to pass out."

Mia nodded and stepped in front of Dillon and Summer. She glanced over at the rest of her team and they nodded at her. Mike then quickly traced a symbol in the air and vines erupted from the ground and grabbed a hold of Venjix' arms, legs and waist, holding him in place. Mia and Emily traced their symbols right after. The wind picked up and the ground shook so violently that a fissure was formed right beneath the robot's feet. Venjix would have fallen into the deep crevasse, but Mia's wind was keeping him afloat.

Finally, Kevin traced his symbol and a beam of water appeared from the kanji and was shot straight at Venjix, It turned downwards just before hitting him, and then seconds before it hit the ground, it shot up again. The force of the blast, and Venjix' reduced weight from Mia's symbol, forced him straight into the portal mere seconds before Jayden collapse and the portal vanished. Without the seal, Jayden knew there would now forever be a link between this world and Corinth, but if Dr. K could do what the Rangers promised she could do, Venjix would never be coming back.

"Jay! … Jay!" Jayden heard a reassuring voice call as he tried to keep himself from blacking out completely. He felt someone touch him gently and lift him up into a sitting position. The dark spots in his vision faded slightly, just enough for Jayden to recognise Antonio. "Jayden, c'mon mi amigo, snap out of it!"

"Please tell me you're coming home."

"We'll see, buddy," Antonio wrapped Jayden's arm around his shoulder and lifted his best friend up to his feet slowly and gently while the others regrouped around him. The Samurai Rangers had powered down as a result of using their symbol power, and the RPM Rangers had pulled their helmets off, except for Dillon, who was no longer morphed and standing in his civilian clothing.

"I guess that's that," Dillon shrugged and stuffed his hands into his pockets. He looked to his team, "Once Doc realises Venjix is back, she'll get you guys home."

"We'll figure out a way for you to go home," Kevin promised Dillon.

Again, Summer tried to power down but Dillon stopped her. All her friends and her family were back home in Corinth; he would never ask her to leave them behind for him.

"We'll figure something out, Dillon," Scott promised before turning his head to Jayden, "I don't know how much time we have, so thank you for your help. We would have been screwed without you."

"You got that right," Flynn nodded his head and rubbed the back of his neck, "I think I pulled something…"

"If that's all you have to complain about then consider yourself lucky," Kevin chuckled. "When we get home, I'm lying down for a nap. One I don't think I want to wake up from."

Flynn smirked and pulled Kevin into a big hug. The blue RPM Ranger was sure he was never going to see his Samurai friend again and wanted to make the most of his goodbye. Kevin wasn't quite sure how to respond at first, but finally settled and wrapped one arm around Flynn and pat him on the back.

"I'll miss you too. Good luck with Gemma."

"Aye," Flynn nodded, "Same for you and the Missus."

"Almost," Kevin smirked.

While her fiancé said goodbye to his RPM friend, Mia stepped over to Dillon.

"I'll work my ass off to get you home on one condition," she said to him. Dillon let go of Summer and looked to the pink Ranger.

"You have conditions?"

"You consider adoption," Mia nodded her head. "Like seriously consider it and do it. You would be a great dad."

"Thanks, pinky," Dillon smiled and shook her hand. He was sure Mia wanted a hug, but he was not the hugging type.

Mike wasn't much of a hugger, either, unless it was to comfort or tease one of his friends, so he bumped fists with Ziggy and whispered.

"Remember, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by asking Tenaya out."

"Maybe I'll do it before we find a way to get Dillon home," Ziggy nodded his head, "That way, if she does say no…"

"You'll have plenty of time to run," Mike chuckled, "Good thinking, Zigster."

"And good luck with Emily," Ziggy said, "Sorry we kinda ruined her family…"

"It was bound to come out," Mike sighed and looked over at his girlfriend. "Better now than when that guy tries to take her, right?"

Ziggy nodded, "I guess so."

Emily and Summer were having a similar conversation as Mike and Ziggy. Summer knew what she had done had been for the best, but felt guilty by what it had done. She apologized to Emily, but the youngest Ranger shook her head.

"It's not your fault my sister keeps secrets from me," she said and then hugged Summer. "We'll send Dillon home. If I have to, I'll convince Jayden to open up a portal again. He'll hate me, but I owe you."

Summer smiled, "Thanks… I don't know how I'll be able to leave him, though," Summer glanced over at Dillon before shaking her head and looking back to Emily, "Anyways, you take care of yourself and your sister, okay?"

"She's not my sister anymore," Emily looked down, "You know what she did…"

"She made a mistake."

"Trading my life or the baby's life?" Emily shook her head, "That's not a mistake! Nothing she's done has been a mistake. If I didn't know better, I would say she was the one who was half-Nighlok!"

Summer pulled Emily in for another hug, "Surely, if there's a way to bring Dillon home, there's going to be a way to fix things for her. Just please, make me one promise before I go home. Two promises, actually."

"What's that?"

"Take care of my husband," Summer gazed over to Dillon sadly. She didn't want to leave him, but he had made it clear he wanted her to head back to Corinth.

Emily nodded her head, "I promise. What else?"

"Help your sister," Summer looked back down at Emily, "I'm serious, Emily. Help her get back on the right path and stick by her side. With support, I'm sure she'll never make any mistakes like that again."

"She did have support."

"It's frustrating," Summer placed her hands on Emily's shoulders, "but please don't give up. You're the yellow Ranger, you can't give up."

Emily sighed, "I won't give up. But she's not my sister anymore."

"We'll see," Summer smirked before her morpher suddenly beeped. She looked down at it, then over to Scott, Flynn, and Ziggy. She sighed loudly, "It's Dr. K."

"Time to go," Scott nodded.

"So, how does this traveling from one universe to another work?" Mike asked. "Do you just…"

Before Mike could finish his sentence, the RPM Rangers, minus Dillon, disappeared. There was no sound, no cloud of smoke, no portal, no nothing. Mike was certain they had disappeared while he had blinked.

"Okay…" he trailed off, "I guess that's how."

Dillon pointed over his shoulder, "I guess I better look for a place to stay or…"

"Nonsense," Emily grabbed his arm and started pulling him along; "You can stay with us. Besides, Corinth money won't work here, so where else would you stay?"

-Samurai-

Mentor didn't know the outcome of the battle between the Rangers and Venjix. In fact, he was completely oblivious to the fact that it was done, Antonio was back in town, and the RPM Rangers, except for Dillon, were gone.

Instead, he held a sobbing Serena in his arms and rocked her gently as she cried. She had explained everything to him, from the moment she fell in love with Dekker, all the way to the point where the Rangers had turned their backs on her and walked out only a few of hours ago. He had listened carefully to every detail without making a single judgement. It would have been easy for him to take the Rangers' side on this. In fact, he was almost tempted to and throw Serena out for putting her friends and family in such great danger with the deal.

But he couldn't, and wouldn't, do that, especially not after hearing her side of the story. She was in trouble, a lot of trouble, and leaving her on her own, especially in her state, would only make things worse.

He heard the door open and glanced up at the clock. He realised he had been with Serena for hours and the Rangers were likely getting home from their battle. He saw he was right when they walked in, with only Dillon from the RPM team. His lips curled up into a very small smile when he saw Antonio was also with him. Unlike all the others, he was still morphed. Antonio was wearing the shirt Serena had given him, and wasn't quite ready for the big reveal just yet.

Before he could be welcomed home by Mentor, the gold Ranger saw Serena crying. She was upset, very upset, and a quick look at his team showed him no one was willing to help her out or comfort her. Even Emily. Antonio was still holding Jayden for support, but he quickly pushed the red Ranger into Kevin's arms and raced over to Serena.

"What happened?" he asked as he took her from Mentor's arms. He felt he owed her quite a bit after everything he had been through. She hadn't been there physically to support him, but thanks to her, he knew he would have at least one friend when he came back. It broke his heart to see her so upset. As he wrapped his arms around her in a hug he looked over to Emily. "Em, what…"

Emily lowered her head. She remembered the second promise she had made to Summer, but she couldn't keep it. Not right now. She turned away from her sister and walked to her bedroom. Antonio held Serena tighter and looked to the others. Without Emily, none of them were willing to go near Serena, Jayden and Mike especially. They all walked away, pulling Dillon with them.

Antonio sat Serena down on her own stool and knelt in front of her. He took her hands in his and looked in her eyes.

"We _will_ fix this," he promised. "I know it seems bad, but I'm going to help you."

He wiped her tears away and then pulled her into his arms again. He gently rocked her while Mentor offered to make them both some tea. Antonio stroked her back.

"You'll be fine, Serena," he whispered, "Whatever happened, you'll be fine."


	100. The Aftermath

Jayden was exhausted, but he couldn't leave his houseguest without a place to rest. Dillon had taken just as hard a beating as Jayden in the battle against Venjix so Jayden assumed he wanted a place to sleep. Hoping Antonio would be staying, Jayden couldn't offer the black Ranger Antonio's bed, but there was a mat he could sleep on in the dojo.

He set up a bed for the black Ranger with a pillow and blankets. He promised no one would walk in on Dillon and he would have complete privacy. He explained where the bathroom was and told him to help himself to whatever was in the fridge. Finally, before leaving, he promised Dillon that once the team was rested, they would all start looking for a way home.

Dillon thanked the red Ranger and took a seat on the mattress on the floor why Jayden left. The hardest thing he ever had to do was send Summer away, especially when she would be going back to fight Venjix, but he could never ask her to leave her entire life behind just for him. No matter how big this world was compared to Corinth, there was no place like home.

As he sat, he reached into his shirt and pulled out his pocket watch. It belonged to him and Tenaya, but whenever he opened it up and listened to the song, he always thought of Summer. It had happened while they had been active Rangers. She, like the locket, had always been able to sooth him, no matter how worked up or irrational he got. It was something about her that made him fall in love with her.

He laid back against his pillow. He would find a way home. Just like he had found his way to Corinth and found his sister, he would find his way back to her.

-Samurai-

"Let me look at it."

Kevin sighed and pulled off his shirt. Since the adrenaline from the battle had worn off, he had felt a pain going down his neck and along his shoulders. He was sure he had just pulled something, but Mia insisted she have a look.

"You're fine," she told him when she saw nothing. He chuckled.

"I told you."

"Do you want me to get you some ice?" she offered. Kevin shook his head and turned around.

"I'll be fine."

"Are you sure? It'll help."

Again, Kevin shook his head and took a seat on the bed. He rubbed his shoulder and gave Mia a guilty look.

"I know what she did was wrong…"

"Who?" Mia asked.

"Serena."

"Oh…"

"She seemed really upset, though."

Mia nodded her head, "I guess she did."

"That's what you were trying to help her with, wasn't it?" Kevin asked. "You were trying to help her figure out what that guy wanted."

"She didn't want me to tell," Mia said. "Sorry, Kev…"

"Don't worry about that," Kevin shrugged it off, "What worries me is what's going to happen. We can't trust whoever she made the deal with. Summer's theory seems right, but for all we know, she could be wrong. Very wrong."

"What else did Serena have to lose?" Mia asked and took a seat next to Kevin. She took his hand and squeezed it gently, "She's screwed all of us. I love her, don't get me wrong… but maybe it's time we just…"

"Give up?" Kevin asked. Mia nodded her head sadly and began to cry. She hated herself for even thinking of leaving Serena, but it seemed the longer they stayed with her, the more trouble they ran into. A part of Mia wanted to continue helping and hope someday it would pay off, but another part just wanted to break all ties and move onto something better. Kevin wrapped his arm around her and kissed the top of her head.

"We'll sleep on it, okay?" Kevin suggested to her, "We have to think of our safety first, though, and if Serena's a threat, we'll have to cut our losses. It really sucks, but that's what happens."

Mia nestled into Kevin's arms, "Are we bad people?"

Kevin shook his head, "We're just worried."

-Samurai-

Mike was silent as he followed Emily into their room. He had heard her praise her sister and speak about Serena like she was one of the gods and now he had just watched Emily run away from her. He understood why and had no arguments against it, but it was still an odd sight to see.

Emily crawled up on the bed and plucked up Monkey the Ape. Mike watched as she squeezed it lovingly before throwing it across the room. She then reached for her flute and he was horrified as she tossed it.

"I hate my family!"

Mike picked up the flute and saw it had been cracked. It was still in one piece, but he doubted it would sound like it should anymore. He set it down on his desk and walked over to Emily.

"You don't hate your family."

"If mom hadn't of… If Serena… If… if…" Emily threw herself into Mike's arms and screamed, "I feel stuck!"

"I'll get you unstuck, Em," he kissed her cheek. "We're going to be happy, okay. With or without your family, we'll find a way to be happy again."

"I want without," Emily pushed away from Mike. "I don't care about them anymore. I don't care what they do. As soon as I'm done this stupid Samurai thing, I don't want to be part of the yellow Samurai Family. I don't want anything to do with them ever!"

"Emily…"

"Never!"

Mike pulled Emily back into his arms, "I know it hurts, but you have to think about where to draw the line…"

"No!" Emily shook her head. "Serena's just a screw up. She's going to take us all down with her! Mom shouldn't have left! She helped screw up Serena. And dad should have just agreed with mom when she didn't like Serena. At least then they wouldn't have separated and…"

"Breathe, Em," Mike whispered when felt she was getting overwhelmed. He stroked her back gently, "Just breathe. It's not as bad as it seems."

"Yes it…"

"Breathe," Mike shook his head as he interrupted her. He knew it was a big deal, and she would likely feel the same way when everything calmed down, but if she worked herself up it was only going to seem worse.

He could feel Emily pulling away from him slightly and shifted his position so he could look her in the eyes. Suddenly, she pressed her lips to him and pulled him down onto the bed. Mike responded and deepened the kiss. Not everything in her life was screwed up by Serena and the rest of her family. But when he felt her hands travel down his back and to his belt buckle, he stopped.

"Emily…"

"You won't screw up," she looked up at him sadly. Mike shook his head. He couldn't say he didn't want this. He had wanted it for a long time, but this wasn't right. He drop down next to her and pulled her into his arms.

"Another night," he told her. "I know you're upset right now and I know you're mad at your family."

"You're my family. Mike, please…"

"I love you," he cuddled her and kissed her cheek, "I won't hurt you."

He stayed with her until he was sure she was fast asleep and he started to wiggle his way out of her arms. He pulled the blankets over her and kissed her forehead before walking out of the room. Saying no had been the hardest thing he had ever done for her and for himself. But he couldn't let himself get hurt, and he certainly didn't want Emily to get hurt.

He stuffed his hands in his pockets and set off for Kevin and Mia's room. He needed to talk to someone about this and they were the only ones he trusted. He doubt he could get either of them alone at this point, but the two of them were better than just Jayden, just Mentor, just Antonio, and just Dillon.

The door to their room opened after Mike knocked and a sleepy Kevin glared at the green Ranger.

"You realise Mia and I are exhausted, right?"

"I need to talk to you guys," Mike said and looked into the room at Mia, who was rolling over in bed to see who was at the door. Mike looked back at Kevin, "It can't wait."

"What's it about?" Kevin asked. "If you're telling us Emily's upset…"

"That's exactly what it is."

"Mike, we know that…"

"She tried to, well… feel better… with me… if you know what I mean."

"What?" Mia sat up and glanced over to Kevin nervously. Mike nodded his head, confirming their suspicions, so Mia turned her look to him and glared, "You didn't…"

"That's why I need to talk. I wanted too… really, really badly, but I just…"

Kevin stepped out of the way and let the green Ranger into the room, "I'm never getting that eternal slumber, am I?"

"You guys can't tell her I'm telling you this…"

"Just shut up and start talking," Mia said, "I want to see if I have to talk to her."

"You?" Mike asked.

"Who else is going to do her? Comatose mom? The sister she now hates?"

"I think that's why she wanted it," Mike took a seat on the desk chair while Kevin joined Mia on the bed. "Is that bad?"

"You did say no, right?" Kevin was sure Mike had, but he just had to double check until the cows came home. Emily was his little sister, and no one, not even Mike, touched his little sister, especially when she was vulnerable.

"I did say no," Mike nodded his head.

"Does it help to hear you did the right thing?" Mia asked with a smile. "I know it probably doesn't feel right, and you missed your chance, but saying no was the right answer."

"It does help a little."

"And look," Kevin had a bit of a harder time with this conversation than Mia did. He winced slightly as he spoke, "Emily may have wanted to… have… sex…"

"You okay, Kevin?" Mia chuckled slightly at her fiancé's struggle. She could only imagine what he would be like if they had a daughter.

Kevin nodded and looked back at Mike, "She was using you tonight… which is why it's good you said no, but she does love you."

"I know."

"And it'll happen one day," Kevin said. "One day, for real."

Mike was feeling better now that he had gotten confirmation from his friends that he had done the right thing. He still felt strangely uncomfortable about it, and was likely going to sleep on the couch, but he was feeling better. Now, he couldn't help but tease Kevin.

"You're talking about sex, right?"

Kevin hissed, "Yes."

"Me and Emily having sex right?"

Kevin glared at Mike, "Yes."

"Just checking," Mike nodded his head and got up, "Thanks guys, that helped."

As he made his way to the door he stopped, "But, I was serious about keeping this between us. She'll be humiliated if she finds out…"

"Already erasing this conversation from my mind," Kevin said as he pulled the blankets up over his head, "Trust me, I want to pretend it never happened."

"What happened?" Mia asked with a smirked, "What are you two talking about?"

"Thanks," Mike smiled and then went to the common room to get the couch set up for the night.

-Samurai-

Antonio had stayed up with Serena for hours as she explained to him what happened. She was beginning to feel like a broken record, but thankfully this was the last time she had to tell this story.

Antonio had done like Mentor Ji. He hadn't judged her and hadn't walked away. In fact, he held her closer and continued to promise her things weren't going to get worse. He was going to fix them for her.

"How can you be sure?" she asked. She still felt like crying, but her body couldn't do it anymore. She was so exhausted, and so worn out; all she could do was sit on her bed with Antonio.

"Can you imagine things getting worse? What's worse than this?"

"I've lost everything," Serena sighed, "And I might still lose my baby…"

"No you won't," Antonio shook his head. "We'll renegotiate with him. We'll offer him something else. Anything but Emily or the baby."

"He should just take me…"

"Dayu made that kind of deal, remember? You know what happened to her."

"I'm just like her… aren't I?"

Antonio shook his head, "You're better than Dayu. Do you know how to get that stranger back?"

"I don't even know how I got him in the first place. I just wished for everything to fix itself. He showed up and…"

Serena looked down at her hand. The kanji was still burned into her palm, and would likely be scared in there forever. She glanced up at Antonio.

"Happiness."

"What?"

She showed him the burn, "I wanted happiness."

"But he…"

"Can you get me Emily's Samuraizer?" Serena asked. "It's the only one I can work."

"Uh… okay, but…"

"I'll call him myself."

Antonio wasn't sure about this, but he nodded his head and got up. He pulled off his shirt, first. It still had his secret printed on the back, and with all the chaos in the house, he doubted he needed to drop another bomb.

"I'll be back."

"And don't get caught!"


	101. A Way Out

Sneaking in and out of Emily and Mike's room hadn't been easy. Emily had been sleeping in her bed when he had gone in, but Mike's side was empty. Antonio knew this meant he could have come into the room at any minute, meaning Antonio had to search quickly.

On top of that, Antonio needed to look through Emily's things. So not only had the youngest Samurai been sleeping, when he had gone in, but he was shirtless and inching his way closer and closer to her bed. He knew she kept her Samuraizer close, just in case there was an attack in the middle of the night, and things would be really awkward for him if she woke up.

He reached his hand under the blanket and felt the Samuraizer long before he felt any part of her body. He pulled it out and snuck out of the room. As he closed the door silently, he failed to hear someone creeping up on him.

"That's a really weird way of leaving your own bedroom."

Antonio jumped nearly a foot in the air and then had the juggle Emily's Samuraizer between his two hands to keep himself from dropping it. When he finally held it steady he turned around and saw the Black RPM Ranger they had taken home.

"Dillon, right?" Dillon nodded his head. Antonio looked down in his hands and saw the bowl of ice-cream, "That's Emily's favourite."

"Red told me to help myself to anything," Dillon shrugged and took another spoonful, "So what's up with the sneaking around? Got a secret girlfriend?"

"Not even close," Antonio shook his head and held up Emily's Samuraizer, "Serena asked me to fetch this."

"Why couldn't she get it herself?"

"I don't mind."

"Are you sure you don't have a secret girlfriend?" Dillon smirked, "She's already got you running around the house for her. How do we know that baby's not actually…"

"Just shut up, Dillon," Antonio bumped past the black Ranger, "I don't have time for this."

"For what?" Dillon asked. He was bored; he had nothing else to do. He had been cured of the Venjix virus, but he was still part robot. An advantage, and sometimes disadvantage to that was the fact that he didn't need much sleep. A nap here, a rest there, and he was good to go. "Where are you going in such a hurry at midnight?"

"Don't you have a wife to get home to?"

"Research starts tomorrow. Until then, you need to be a good host and keep your guest entertained."

Antonio rolled his eyes. Serena had already told him Dillon knew the story regarding the stranger, and it didn't seem like the black Ranger was going to leave him alone.

"Fine, come with me."

Dillon set his bowl of ice-cream down on a table in the hallway, assuming someone would pick up it up and blame Emily for leaving it lying around (it was her favourite). He followed Antonio down the hall and into Serena's room.

The gold Ranger lightly tossed the Samuraizer to Serena and then gestured to Dillon, "Look who followed me home."

Serena sighed, "Whatever," she opened up the Samuraizer and glanced at her burn again. She wasn't too sure this was going to work. She was hoping she could summon the stranger back by wishing again for happiness, but the odds were slim to none that he would fall for her trick. Still, if there was anything she could do to fix everything (actually fix everything) she would do it.

"You're saving your baby, aren't you?" Dillon asked as he watch Serena begin to trace the Kanji, "I don't get why you're doing it."

Serena paused for a moment and glared at Dillon, "How do you have any idea what I'm…"

"Look, never tell the doc this or she'd kill me," Dillon said, "but sometimes I look through her stuff just to piss her off. My brain picks up on things easily and once day I saw she was reading through a Japanese book. That means happiness, right?"

"Look, Dillon, this is none of your business…"

"You got played," Dillon shrugged his shoulders and leaned against the wall, "Aren't you Samurai supposed to be smart or something? Surely they don't let idiots run around town swinging a sword… then again; we did give Ziggy an axe…"

"Dillon, shut up or get out," Serena rubbed her temples, "I don't have…"

"If you summon him and renegotiate, what are the odds that it's going to work out in your favour?" Dillon asked. He glanced to Antonio and then back to Serena, "If you want my advice, you have to force his hand. Make him ask you for something. Put yourself in power."

"That's what I'm trying to…"

"By calling him and asking him?" Dillon scoffed, "You know, preggers, maybe its best you don't raise that kid. That blonde hair dye's going right to your…"

Dillon didn't get to finish his sentence as his head was slammed into the wall and he felt Serena pressing her hand against his throat.

"I have nothing to lose by killing you," Serena growled. "My sister hates me, my parents are going to hate me when they've realised I sold my child, and all my friends are going to walk out on me as soon as they can."

Dillon grabbed Serena's wrist and pulled it away from his neck. Serena was surprised at how strong he was, but she didn't focus on that. She walked away from him and picked up her Samuraizer. She was about to begin tracing again when Dillon spoke up.

"What if you take matters into your own hands?" he asked. "Unless you're too chicken."

Serena whipped around, "I was serious about the murder thing…"

Dillon looked down at her stomach. He had to admit to being jealous when he first saw the bump and assumed she was pregnant. Every woman with a rounded stomach seemed pregnant to him, and the fact that Serena hadn't denied the accusation, or slapped him across the face, had proven him right when he first brought it up. He was desperate to give Summer a child and start a family with her. He knew there were so many orphaned children looking for homes in Corinth, but there was something about the situation before him that sparked a thought.

"What if you give up your child?"

"Dillon, I think it's time to leave," Antonio grabbed Dillon by the arm and tried to shove him out, but Serena called for the gold Ranger to stop. She put the Samuraizer down on her bed and looked over at Dillon.

"I should slap you for saying that, but I think you're onto something."

"I don't know how these monsters work in your world," Dillon shrugged. "I don't know if they can turn up in Corinth, but if you gave your baby up, the stranger can't take it from you. Wasn't that the deal? He was going to take something _from you_?"

Serena nodded her head. She both hated and loved where this was going.

"Keep talking…"

"Summer and I are looking to adopt. There are a lot of needy kids, but I'm sure the orphanage is a better place to raise a baby than with a manipulative stranger, right?"

"Likely," Serena nodded.

"If we can figure out how to get to Corinth, surely we can figure out a way to get you back here afterwards," Dillon said. "Come with me when I go home, sign the adoption papers, and the baby will belong to Summer and me."

"Why should she trust you with her kid?" Antonio asked. "Serena, we can find another way."

"Can we, Antonio?"

"What if you can't get back? And you can't give up a half-Nighlok baby to… strangers!"

"Summer's amazing with kids," Dillon promised. "Look, I'm not just doing this to buy a baby. This could help everyone. And it could save the kid's life."

"Serena…" Antonio begged her, "Don't agree to this. I trust him, I really do, but…"

"Shut up and let me think, Antonio," Serena held up her hand and signalled for the two of them to be quiet. She had a huge decision to make. "You'll both still be here in the morning. I'll tell you my decision then."

"But…"

"Antonio," Serena pointed to the door, "Go, please."

Antonio grabbed his shirt from her floor and walked out with Dillon. When they both stepped into the hall he glared at the black Ranger.

"You don't look like father material to me."

"I'm doing a good thing. I know it, because I feel like I'm going to vomit," Dillon said. "Besides, it's her kid. I'm just giving her an out. I'm not about to kidnap the kid if she says no."

"No means no," Antonio growled. "I don't care what world you come from or the promise we made to send you home. I will kick you out of this house if I find out…"

"Goodnight!" Dillon waved to the gold Ranger as he turned around and walked off. Antonio huffed and stomped to his room. He wasn't getting any sleep tonight.

-Samurai-

Humiliation wasn't anything new for Emily. She had experienced it all through elementary and through high school until she had to drop out to be a Samurai.

But this feeling of humiliation made everything else in her life seem like it wasn't a big deal.

She opened her eyes and the memories from the night before flooded her mind. She remembered what she had asked Mike to do and how he had turned her down. She was glad he had, but that didn't take away the shame and embarrassment.

To make matters worse, he wasn't sleeping next to her when she rolled over.

"I'm such a moron," she muttered to herself. The only person she felt she could trust with anything, and she had tried to use him for sex so she could feel better. It hadn't been right, she knew it. She was ready to take that step with Mike, but not like this.

And even worse, she had no idea how he felt about it. She wasn't sure if he had said no to be a gentleman, or if she had freaked him out. They were getting married, but they were both still so young.

She tried to straighten herself out before leaving the room, but she found it was impossible to do so. She looked like a mess, and she felt like one. Her world was falling apart, and it looked like it had all fallen on her.

Giving up on her appearance, she stepped out into the hallway and heard another door sliding open. She turned down the hallway to Kevin and Mia's room and saw the pink Ranger coming out.

Remembering the promise she made to Mike, Mia put on a smile, though she knew it wasn't appropriate.

"Hey Emy."

Emily shook her head and walked over to Mia sadly as fresh tears filled her still red eyes. She wrapped herself in Mia's arms and hid her face.

"I did something stupid."

Mia already knew what it was, but decided against saying anything.

"I bet, whatever it is, it's not as bad as you think."

"I think I scared Mike."

Mia hugged the yellow Ranger, "Want to talk? We can grab something from the kitchen and have breakfast in bed."

"In bed?"

"It's more private in your room," Mia nodded. "No one will walk in."

"Except Mike."

"Doesn't he already know what we're going to talk about?" Mia asked. "I mean, if you think you scared him, wouldn't he know?"

Emily sighed, "I guess you're right."

"Come," Mia kept one arm wrapped around Emily's shoulder and she guided her to the kitchen, "This is nothing a little breakfast smoothie can't fix."

-Samurai-

Serena hadn't gotten a moment of shut eye after Dillon's proposition. The last thing she wanted to do was lose her baby, but she trusted two former Power Rangers over the ghostly figure. She didn't know Dillon all that well, and was still a little upset Summer had forced her to out her secret, but she could tell giving her baby to them was a much better choice. Dillon didn't seem like the nurturing type, but she doubted he would ignore her son, especially if her son became his, and Summer had enough nurturing instincts to make Serena wish the yellow RPM Ranger was her mother, especially after everything that had happened with her real mom.

It wasn't easy, but Serena had made a decision. She hugged her stomach softly.

"I do love you," she whispered. "More than you'll ever know."

"Who's to say your wife will go for this, huh?" Serena heard Antonio ask from the other side of the door and assumed he was talking with Dillon. No one else had a wife, as far as she knew. She called them in and gestured to the chair at her desk and the foot of her bed. She looked to Antonio, and then to Dillon.

"I want to do it."

Dillon couldn't help but smile (which was nothing more than the left corner of his mouth twitching up slightly), while Antonio's jaw hit the mattress.

"Serena…"

"Antonio, I know it seems… strange, but I have to do this," she rubbed her stomach. "I won't let that stranger take my baby."

She looked up at Dillon, "When the Rangers figure out how to send you home, and I'll do all I can to help, I'm going with you. We'll get adoption papers and I'll sign them before the baby comes out. That way, even if that jackass can follow us, the baby won't be mine when it's born. He won't be able to take it from me."

"He'll take something else!" Antonio cried, "What if he goes after…?"

"Who, Antonio?" Serena looked to the gold Ranger. "What else do I have to lose? I visit my mom in hospital, that doesn't mean I want her back in my life. I love dad, but he's not here right now, is he?"

"Your sister…"

"I don't have a sister," Serena lowered her head, "Emily doesn't want anything to do with me anymore. I've already lost her. He can't take her from me."

Antonio took Serena's hands, "Are you sure?"

"Nothing's going to make me change my mind," Serena nodded and then turned to Dillon, "The baby's yours. I'll go with you to Corinth. I'll give up…"

"_NO!"_ a demonic voice shouted as Serena, Dillon, and Antonio were thrown into the wall by an unseen force. A shadow stepped out of a cloud of smoke from under the bed and this time, instead of a figure, a Nighlok appeared. There was no doubting his Nighlok identity, nor did Serena have any doubts on who he was. This was the first time she got to see his face, but he had the same shape, built and voice as the stranger who had made the deal with her.

As she slowly pushed herself to her feet, the Nighlok charged her and slammed her back into the wall. He pressed his hand against her throat.

"_Take it back!"_ he shouted as he squeezed her breathless, _"Take your child back."_


	102. The Tables Turning

"Talk to me," Mia demanded as she curled up with her breakfast smoothie on Emily's bed. The yellow Ranger shifted around uncomfortably, swirling her straw in her drink.

"I asked Mike to sleep with me last night."

Mia winced slightly. Hearing the words come from Mike's mouth wasn't so bad. But hearing them come from little Emily threw her off. She took a sip of her smoothie and nodded.

"Okay, and…?"

Before Emily could answer there was a loud thump. She looked to Mia but the pink Ranger shrugged her shoulders. Emily nodded and continued.

"I was mad last night," she said. "I felt like everything was going wrong and Mike was there. So I tried to get him to sleep with me."

"I hope he said no."

Emily looked up, a little shocked at first, but then she settled and sighed, "He did."

"Then he did the right thing. It's your first time, right?" Mia saw Emily nod her head, "It's something you're always going to remember, and something you can never go again."

"Huh?"

"Your first time," Mia answered with a slight chuckle. "You're never going to have two first times. If you date two different guys, maybe you'll have a first time with guy number two, but it'll be nothing like the real first time."

"Special?"

"Right," Mia nodded. "It's very special."

"I get that," Emily groaned. She placed her smoothie on her night table. "I don't want to end up like Serena. Pregnant, single, making bad choices all the time…"

"You won't," Mia assured her. "You were in a bad place last night and thankfully you're with a guy who knows better than to take advantage of that. He said no because it was the right thing to do."

"Are you sure?" Emily started to play with her hands, "I big part of me says you're right… but if that wasn't the reason… why wasn't he in bed when I woke up this morning?"

The girls heard another thumb and a crash, this time louder than the last, but they ignored it. The house was so full of people at this point that it could have been anything.

"You're going to have to talk to him about it," Mia said.

"Another part of me thinks he's not ready and I scared him," Emily whispered. "And another part thinks… he doesn't want it."

"Doesn't want what?" Mia asked. She had an idea in her head of where Emily was going, but she didn't want to believe it was what she was thinking.

Emily started to tug at a thread on her blankets, "Sex… with me."

"Emily…"

"You know the story," Emily said, "I offered and he said no. Just like that!"

Mia set down her smoothie and crawled over to Emily, "He loves you."

"But…"

"He said no because he loves you."

"But…"

"He's a good guy, Emily. You found a really good guy. A guy who thinks of your needs. He said no to protect you."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive," Mia hugged the yellow Ranger and squeezed her tight, "If you want my advice. Talk to Mike. I'm sure…"

There was a loud pounding on the door, followed quickly by another mysterious thumb.

"What?" Mia called and the door swung open. Jayden and Kevin stood in the hallway.

"A Nighlok's in the house."

"What?"

"It's in Serena's room," Jayden said.

Without a second though, Mia and Emily jumped off the bed and raced out the door.

-Samurai-

Serena knew she wouldn't have to wait long before she was freed from the Nighlok's grip. Antonio and Dillon were only a few feet away from her, and if they couldn't stop the Nighlok, surely he would realise that killing her meant killing the baby as well.

As expected, Antonio and Dillon tried to jump to Serena's rescue, but the Nighlok held up a hand, casting them away to the other side of the room with a shock wave that shook up the entire house. If the other Rangers had no idea Serena was in trouble before, they would now.

The Nighlok turned back to Serena. His eyes glowed dark yellow and she knew he wasn't thrilled with what she had chosen to do.

"_Take your child back,"_ he repeated for her. Serena shook her head. He growled and launched her into the other wall. Serena slammed into her desk and fell a crumpled heap on the floor.

"_I have given you everything I promised_,_" _the Nighlok roared. _"Your parents' happiness, your sister and the green Ranger will have their child and Dayu will not come after that child!"_

"Because you were going to take him from me!" Serena shouted as she pushed herself up and placed her hand on her stomach. Her son was safe for now as long as he was with her, and there was still a while to go before he stopped needing her to live. Until then, the Nighlok couldn't do anything to hurt her, if not, he risked ended the deal with his own hands.

Antonio rushed over to Serena and fell by her side to make sure she and the baby were okay, while Dillon stood angrily, his eyes focused only on the Nighlok.

"Maybe you can try renegotiating that deal you made with her," Dillon suggested as he cracked his knuckles and got ready to fight. "Sounds like a smart move to me."

"_I will have that child,"_ the Nighlok pointed to Serena. She shook her head and her hand slowly reached up to her desk.

"I can't take it back. It's not my baby anymore. You can't take it from me."

"_Your mother will die!"_ the Nighlok shouted, _"Dayu will come after the child. I can undo all the work I've done for you with a snap of my fingers. I can make your life a living hell! I can make everyone around you hate you!"_

"I dare you," Serena felt what she was reaching for and snatched it. She had never done this before but she hoped she remembered the steps as her mother taught her. With a quick swipe of the Samuraizer, she was morphed, Spin Sword in hand.

"Serena…" Antonio stood up with her, "You…"

"He wants my baby," Serena said from behind the helmet. She looked over to Antonio as he pulled out his Samurai Morpher, "Everything's tinted."

"It's the visor," he chuckled. He was about to morph himself to help her out, but Serena shook her head.

"I want to do this," she told him before charging forward and swinging her sword at the Nighlok. Just as she had assumed, the Nighlok hesitated to fight her. He knew he couldn't win. If he harmed her, he risked harming the baby.

"_I will kill your friends one by one."_

Serena sliced her sword down his chest, "I don't have any friends."

"_Starting with gold,"_ the Nighlok smirked and Serena hesitated. She hadn't lost everything. Antonio was still her friend and still supporting her.

She turned to Dillon, "Antonio's gay."

"Serena!" Antonio shouted. "Now?"

"Yes, now!" Serena nodded her head and turned back to the Nighlok. She swung at him again before looking at Dillon, "Antonio's got a crush on Jayden. He found out he was gay a little while ago and he's been hiding it. He's scared the others won't accept him."

"Seriously?" Dillon turned to Antonio, "I was way off base with the secret girlfriend thing, then."

"It's not funny!" Antonio clenched his fists and glared at Serena, "You promised it was my secret to tell."

"I lied," Serena shrugged before she felt something tearing her leg and she saw the Nighlok had drawn his own sword. He was tired of being beaten on and needed a way to defend himself so he could run. He sliced Serena's leg, through the Ranger suit, and shoved her to the ground.

He chuckled as he slowly backed towards the window, _"You've lost everything now," _he quickly glanced at the tear stricken Antonio, _"You betrayed your only friend."_

Serena slowly rose to her feet, using the wall for support as her leg throbbed painfully. She could see the blood seeping through the suit, but she knew she couldn't lose.

"And now he's not my friend,"she told the Nighlok. "Who are you going to kill now? I've lost everybody."

The Nighlok clutched his sword tightly and growled in frustration as he realised exactly what Serena had done. She deal she made him with had forced her to distance herself from everyone. Losing something that no longer belonged to her was impossible. She didn't have a family, and wouldn't if she gave her child away, her friends all hated her and wanted nothing to do with her. She was truly alone and no longer had anything of value to him. The baby growing inside of her, was no longer hers, as far as she was concerned. His deal had screwed him over. He had promised to take something from her. He couldn't do that anymore.

With a loud cry, and with nothing to hold him back, he charged forward. Just as he was about to deliver a fatal blow to the mother, he felt something biting at his ankle. He looked down and saw what appeared to be a miniature green bear chewing on his foot. He shook the bear off, but was suddenly hit in the face by a yellow Ape, and then hit in the gut by a turtle, sliced slightly on the cheek by a dragon, and finally, a red lion clawed into his chest until he was thrown back by flames and crashed through the window.

Serena turned and saw the Rangers standing in the doorway, but a noise from outside told her she wasn't done. As they collected their Zords from her room, she raced over to the window and jumped out. She held onto the Spin Sword tightly and chased after the Nighlok as he tried to run to an opening gap down the yard. If she gave him the chance to run, she would also be giving him the chance to come back. She summoned her power disk and placed it on her Spin Sword.

"Earth Slicer!" she tossed the Shuriken across the yard and it spun around the Nighlok, knocking him off his feet before flying back into her hands. She caught it and jumped on the Nighlok's back. She pulled his head up, called back the Spin Sword, and placed the blade under his neck.

"_I've given you everything I promised but one…"_

"I don't care," Serena shouted. "I want a new deal."

"_No!"_

Serena rolled the Nighlok onto his back and pressed her good knee into his stomach. She held the sword to his neck while she pulled off her helmet with one hand and then bit the top of her glove. She pulled it off and showed him the scar he had given her.

"You promised me happiness."

"_I'm a Nighlok, what do I know about…"_

Serena pointed to the house and leaned forward. She whispered in the Nighlok's ear.

From the house, the Rangers watched the exchange. They couldn't hear what Serena whispered to the Nighlok, nor couldn't they figure it out on their own. Then, they heard a faint muffle from the Nighlok as he said something back. Suddenly, surprising everyone, Serena plunged her Spin Sword into the Nighlok's heart. His ghostly glow vanished and with a cry of agony, he faded away, like all the other defeated Nighlok.


	103. The Dust Settles

A deafening silence overcame the Shiba House as all its occupants stood completely stunned and confused. They were all angry with Serena for many reasons, but as they watched her struggle to get up, they felt a need to help. They didn't want to, but they couldn't leave one of their own on the ground.

As they hesitated, Mentor Ji pushed through, snapping many of them out of their thoughts. While he raced out and caught Serena as she slumped to the ground, completely exhausted and worn down from the battle, Antonio made his way out. He hated how Serena had told his secret to Dillon, but right now it seemed like such a minor offense, especially when Dillon didn't seem to have any problem with it at all.

"Don't just stand there!" he shouted to the other Rangers. Dillon was the first to react. He jumped out the broken window but turned back to the house when he didn't hear anyone following him. His eyes fell on Emily.

"Isn't she your sister?"

"I…"

"The Nighlok wanted her baby!" Dillon shouted. "We guessed wrong with you!"

Dillon kept his eye on Emily as she looked at the other Rangers. Finally he growled in frustration and turned his back on the team. He understood their hesitation, he knew they were hurt, but a line needed to be drawn.

He ripped his shirt off and tore it into strips to wrap around the wound on Serena's leg. As she started coming too, he smiled at her.

"Does this mean I have to adopt another kid?"

Serena placed her hand on her stomach, "Sorry…"

"It was a good plan. Good thing I don't bond quickly with people; especially people whose first impression will be screaming and pooping."

Mentor Ji carefully lifted Serena and walked her inside the house to rest. As far as he could tell she would be fine, but he needed to be extra careful with the wound on her leg and how much blood she had lost.

When Antonio was sure she was healthy enough to be mad at, he walked off to his own room for a little privacy. He wasn't sure what Dillon would do with his secret, or why Serena had chosen to break her promise to him, but he wasn't happy about it at all.

"I'll go check up on her," Jayden said and he gave Emily a quick pat on the shoulder before walking out of the room.

Mia took Kevin's hand, thinking Mike and Emily would want a little time to themselves, "We promised Dillon we'd start doing research for him today. We can't let Serena ruin everything, right?"

"Right," Kevin nodded his head and called Dillon back inside the house, hoping he would be able to help.

When everyone was gone, Mike walked over to Serena's bed and took a seat. He sighed heavily and ran his hands through his hair. As he looked up, he noticed Emily was playing nervously with the necklace she was wearing. Upon further inspection, he noticed today she had chosen to wear the necklace she had received from Mentor for her birthday. He thought this was an odd choice. While it had been a gift from Mentor, the necklace actually belonged to her family. Her father had given the heart shaped necklace to her mother when he learned she was the yellow Samurai Ranger, and her mother had passed it down to Serena when she thought Serena was going to be the yellow Ranger. Finally, it had been passed on to Emily, making it a yellow Ranger heirloom. Normally Emily wore it with pride, but after announcing to him she wanted nothing to do with the yellow Rangers once the Nighlok was defeated, he found it odd she was still wearing it.

"Does that mean all hope isn't lost?"

Emily turned to Mike with a curious look on her face, "What?" Mike gestured to the necklace and Emily realised what he meant. She reached around her neck to take it off, but Mike stopped her by calling her name. She looked at him.

"What?"

"Can we talk about last night?"

Emily's stomach bubbled. She hadn't finished her talk with Mia and he was already asking her about the night before.

"I guess."

"Do you remember what happened?"

Emily nodded her head and she could feel the tears pushing their way out, "Mike, I'm really…"

"You have nothing to be sorry for."

"You must hate me. I shouldn't have tried that last night. I was stupid and…"

"Don't talk about yourself like that," Mike got up from the bed and walked up to Emily. He pulled her into his arms. "You weren't stupid. You did what anyone would have done. You tried to find an escape."

"I shouldn't have pressured you."

"Look at me, Emily," Mike lifted her chin, "What happened last night doesn't change anything, okay? I love you."

Emily played nervously with her hands and looked back down, "You said no."

"Because I didn't want to hurt you," Mike explained to her gently. "After the way you felt last night, could you imagine waking up in bed naked with the memories of what we had done? If you were feeling scared and vulnerable last night, imagine how you would have felt if I had taken advantage of that. I would never do that to you, Em."

"But…"

"I won't lie; I wanted to say yes so bad. My body was pretty pissed with me last night after I said no. I meant what I said, though. Another night; any night once we're both feeling better. After a date or something, when the time is right and if you're ready."

"I think I'm ready," Emily nodded her head and finally cracked a smile. Mike leaned forward and kissed her.

When they broke apart, he grinned, "And, if you still can't forgive your sister," he swiped Serena's pillow from her bed and held it up, "we can use this."

"How?" Emily furrowed her brow. Mike shrugged his shoulders.

"We'll figure it out. And we'll wash it. But it's the knowledge…"

"Alone that'll get you killed."

"What she doesn't know won't kill me," Mike chuckled and then kissed Emily again, "When we're both ready and when the time is right. Days, weeks, months, or even years from now…"

Emily wrapped her arms around his shoulders, "I love you."

-Samurai-

Jayden sat with Serena in Mentor's room while the older man looked through all the medical books he had for treating injured pregnant women. Serena insisted she and the baby were fine, and joked about how it's Nighlok half was likely keeping him alive despite the beating she received, but Mentor wasn't going to let her leave without a proper inspection.

Even though Jayden was sitting with her, he had in no way forgiven her what she had done. She had put his team in danger by possibly trading Emily's life, and he was completely disgusted that a mother would do anything to put her own child in danger, if she had traded her own son's life. He looked at her with hate until she finally sighed.

"I'm a despicable human being, I know."

"What you did…" Jayden began but a stern look from Mentor Ji in the corner of his eye kept his temper from truly flaring. He clenched his fists hard as he looked at her, "The two people who trusted you the most…"

"I wasn't thinking when I made that deal," Serena said. "It was stupid. I was stupid."

"If you ever put anyone on the team in danger like that again…" Jayden growled.

"I was never going to let it happen," Serena shook her head. "Emily saved herself by breaking up with me and I was going to give up my son to Dillon and Summer. It wasn't my baby to lose anymore, so he couldn't take it."

"I don't…"

"And if he did try I would have fought to the death to save either of them. Or any of you," Serena touched Jayden's arm. "I wasn't just going to roll over and accept the deal. I'd isolate myself if I have to! I'd do anything to keep you guys alive."

"It doesn't matter!"

"I was going to give up my son!" Serena shouted as Jayden really started raising his voice with her. "Do you know what it's like to lose your child?"

Jayden lowered his head. He didn't. He was still mad, but maybe Serena had a point. He had never known her to quit anything. If she was speaking the truth, though he had no reason to believe otherwise, then she had continued fighting to correct her mistake. He sighed deeply.

"Don't ever do it again," he warned her, "Or I will kick your pregnant ass out into the streets. I don't care how cold it is."

"Sounds fair," Serena nodded and Mentor finally closed his book to walk over and inspect her. As he did, Jayden moved away to give Mentor some space. Aside from questions about her health, the room fell into silence. Jayden cleared his throat.

"What did you say to the Nighlok?" he asked as he recalled watching her whisper something to the Nighlok before she defeated him. Serena looked over to him.

"Sorry?"

"You said something before you killed him. He said something back. What were you talking about?"

"We made a new deal," Serena smiled. "One I had full control over."

"What was that?"

Serena rubbed her stomach, "He's dead, so he can't come after junior or Emily or anyone else and mom's going to wake up. That's all he could promise."

"What did he get in return?"

"A swift death," Serena chuckled. Jayden glared at her. He wasn't in the mood for jokes. She sighed.

"He couldn't promise my parents would get back together. Dad's at the hospital, but now I just have to hope like every other kid out there that mommy and daddy won't break up."

"That's it?"

"And, obviously, he's siding with the Nighlok," Serena said. "In return for letting me keep my child… he won't stop Dayu from coming after me, and he promised she would bring a surprise with her when she did strike next."

"A surprise?"

"I don't know either," Serena shrugged. "You take the good with the bad, I guess. I'm just happy my bad no longer involves me losing my son or my sister. I'm sure I can live through my parents divorcing, and whatever Dayu throws our way…"

"We'll handle it," Jayden nodded his head and smiled. "But right now, you don't actually have a sister."

Serena looked down at Mentor and unfortunately he also nodded. By now, everyone in the house knew Emily had broken up with her. Word spread like wildfire in this house.

"I should talk to her."

"And me," Antonio's voice came from the door. Serena saw him standing with an angry look on his face. His arms were crossed over his chest. "Mentor, Jayden, can Serena and I have a little privacy?"

Mentor looked back and forth between Serena and Antonio before he grabbed Jayden's arm, "Help me find the bandages for her leg. Dillon's shirt won't hold much longer."

Jayden got up and followed Mentor out while Antonio walked in. He continued to glare at the earth Samurai.

"What the hell was that?"

"Antonio, I'm so sorry!"

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't walk out of this house right now!"

"He threatened to kill you," Serena said. "You were my only friend at that point and I couldn't risk losing you. I had to make you hate me so he had nothing to steal from me! I'm so sorry!"

"You better be!" Antonio shouted. "I can't believe…"

"The others don't know, do they?"

"Dillon had the decency to shut up about it. Unlike you."

"Antonio, I'm really sorry. If there was any other way I could have protected you..."

"Don't apologize," Antonio huffed, "I'm mad at you."

Serena pouted slightly. Emily wasn't the only one who knew how to use her looks to manipulate the Rangers. She had inherited the skill and the pout from Serena, after all.

"I'm really, really sorry, Antonio. I know I meant to hurt you, but it was to protect you. I pwomise."

"No…"

"I still love you," she said, "And I'll kick their butts if they ever tease you because you're gay or if they ever make jokes about gays, or if they're too stupid to realise love is love. I'm on your side. Please, pretty please, with a cherry on top."

Antonio caved. His shoulders slumped and his arms fell to his side.

"Swear you won't breathe a word to anyone else?"

"Not even if my life depended on it," she nodded. "Unfortunately, that means I'm screwed if I make this mistake again, but I promised Jayden I wouldn't… so I'm good."

Antonio chuckled and rolled his eyes, "Good job out there."

"The pieces all fell into place for me," Serena smiled. "I just hope Dillon wasn't kidding when he said I could keep my baby."

"He's brooding, not a monster," Antonio sat with Serena, "I'm sure he'll understand."

Serena rested her head on Antonio's shoulder, "Thanks for sticking with me. It really meant a lot."

"It was a lot of hard work," Antonio chuckled. "My reward should be that junior is named after me."

"No."

"Middle name?"

"Reserved already," Serena shook her head. "Emily's called it because I chose her middle name."

"Second middle name?"

"No."

"Third?"

"You can help me come up with a list," Serena sighed. "But I choose the name."

"Deal!"


	104. Trying To Talk

Dillon played with his morpher while Mia and Kevin looked through the books on their shelves. He kept hearing Mia muttering something about once reading a book that talked of travel, but she couldn't remember where she had put it.

Dillon wasn't one to complain of homesickness. He wasn't one to talk about his feelings. Even to this day, Summer still struggled to get him to open up. But he knew what he was feeling. He could identify his feelings with ease. And right now he felt alone. He missed his friends and he missed home. His entire world back home was crammed into one dome, housing the entire population of the earth in one giant bubble, but he was used to it now and he actually found himself preferring that over the great big earth he was on now.

And he missed Summer. He wondered how the fight against Venjix went and hoped she and the other Rangers were able to stop him for good. He hadn't come back to this world, so that was a good sign.

"Do you two mind?" he grumbled unhappily as Mia and Kevin flirted while doing their research. "I do kind of want to go home. It's nothing big, you know, I just need to get back to my wife!"

"Sorry," Mia smirked and pulled a book down from the shelf, "I think I've finally found it."

"Fantastic. Now do it."

"You're so straight to the point, aren't you?" Kevin laughed as Mia skimmed through the book and searched for the page she needed.

"Do you have a problem with that?" Dillon asked. "I don't know what kind of Samurai you are, but living here is crazy. I'm ready to go to my post-apocalyptic world and live a normal life."

"You're going home already?" Emily asked as she and Mike walked into the room after their talk. Dillon looked at her and nodded his head.

"Dr. K doesn't seem to be making any progress with getting me home," he said. "She probably doesn't care about bringing me home. We don't agree on much."

"Really?" Kevin asked sarcastically before Mia handed him the book and pointed to a symbol. He nodded and went to get Jayden, while mentally taking note that someone else on this team needed to better harness their symbol power so Jayden didn't have to do all the hard work himself.

"I'm going to miss you, dude," Mike smiled to Dillon and shook his hand. "Hopefully the others defeated Venjix so you can go home and relax."

"I never thought going home to a garage full of people, boom-twin included, would be relaxing."

"We will miss you," Mia nodded, "And don't forget to talk to Summer about…"

"I won't," Dillon promised her. "As soon as we get home."

"About what?" Emily asked. Dillon shook his head.

"Nothing," he said before pulling out her pigtails. Emily glared at him and huffed.

"Don't do that," she took her elastics back from him as he rolled his eyes.

"I thought Ziggy was too young and dorky to be a Ranger."

"We use the term a-dork-able," Mia chuckled. "She likes it better."

"That's disgustingly cute," Dillon shook his head.

"You still need a hug," Emily glared.

Kevin finally came back with Jayden and shook the Black Ranger's hand.

"This should work," he promised. "Just do as we say."

"Anything to get out of this place," Dillon nodded.

Jayden showed the book to Dillon, "We're going to use this symbol. It means home. Under normal circumstances it's not anymore draining than most other symbols, but given your home is in another universe entirely…"

"Do you accept the risks, blah, blah, blah," Dillon nodded his head, "Just send me home, Red."

"Are you sure you can do this, Jayden?" Mike asked as Jayden set the book down and grabbed his Samuraizer. The red Ranger shrugged.

"It's worth a shot," he traced the symbol in the air and could already feel his energy levels sinking. Kevin grabbed him by the arm to keep him from falling to his knees. "I'm okay," he said as he reached out to flip the symbol. Just as he was about to, Serena got in the way. Her leg was now bandaged and she had to limp in order to get around, but she couldn't let Dillon leave without saying goodbye. She threw her arms around him.

"Thank you."

Dillon hugged her back, "Just take good care of the kid, okay?"

"I promise," Serena nodded as she let him go and stepped out of the way. Jayden was on the verge of passing out and needed to spin the symbol before he did.

The symbol struck Dillon and faded into him. At first nothing happened, but after a couple of seconds, Dillon began to glow and a portal opened up over his head. Before he could ask if it was his ticket home, it sucked him in and he and the portal disappeared from sight.

Jayden slumped forward but was quickly caught by Kevin who set him down on the floor gently while Mia went to get the red Ranger some water.

Antonio walked into the room. He had been helping Mentor Ji clean up and put away the first aid kit and had missed his chance to say goodbye to Dillon. But he forgot all about that when he saw Jayden looking like he was going to be sick. A part of him wanted to take care of the red Ranger, but another part was scared. Now that he knew he was crushing on his best friend, he didn't know how to behave around him.

Jayden looked up at him and asked again, "Are you home for good?"

Antonio nodded his head, "Yeah."

"Help me to our room," Jayden lifted his hand and waited to be helped to his feet, "I need a nap."

Antonio hesitated, but did what he needed to help Jayden. It felt strange, but it also felt good to take his hand and then wrap his arm around Jayden's waist and have Jayden's arm wrapped around his shoulders. He then remembered Jayden had a girlfriend and sighed.

"When are you going to talk about what's been bothering you?" Jayden asked as they walked out.

"Soon," Antonio promised.

As the boys left Serena looked to Emily. She had already come a long way in fixing her relationships with Jayden and Antonio, but if the house was ever going to go back to normal, she needed to have a talk with her sister.

"Emily…"

Emily turned around and walked off. She grabbed Scruffy's leash and called her dog for a walk. Serena went after her to the door and watched as Emily got ready to head out.

"Emy, we need to talk."

"No we don't."

"Emily, the Nighlok didn't want you…"

"I don't care. You still traded me."

"I didn't know what I traded. I never would have…"

"Stop lying," Emily finally looked at her sister, "You didn't know what you traded and that put everything and everyone at risk. Myself, my friends and my family included. That's bad enough."

"Okay, I get that…"

"And what's worse," Emily clipped the leash onto Scruffy's collar, "You tell everyone about it but me. That's why I don't want to be your sister anymore. That's why I don't want to be in this family."

"Em, I…"

"Keep the stupid Samuraizer," Emily muttered while she opened the door and the dog raced out, tugging on the leash.

Serena remembered she still had Emily's Samuraizer and pulled it out. She tried handing it over to Emily, but the younger girls shook her head.

"I said keep it."

"You can't go for a walk by yourself," Serena called as Emily turned around to leave. Emily stopped, groaned loudly, and turned back inside the house.

"Mia!"

"No," Serena shook her head, shoved Emily out the door and closed it. She took the leash from her little sister, "We're talking."

"No," Emily reached for the leash but Serena pulling it away before she could grab it.

"I'll buy you ice-cream and we'll talk."

"With what money?"

Serena frowned. Emily had a point.

"Fine, I won't bribe you. Just sit down and let me talk."

"No," Emily shook her head, "I talk, you listen!"

"Emily…"

Emily blew a raspberry and then stormed back inside the house, slamming the door behind her. Serena rolled her eyes.

"Great conversation, Em," she pushed the door but it was locked. She glanced at Scruffy, "Thankfully, my bedroom window's still shattered."

Serena limped around the house to her bedroom and helped the dog back inside before climbing into her room. She walked over to her door and tried to slide it open, but somehow Emily had managed to lock it.

"Dammit," she muttered and looked back at Scruffy, "My sister hates me."

Scruffy picked up his leash in his mouth and walked over to Serena. He dropped her end at her feet. He had been promised a walk.

"Sorry, Scruffs," Serena shook her head, "Not right now."

She turned back to the door and sighed. She could easily break it down, but at this point she was realising her sister wasn't ready to talk to her. Forcing the matter only seemed to push her away further so Serena was going to wait. She took a seat on her bed and reached for her pillow only to find it was missing. She grumbled and fell back into the mattress.

"I should have gone with Dillon…"


	105. Wish You Were Dead

Mia jumped up on Kevin's back. She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. She would not let him go until he gave him.

"Please."

Kevin chuckled and shook his head. He opened the door to the closet and reached in for the toolbox. Now that everything was starting to settle around the house, he was going to get to work on fixing up Serena's bedroom. He was still angry with her, most of the house was, but he could let her spend the night in a room with a shattered window. Jayden was already in town with Amanda picking up a new one (his excuse to see her again).

"By the time I'm done with this, Mia, it's going to be way after lunch," Kevin closed the closet door and turned in the direction of Serena's room, with Mia still clinging onto his back. "How about lunch tomorrow? Just you and me, I promise."

"You're sucky," Mia slipped off his back. "I can't do lunch tomorrow. I promised Emy I'd help her."

"That's not my fault, is it?"

Mia shook her head, "Stupid Emily."

"Compromise?" Kevin looked to his fiancée, "You go make us some sandwiches and we'll eat lunch together while I clean and fix up Serena's room."

"Fine," Mia nodded. She was about to turn to the kitchen but Kevin grabbed her arm tightly and pulled her back. When she looked at him, she saw he was pointing to Serena's door. She gave the door a closer look and saw someone had locked it by keeping the door from sliding open.

"Someone's making my life harder than it has to be," Kevin grumbled as he started removing everything blocking the door. There wasn't much, but it was jammed in tightly.

Once the door was free to slide, Mia opened it and saw Serena sitting on her bed with the dog. She chuckled and turned to Kevin.

"I don't think anyone's out to get you," she said.

Serena looked up, and without a word she bolted out of the bedroom. She had been locked in for a couple of hours and really needed to use the bathroom. Kevin watched her race out and frowned, "What the hell?"

"Ten bucks says it was Emily."

"Why do you think that?"

"Who else would try that without being scared of getting killed afterwards?"

"Good point," Kevin chuckled. He picked up his toolbox again and walked inside the room, "So, is our sandwich date still on?"

"I'll go make us something," Mia nodded.

-Samurai-

Serena came out of the bathroom and wiped the rest of the water off on her pants. The time she had spent locked in her room she had used to think of ways to talk to Emily, or at least get her sister to listen. She knew she couldn't convince the rest of the house not to hate her if she couldn't win over her own sister. Serena wasn't sure how Emily had done it, but she had everyone wrapped around her finger.

She assumed her little sister would be in her bedroom, but heard a familiar grumbling from the common room as she walked by. Curious, she peeked in and saw her sister sitting on her stool, looking down on her lap. She snuck up behind Emily and snuck a glance over her shoulder.

"You can't read when you're emotional."

"Shut up," Emily snapped. Serena pulled the book away.

"Why are you trying? Besides, this book's no good."

"I don't need you," Emily jumped up and grabbed the book back from her sister, "Go away."

"Can we talk? Please?"

"No."

"Emily…"

"Maybe Antonio can forgive you, but I won't," Emily crossed her arms over her chest. "You didn't trade his life!"

"I didn't trade yours…"

"Yes you did!" Emily screamed and stomped her foot. "You didn't know what you traded but you knew it was important!"

"He didn't want you, Em…"

"You didn't know that!"

"Stop shouting, Emily. The whole house doesn't have to…"

"Yes! They do!"

Serena sighed and rubbed her temples. She really didn't know what to do, but she couldn't leave this alone. She had to try, even if it was just a little bit at a time.

"Either you traded my life," Emily whispered after a silence as she started to turn away, "or I'm not important."

Serena's eyes widened at this remark and she realised Emily was onto something. It wasn't true, but it was a big insight for Serena on how Emily must have been feeling.

"And either way," Emily muttered as she continued, "If you did trade my life, I'm not important enough to keep."

Serena reached out for her sister's hand but Emily pulled away. She tried to run off, but Serena reached out again and caught the back of her shirt. Thankfully too because Serena didn't think she could constantly chase after her sister until her leg stopped hurting.

She pulled Emily back and wrapped her arms around her little sister. Emily's back was pressed against Serena's chest, so the older Samurai couldn't look her little sister in the eyes, but she doubted Emily would have let her either way.

"Let me go!"

"It's no excuse," Serena said into Emily's ear, "but I wasn't thinking when I made that deal. The Nighlok made it seem like I could make myself, and everyone, including you, happy. It didn't cross my mind until after the matter that strangers can't be trusted."

"I don't care…"

"If you weren't important, would I have wasted my time with you?"

"It's an act."

"Since the day you were born? That's a lot of effort, Emy. Too much effort. Do you know how hard it is to keep up with you?"

"Let go of me."

"I'm sorry I traded your life. I'm sorry I put you in that position. It was my mistake, and no matter how many excuses I have, I know it was wrong."

"Go away!"

"I made a new deal with him, right before I killed him."

Emily struggled in her sister's arms and Serena could sense she was starting to give in. It was a good sign for her, because as soon as Emily gave up trying to run away, all she could do was listen.

"He's dead, and I hope he's never coming back again."

"Hope?"

"He wasn't like the other Nighlok," Serena nodded.

"He screwed you over again!" Emily struggled harder and Serena was afraid she would accidentally be elbowed in the stomach. But she held on tightly to her sister.

"Emily, listen."

"No!"

"He's giving mom her life back…"

"And I hope he takes yours!" Emily shouted without thinking. Serena's hold around her sister immediately dropped. Part of her didn't want to take it personally. Part of her wanted to believe her sister was just acting out, and the filter between truth and anger wasn't working in her head. Another part of her was hurt. Deeply hurt.

"I'm sorry, Emily," she whispered as she moved away from Emily.

Emily kept up the façade, too angry with her sister to care about what she had said. She crossed her arms over her chest and she looked at Serena.

The older earth Samurai turned to the door, "I can pack my stuff and head home in the morning."

Emily didn't say a word so Serena walked out of the room. As soon as she was gone, Emily let her arms fall and her words bounced around in her head over and over again. Her body began to tremble, and like a rocket, she took off to her room. She found Mike sitting on their bed, playing one of his video games.

"Yes!" he cried before he noticed her, "Killed him!"

Emily jumped onto the bed and in a flash she was in his arms. Mike frowned curiously and his expression dropped into one of worry when he heard her sob.

"Em? What happened? What did she…?"

Emily wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his shoulder.

"I love her."

"I know," he nodded and rubbed her back soothingly, "You're just mad."

"I'm stupid."

"No!" Mike shook his head, "Emily, don't… Em, what did she say to you?"

"Nothing."

"Emily…"

"Nothing, Mike."

Mike held her softly and kissed the side of her head. He rocked her as she sobbed uncontrollably, soaking his shirt. He wondered what could have happened between Emily and Serena to make her hurt so much.


	106. The Big Blow Up

Serena was obviously upset as she walked into her room. Her talk with Emily had not gone well at all. Serena knew very well her little sister was hurt, and had tried to make things even a little better, but instead she had gotten her to snap and shout words she hopefully didn't mean. Serena was almost convinced Emily wanted to take back what she had said, but she couldn't be sure, and that little nagging voice in her head wouldn't leave her alone.

One thing was for sure. Things weren't about to get better anytime soon.

When she got inside her room, she saw Kevin and Mia were having what looked to be a picnic. She already knew the blue Ranger was supposed to be fixing up her room while Jayden went out to buy a new window, but she didn't expect to walk in on the middle of the date.

"Do you two mind?"

"I told you we should go out," Mia muttered and started clearing up the plates while Kevin reached back for his toolbox. Neither of them said a word to Serena as they got back to doing what they were supposed to be doing. Serena walked to her dresser and started pulling out some clothes and laying them out on her bed.

"Neither of you would want to drive me all the way back home, would you?"

There was a silence. Serena thought she wouldn't get an answer from either Ranger. They had a good reason for giving her the silent treatment. But Kevin's voice broke through the silence.

"You're going home?"

Serena nodded her head, "I think I've burned my bridges. I'm getting out of your way. I won't cause you anymore misery."

"I can't drive you," Mia answered, "I promised Emily I'd help her."

Serena looked to Kevin. She didn't expect much.

He shook his head as well, "I think it's best if you found your own way home."

"It's a long drive, I guess," Serena said. "I'll catch a train or… something."

"Good idea."

They heard, from down the hall, the front door opening and Jayden called for some help. Kevin walked out of the room to assist the red Ranger, leaving Serena to finish packing and Mia to clean up the dishes from their picnic.

Suddenly, Serena heard a light knock on the door and turned to see who it was. To her surprise, Jayden had brought Amanda home and she was dragging with her what appeared to be the box for the baby furniture Serena had ordered.

"This just arrived at the store," she smiled brightly. "I saw your name on it and thought I could deliver it personally."

"Thanks, Amanda. You can set it down somewhere," Serena pointed around the room. She wasn't going to need the furniture anymore, but she didn't want Amanda knowing that. At her parents' house, they still had everything from when she and Emily had been babies. She could dust it off and use it for her son once he was born.

Amanda pulled the box in and leaned it against the wall. She promised Jayden was on his way down with the rest of the delivery and then noticed Serena had folded clothes on her bed and the older woman was searching through her closet and pulling more clothes out.

"Either you don't understand the concept of putting the laundry away, or you're going away," she said. Serena sighed.

"I'm going home."

"I thought you were home."

"Her real home," Mia clarified and then turned to Serena, "Even though you're gone, we still want updates on the baby."

"I thought so," Serena nodded and Mia walked off to clean the dishes.

Amanda could tell there was something off in the room. She didn't know Mia or Serena very well, but from what she knew already, they were close friends. Very close. Now they seemed rather distant, and it was odd that Mia was almost completely emotionless about the fact that Serena was leaving. Amanda remembered balling her eyes out when her friends were packing to head off to college.

"What's going on?" she looked at Serena, "Is everything okay?"

"My sister and I got into a fight, pretty much everyone's taking her side," Serena shrugged. "She's needed here and it would be easier for me to leave…"

"But all your stuff is here," Amanda pointed to the box of furniture. "Don't tell me you're going to move it to your place. We had a hard enough time getting this in Jayden's car."

"It'll stay here until I figure something out," Serena shrugged. "No offense, Amanda, but this is really none of your business."

"I know. Sorry. It's just," Amanda looked around the room, "you're seriously leaving because you got into a fight with your sister? I fought with my big sister all the time and every night we still shared a room."

"She didn't borrow my shirt or anything," Serena shook her head; "It's a real family issue. Things blew up and a little time away…"

"Get a hotel for a couple of nights," Amanda suggested. "A little distance is fine. A lot just causes the problem to simmer until it boils over and next time you both see each other…"

"Amanda, this is my family…"

"I'm just saying," Amanda shrugged, "Look, I know you're short on cash. You can stay at my place if you have to…"

"Your boyfriend's taking Emily's side. I couldn't…"

"Who cares about sides?" Amanda pulled out a pen from her pocket and on the box of furniture she wrote her cell phone number, "Look, it's up to you what you do, but my sister's staying with her boyfriend for a few nights and there's an extra bed at my place. If you need somewhere to stay…"

"I couldn't ask you to do that."

"You didn't," Amanda popped the cap back on the pen just as Jayden and Kevin walked in with the rest of the furniture. Amanda smiled at Serena, "I offered."

"Offered what?" Jayden asked his girlfriend as he set the boxes down. Amanda looked to Serena quickly and then back to Jayden.

"A place for Serena to stay for a few days. I told you my sister was out of town and we've got a bed for her."

"Why does Serena need a place to stay?" Jayden frowned.

Serena was just about to answer his question when Mike stormed into the room. He slid her bedroom door open wider, slamming it into the wall as he stomped in.

"What the hell did you say to her?" he shouted as he got right up in Serena's face.

"Mike!" Emily nervously walked up to the doorway, though she didn't bother entering the room. She tried getting her fiancé's attention, "Don't do this…"

Serena placed her hands on Mike's shoulders and pushed him away, "I just tried to talk to her."

"You shouldn't be going anywhere near her!"

"Mike, please stop," Emily called for him. Mike didn't listen.

Serena could understand he was angry, but he had no right to yell at her. She could talk with her sister if she wanted to. Whether or not Emily talked back was another matter.

"Mike, I'd appreciate it if you didn't fight my sister's battles for her," Serena said. "You don't need to protect her from me."

"Obviously I do!"

"Mike…"

Serena stepped forward and tried to walk over to Emily, but Mike was standing in her way. He grabbed her arm roughly and shoved her back.

"Don't go near her."

"Then how am I supposed to fix this?" Serena asked him. Mike glared at her but Serena didn't pay any attention to him. She tried to move closer to her sister again, tempting fate. Mike was known to have a temper and he could very easily lose control if pushed in just the right way. He made a fist and raised his hand, ready to strike Serena to keep her down for good. Just before he could hit her in the jaw, his hand was caught by Antonio. Seemingly from nowhere, Antonio had turned up. He had heard the yelling from the other side of the house and had raced over to see the problem. Fortunately, he had arrived just in time.

He pushed Mike's hand to the side and shoved the green Ranger into the wall.

"I'll break your nose again, I swear I will," he threatened.

Mike pushed the gold Ranger away and walked back to Emily. He took her by the arm but she pulled away from him. She gave him an apologetic look before racing over to Mia and Kevin. She grabbed them both and pulled them away. Everyone else was changing and causing problems.

Mike clenched his fists again and turned to Serena. He had to look past Antonio to glare at her.

"You did this."

"Mike, I'm so…"

"Just tell me what you said to her," Mike pounded his fist into the wall. "Tell me what happened."

"I tried to talk to her, she wouldn't listen."

"And?"

"I tried to tell her about the new deal… she told me she wished I…" Serena blinked back her tears and shook her head, "It's not important. I'll be gone in the morning."

"I think it's best," Mike nodded his head and turned away. Serena looked to Amanda.

"I think I'll take you up on your offer."

During the fight, Amanda had picked up a suitcase and started packing Serena's clothes inside. She lifted it up for Serena to see and gestured to the door.

"You can stay at my place as long as you need."

"Just until I figure something out. I guess I'll need to find a way to make money for a train ticket home…"

"There's a coffee shop in town that's looking to hire," Amanda shrugged. "The owner's my uncle. I could talk to him for you."

"You have all the answers, don't you?"

Amanda chuckled lightly and nodded her head. She kissed Jayden goodbye, promised to call him before the end of the night, and walked out with Serena in tow.

Antonio sighed loudly and ran his hand through his hair. He wished he could make everything better for him team, but he knew this was going to take a long time.

Jayden looked to him nervously, "Well… after that big blow up, whatever made you walk away must seem…"

"It's still big," Antonio said.

"You can talk to me about anything, you know that, right?"

Antonio nodded, "Right now's not the time to bring it up."

"Does it have anything to do with Amanda?"

Antonio shook his head, "She's a nice girl, Jay. Now if you don't mind I've got some stock to sell. I'm saving up for something."

"Amanda's gone," Jayden pointed out, "Would you like some help?"

"Depends on whether or not you've forgiven Serena."

"Blackmail?" Jayden frowned, "I can only hang out with my best friend if I forgive Serena?"

"The money I make is going to help her. She can't raise a baby on minimum wage," Antonio explained. "If you haven't forgiven her…"

"It's fine," Jayden nodded, "She and I talked."

"Good. Then I could use your help."


	107. Secrets

Serena was getting herself settled in Amanda's bedroom when Amanda walked back in. Serena was truly thankful she had a place to stay with Amanda and she didn't have to go all the way back home by herself, but she felt strange in this place. She barely knew Amanda, nor did she know Amanda's family, and now they had taken her in without any questions, and they were all inviting her to stay as long as she wanted.

Amanda set the phone down on her bed and took a seat. She looked across the room at Serena.

"My uncle's going to let you take a few shifts at the coffee shop to see how you do before he hires you," Amanda smiled, "he's a little concerned about the fact that you're pregnant but…"

"You can tell him he won't have to worry about maternity leave," Serena promised, "I've got everything I need; I just want enough money to get back home."

"Babies are expensive," Amanda reminded Serena, "You need a fortune to care for them, especially on your own."

"I'll figure something out."

"Do you want to talk about the fight?" Amanda offered. "It seemed like a pretty big deal. What could have happened between you and your sister to cause all that drama?"

"I don't want to talk about it," the truth was, Serena was dying to talk to someone outside the Ranger clan, but she couldn't mention a word to anyone without revealing the identities of the Samurai Rangers. She had already put her friends at risk several times and she wasn't about to do it again, even if it was only Amanda who would find out.

"Are you sure?" Amanda asked. "I'm a really good listener."

"You've done enough. I'll get back on my feet soon, I promise. Right now I think I just need some time away."

Amanda bit her lip nervously and nodded, "If you're sure."

-Samurai-

After his big blow up with Serena, Mike needed to cool down. He had let his temper get the better of him and he had nearly punched her. It didn't seem so bad given what she had done to her sister, but if Antonio hadn't of stopped him, Mike wasn't sure where he would have stopped himself.

He splashed his face with cold water and reached for his towel. As he dried himself off he leaned against the bathroom wall and sighed. He wasn't happy with how things had ended. He still didn't have any answers, and now Serena was gone with his nephew and he wasn't sure when or if she would be coming back again.

He also wasn't sure about Emily and where he had taken things with her. He had acted to protect her, but the entire time he had been shouting she had been trying to get his attention and get him to stop. He knew she was no idiot. He knew she had seen what he had been about to do, and even though she was angry with her sister, Mike didn't need to punch her. He could tell Emily was hurt by his actions because she hadn't walked away from the fight with him. She had taken Mia and Kevin and had run away from him.

He clutched the towel tightly in his hand as everything played back in his mind. He remembered how upset Emily had been when she had come running into his room after Serena tried to talk with her and how angry he had gotten with Serena. He remembered feeling like he was losing control of himself as he tried to get her to tell him what Serena had done to her to make her so upset. When Emily wouldn't say, he got up to figure out himself, stepping back on his path to rage while knowing things weren't going to end with a happily ever after. His temper never led to good things.

He watched as his knuckles turned white and he dropped the towel suddenly as the image of himself striking Serena came to mind and he wondered just how angry he had to be to hit his sister in-law, especially when she was pregnant with the child he already loved like a son. Fortunately, it hadn't happened. He hadn't made contact with Serena, but it had only been because Antonio stepped in.

His body shook and he held his head with his hands as he sunk to the floor. He remembered his confession to the Rangers when Serena had forced them to wear their humiliating shirts. She had gotten him to reveal his most embarrassing secret, but now he was scared another one was going to come out. His most painful secret. Something he was sure he had overcome back in high school.

-Samurai-

"Do you want to talk about it?" Mia offered to Emily as they sat in silence in her and Kevin's bedroom. Emily shook her head.

"I can't."

"Why not?" Kevin asked, "You can talk to us about anything, especially if it'll help you feel better."

Emily looked down to her feet, "I said something to Serena I didn't mean…"

"You're angry," Mia shrugged her shoulders and reached out to rub Emily's arm comfortingly, "We all sat things we don't mean when we're angry."

"I… well…"

"I'm sure it won't sound as bad as it did when you said it now that you've had time to calm down," Kevin smiled softly, "We won't judge, Em."

Emily let out a big sigh, "I basically told her I wished she would die. It's horrible!" she threw herself into Mia's arms and began to sob loudly. Mia looked across the room to Kevin with a look of worry on her face. He had been wrong. The words still sounded bad, but thankfully, now that they knew the problem, they could help out.

"We'll find Serena tomorrow, okay?" Mia promised, "I think I know the coffee shop she's trying to get a job at. She'll be there and you'll apologize."

"I can't," Emily shook her head and pulled away from Mia. She looked up at the pink Ranger, "I'm still mad at her."

"So are we," Mia nodded her head, "but we're not mad enough to wish she was dead."

"What made you so angry that you said something that horrible?" Kevin asked and earned himself a sharp glare from Mia. He shrugged, "What?"

"She tried to talk to me," Emily sighed. "I know she's trying to make things better… but she can't. There's always a mess just around the corner, I know it. And every time it gets worse."

"You two are sisters," Kevin chuckled to himself, "Always causing a mess without meaning to."

"What does that mean?" Emily pouted. Kevin took a seat on the bed and looked at Emily with a small smile.

"I'm mad at her too for what she did," he said, "but obviously I don't want her dead. She made a stupid mistake… but it was just a mistake, right?"

Emily shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know anymore."

"Would she ever willingly trade your life? Or her son's life? Or the life of any of us?"

Emily shook her head, "Never."

"Your sister's not perfect. Sometimes she makes mistakes. You don't have to forgive her for this, no one expects you to, but it has to be worth it."

"Can I think about it?" Emily looked up at Kevin. He nodded his head.

"Of course."

"And can I sleep here tonight?" Emily asked. "Mike's just going to try and get me to talk again and I don't want him to yell. He's very mad."

"Sleep here? Where are you going to sleep?" Kevin looked around the room. Since he and Mia had pushed both the beds together to make one big bed, there was nowhere for anyone else to sleep.

"You have enough room in this big bed," Emily grinned. "It can fit four, and we're going to be four!"

"Four?" Kevin gasped. Emily nodded her head and whistled. Within seconds, Scruffy was in the room. He jumped up on the bed and cuddled up against Emily. She pet her dog and looked to Mia and Kevin pleadingly.

"Please, pretty please can I stay?"

"Don't look at her, Mia!" Kevin turned his head away as Emily began her puppy pout. Mia wasn't warned in time and melted in Emily's hand. She reached out and hugged her little sister.

"Aw, but Kevin, we have more than enough room in our bed."

"For a dog?"

"He doesn't take up a lot of room!" Emily promised. "And he doesn't drool or anything! He's a good sleeping buddy."

"Doesn't he have his own bed?"

"Sometimes he sleeps with me and Mike."

Kevin looked to Emily and sighed, "Fine, but you and he sleep as far away from me as possible."

"Yay!" Emily cheered and raced off to her room to grab what she would need when it was time for bed. Kevin glared at Mia, "This is your fault."

"One night," Mia chuckled, "You'll live."

"It's a dog," Kevin pointed to Scruffy, "He's got…"

"Dog germs, I know," Mia nodded her head. "He'll be on the opposite side of the two of us. And we'll wash the sheets and everything tomorrow once he's gone."

"Good."

-Samurai-

While Emily raced off to her bedroom, she heard a strange beeping from the common room and had to stop to investigate. There were still a few hours before she needed to go to bed, which gave her plenty of time to grab her things while Mike wasn't looking. She didn't want to run into him while he was angry, and she didn't want to risk upsetting him further by not answering his questions. Sometimes, it wasn't easy to talk to him. If he started to think badly of her, she had a lot more to lose, and wishing her sister was dead was not something that would make her look good.

She looked around the common room and noticed the sound was coming from the laptop on the desk against the wall. Assuming Mike had left one of his video games turned on, Emily walked over to turn it off. She lifted the screen slightly so she could see what she was doing and that was when she noticed it wasn't a game making the beep, but an email. A strange email from a person named DoctorKRPM. It took Emily a moment to figure it out, but she could finally make out RPM in the name, and then she unscrambled the rest of the letters in her head and read out Doctor K, whom the RPM team had mentioned several times in their visits. Assuming that made enough sense to justify her opening the email, she did.

The letter came up and Emily's took a seat and started reading, but whoever wrote the letter used so many big and unfamiliar words, Emily couldn't decipher them at all like she could ordinary books. She sighed and was about to close the laptop when the door opened up. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Antonio and Jayden walking back in. Antonio was counting a wade of cash in his hands, and Jayden had someone gotten stuck with the job of pulling Antonio's cart in.

"I can't believe we made nearly four hundred dollars," Antonio smiled. "You've got a talent for business, buddy."

"I kind of stretched the truth a little bit," Jayden said, "I just told people all the money we made was going to help a pregnant women who suffered from a long term illness and she wasn't sure how she could take care of her son once he was born. I just left out the fact that she's no longer ill."

"That's business," Antonio chuckled before suddenly bumping into Emily. He apologized but Emily looked at the money in his hands.

"You're raising money for my sister?"

"Not everyone hates her," Antonio nodded his head as his mood soured slightly. "She does still need help."

"I know," Emily lowered her head and looked at the laptop she was holding, "Would one of you do me a favour?"

"Is it broken?" Antonio asked. Emily shook her head.

"No, but somehow the RPM Rangers got our email. I think they sent us something."

"What?" Antonio asked. Emily shrugged her shoulders.

"I couldn't figure it out."

Jayden pulled the laptop from her hands, "It is from the RPM team," he said, reading the headline. Emily crossed her arms.

"I figured that out. I just can't understand the email properly, and I could be here all day trying to decipher it. Whoever Doctor K is, she's really smart and likes confusing people like me."

Jayden read the email in full and found he had to read it twice to make sure he got everything. When he understood the just of it, he smiled and handed the laptop back to Emily.

"She's just telling us the RPM team defeated Venjix for good," he said. "She says they're double checking all the computers in Corinth to make sure he didn't download himself somewhere else."

"That's good news," Emily smiled. Jayden nodded his head.

"She also wants to thank us for taking care of the Rangers, but insisted she would have found a way on her own to bring them back and we shouldn't have wasted our time or energy."

"That's a little rude," Antonio frowned.

"She said we would have been better off training or defeated our own monsters."

"Still rude," Antonio crossed his arms.

"All in all," Jayden glanced at the email again, "the Rangers made it home safely, Dillon included, and everything's going well for them."

"Can we send an email back?" Emily asked and took the laptop back to see if the option was available. Jayden shook his head.

"I don't think it's a good idea regardless," he said. "No contact with the outside world. You know what could happen?"

"Your family slowly falls apart," Emily whispered. She was about to close the laptop when Jayden took it back.

"Hold on. I think I forgot something," he read the email again and then looked at Emily, "Do you know why Dillon had Doctor K give a list of names for his 'almost son'?"

"What?" Emily snatched the laptop from Jayden and tried to find what he was talking about. He pointed to the line and read it out loud, word for word.

"Dillon or Dylan Jr., Black Ranger Junior, RPM Team is awesome… these baby names are horrible," he commented to Emily before continuing to read, "and here, it says, _'thanks for giving me a taste of what it would be like to expect a child. It made me realise Mia was right, adoption is just as good as having your own child, sometimes better. Too bad I couldn't have adopted a cool other universe Samurai child, but we can't have it all, I guess'._"

"What?" Emily gasped. "Read it again."

"You heard me," Jayden shrugged his shoulders, "That part was meant for Serena, but I couldn't help but…"

"She was going to…"

Antonio could see Emily was starting to get angry again. He put his money in his pocket and grabbed her arms.

"She was doing this to protect you and the baby," he assured her. "She was going to let herself lose everything she cared for so the Nighlok couldn't take anything from her."

"She… she…"

"You knew about this?" Jayden frowned as he looked at Antonio, "How come you didn't tell us?"

"It's complicated…"

"Like you randomly punching Mike in the face and leaving with some big secret?" Jayden asked. "You still haven't told us about that, you don't tell us when Serena's considering adoption… what are you going to tell us, Antonio? And why are you and Serena suddenly sharing secrets with only each other?"

Antonio let out a heavy sigh and gestured to the chairs, "Do you really want to know?"

"I want to know why my sister was going to give away the baby," Emily nodded. Antonio told her to take a seat and promised he would be back with the others. He was going to explain everything from start to finish and he hoped it wouldn't make things worse for himself, Serena, or the others.


	108. Antonio's Talk

Antonio knocked on the door to Mike's bedroom. Everyone else was waiting for him in the common room and Mike was the only one left he needed to get. There was no answer, so Antonio knocked again and this time he started opening the door slightly.

"Mike?" he called into the room and saw the bathroom door was open. He made his way over and knocked on the door again, "Can I come in?"

"Whatever," Mike grumbled.

"I have something important to tell everyone," Antonio said, "Can you come with me to the common room?"

Mike unclenched his fists and sighed, "Do I have to? I still need a minute."

"It's really important. Can you come?"

Antonio held out his hand. Mike stared at it for a moment so Antonio rolled his eyes.

"If you're pissed at me for breaking your nose…"

"It's not that. I have my own problems."

"Would you be able to forget about them and come with me?"

Mike groaned and with Antonio's help he got to his feet. He followed the gold Ranger to the common room and took a seat on his stool. He barely made eye contact with any of the other Rangers; he was just here to listen to whatever Antonio had to say.

Antonio fiddled nervously with his hands. When he pictured himself coming out to his friends, he always imagined Serena would be supporting him and making things easier for him. She had promised the team would be accepting, and if they weren't, she would make them, but now she wasn't here and it was important the others get the full story.

He decided to just say it, "I… I'm gay."

Silence fell over the room. Complete silence. Antonio looked up fearfully, unsure if the silence was just the Rangers needing a minute, or if they were passing judgement. He decided to help it sink in with them and excused himself for a moment. He walked to his room, picked up the gold shirt Serena bought him, and slipped it on. He made his way back to the common room, and showed everyone what was written on the back.

The shirts instantly brought everyone back to the time they had been forced to wear their humiliating shirts and reveal their secrets. It hadn't been easy to do for any of them. Mia hadn't even confessed her secret to everyone. Mike remembered how hurt Jayden had been when he laughed, so the room continued with silence.

"You guys can say something," Antonio told them, "Anything…"

"Congratulations?" Kevin frowned. He had no idea what to say. There was a small smile on Antonio's lips as he realised he wasn't sure what kind of response he was expecting.

He continued with his reveal, "I started figuring it out a little while ago, and Serena was the one who got the answer shoved into my head."

"How?" Jayden asked.

Antonio didn't know how to answer that without revealing the fact that he had a crush on his best friend. He shrugged his shoulders. But Jayden was able to put the pieces together. Antonio's behaviour had only started after he began to date Amanda. At first, Jayden had believed Antonio was jealous of him for finding a girlfriend, but if Antonio was gay, he wouldn't want a girlfriend. He had made that clear when Jayden tried to get him to talk. A wave of awkwardness washed over Jayden as he silenced himself.

"Serena helped me a lot," Antonio said, "At first I didn't accept it, but she pushed through. The time I took off was her suggestion. I went home to my dad and told him everything. He accepted the fact without a second thought and helped me figure out whether or not I was actually gay, or just confused."

"And you were gay?" Mia asked. Antonio nodded his head.

"I can confirm it now. I stopped by at Thanksgiving because my dad wanted to give you guys a pie, and I told Serena everything then. That's when she gave me this shirt. She promised me she wouldn't tell any of you. That's why she and I have been spending so much time together. Without her, I don't know what I would have done… so when all this started happening, the deal with the Nighlok, I mean, I had to take her side. Even if what she did was wrong, she needed someone."

"Fair enough," Kevin nodded."

"What does that have to do with Serena giving up the baby?" Emily asked. Mike turned to her with a sharp glare and then over to Antonio. Mia and Kevin were also stunned, but Mike felt furious.

"She what?"

"I'll get to it," Antonio said but Mike wouldn't have it. He could feel every muscle in his body tensing up and he was losing control. When Antonio had been pretending to be the father he had been jealous. The baby was his. He was going to be the dad in the baby's life. He, Serena, and Emily had agreed to raise the child together. If Serena was considering adoption, she should have told him so he could talk her out of it.

"Mike…" Emily whispered when she saw he was losing his temper. Mike heard her voice and tried to stay calm, but then he thought of Serena giving away his nephew and he lost it. With everything else that had happened it pushed him over the edge. He grabbed the end of the table and flipped it over as he got up from the stool, causing the Rangers to jump back, startled. He kicked the doorframe as he walked out and Scruffy, hearing all the commotion, raced down the hall and began to bark.

"Shut up!" the Rangers heard Mike shout to the dog before Scruffy whined and ran into the common room. He tried to jump up and sit on Emily's lap, but he was too big. Emily wrapped her arms around him and looked out to where Mike had stormed off. Now, more than ever, she was thankful Mia and Kevin were letting her stay the night with them. She glanced back at the table as Kevin, Jayden, and Antonio flipped it back over, and then looked over to Mia. The pink Ranger shrugged her shoulders and got up.

"I'll talk to him," she said. She looked to Antonio, "About what you said… about yourself…"

"Yeah?"

Mia smiled, "You could have just told us."

Antonio smiled back warmly, "Thanks Mia."

Mia nodded and then went out to follow Mike.

Once the table was turned back upright, the boys took a seat and Antonio started to speak directly to Emily.

"Look, Em, the idea to adopt was Dillon's and at first I was against it… but it makes sense."

Emily glanced over her shoulder to where Mike had run off and then back to Antonio, "How?"

"She told you the deal she made with the Nighlok, right? He wanted to take something from her."

"We thought he was coming after me… but he wasn't?"

"He wanted the baby," Antonio nodded, "but he never said it specifically. He said he was going to take something from Serena. If the baby didn't belong to her anymore, he couldn't take it. Serena realised that and knew everyone else was in danger as a result. The Nighlok would be mad… so she had to break it off with everyone. Fortunately, you had already broken up with her."

Emily lowered her head sadly and nodded, "I'm still mad at her."

"And she has every right to be," Kevin said, coming to Emily's defense. He glared at Kevin, "I don't care what kind of deal the Nighlok made or how Serena was going to fix it. The truth of the matter is whether she knew it or not, she put all of us in danger, Emily and the baby most of all, and that's unforgivable."

Antonio nodded his head but continued, "I'm not saying you have to forgive her. I'm just telling you she hated the deal, and herself, more than you guys did. After Dillon suggested he and Summer take the baby and keep him safe, Serena had to think about it. She did a lot more thinking than I thought she did, and had a plan on how to turn things around. She accepted Dillon's offer and made a verbal agreement with him that the baby was him. The Nighlok didn't like that deal and that's why he turned up. He asked her to take the baby back."

"So the deal worked?" Jayden asked. "The Nighlok couldn't take it from her because as far as she was concerned, the baby didn't belong to her."

Antonio nodded, "She was going to isolate herself from everyone to keep us safe. She forgot about me, but the Nighlok didn't. Apparently, he threatened to kill me."

"But you're still alive," Kevin spat. "Apparently she didn't have to cause all that drama to…"

"She told Dillon my secret," Antonio interrupted, "and I was pissed. I didn't know what she was doing, and for a moment I stopped being friends with her. The Nighlok realised that and knew there was nothing he could take from her. Her family was going to hate her, her baby wasn't hers, she had no friends because you guys all walked away, and even I didn't want anything to do with her. That's when he attacked, and she really fought back. She killed him and now she's trying to repair the broken bridges. She's keeping the baby now that he's safe, and I hope she can keep her sister too?"

Antonio looked directly to Emily. The yellow Ranger shrugged her shoulders.

"She still traded me."

Antonio knelt down in front of Emily, "Not on purpose. She never would on purpose, you know she wouldn't. She admitted the deal was stupid, she admitted she was a moron. But the Nighlok are tricky. She made the deal for you and it backfired horribly."

"She made the deal for me?"

Antonio nodded, "She told me, and I'm sure she told you, what the deal would bring, what she thought would happen. We would all be safe from Dayu, your parents would be happy again, and the baby would be human. The Nighlok was going to take something from her to make that happen," Antonio took Emily's hands, "Your sister knows she's screwing up and she knows you're taking the fall. That's why she made the deal. She's not a bad person. There's a huge difference between bad people and people who make bad choices."

Jayden let out a heavy sigh, "She and I did have a talk," he said, "She did regret everything."

Antonio smiled at Emily, "I'm not saying your sister's not at fault even I think she is, but do you think, maybe, you can go and talk to her? Just sit down and listen to what she has to say before you continue kicking her out of your life for good. Your sister's an amazing person who just… sometimes needs help."

"You got all this, because you're gay?"

"She was there for me and kept me from running away from all my friends," Antonio nodded his head with a smile, "the least I can do for her is give her a fighting chance with her only sister."

Emily looked to Jayden and Kevin for their advice. Jayden was quick to agree with Antonio, and while Kevin seemed a lot more hesitant, he nodded his head.

"It couldn't hurt to talk," he said.

Emily turned back to Antonio, "Can it wait until tomorrow?"

"Of course," Antonio smiled. He got up and turned to walk back to his room as he slowly began to pull his shirt off but when Kevin called his name he turned back. He saw the blue Ranger smiling at him.

"By the way, we agree with Mia, he gestured to Jayden and Emily and Antonio noticed they were smiling at him, "You're gay, so what? My shirt said bed wetter."

"Thumb sucker," Jayden said with a small laugh.

"Dyslexic," Emily threw in.

Antonio smiled and thanked his team before he turned to head out. As he walked down the hall he heard footsteps following him before a hand fell on his shoulder.

"Antonio, can we talk for a minute?" Jayden asked while Antonio turned around. The gold Ranger nodded.

"You're not as comfortable as you said you were?"

"No, not that… well…" Jayden looked to his shoes, "I want to make it clear, I have nothing against you… but I need to know… you weren't jealous because I had a girlfriend, were you?"

"Seriously?" Antonio chuckled, sensing where the conversation was going. He poked Jayden in the head, "You're cute, I will admit that, but someone's got to pop that ego of yours before your head if bigger than the Megazord."

"It's just… you only started acting strange once Amanda and I…"

Antonio lied as he shook his head. He was gay, that was all Jayden needed to know. A part of him wanted nothing more than to break Jayden and Amanda up and convince Jayden he was gay as well, but there were some things that couldn't be done. As long as his friend was happy that was all he could wish for.

"I just started noticing it because I felt… insecure," Antonio lied, though part of his discovery did involve a lot of insecurity. "You got a girlfriend; Mike and Kevin were basically already married when I first joined. I guess I just got frustrated with you because you weren't my single buddy anymore. One thing led to another, I got confused and now I'm gay. That's why I guess I've never tried to pick up any girls in high school. I mean, I flirted, but I never thought of anything past, 'hello, pretty lady', to make them giggle."

"So, you don't have a crush on me?"

"You're cute, Jay," Antonio chuckled, "and you're happy with Amanda, right? Someone should warn her about your inflated ego, though."

"I just wanted to make sure," Jayden smiled and gave his friend a pat on the shoulder, "I didn't want things to be awkward between us, and I didn't want to put her in the middle."

"I'll find a guy for myself one day," Antonio shrugged his shoulders. "Who knows, maybe you or the other guys are secretly gay. I'd give it a shot," he chuckled teasingly, though he did hope it was true for Jayden.

"As far as I know, we're all happily straight," Jayden shook his head. "Sorry."

Antonio chuckled, "Don't worry about it."


	109. Coffee Talk

When Mia caught up to Mike he was outside in the dojo. It was a cool December evening and he hadn't been out for long, but she could see he was already coated in a layer of sweat, drenching through his clothing like he had just come out of the pool. He was swinging his sword around and attacking the dummies like she had never seen before. If Xandred had been standing anywhere near him, that would have marked the end of the Nighlok Master for all eternity.

She was careful while walking up to him. She trusted he would never hurt her intentionally, but he didn't seem to have much control over his actions and a simple mistake on her part could cost her her life. She made sure he saw her and slowed down before stepping up onto the mat and grabbing a training sword.

"Do you mind if I join?" she asked and leaned back as his sword came around. He hadn't stopped fighting, but he wasn't a danger to approach.

"I'd rather not," he knocked another dummy to the ground, cracking the armour protecting it. He swung around again and Mia had to step back further.

"I know you love the baby and I know you're angry, but Serena can do whatever she wants with the child. If she had chosen adoption, there's nothing you can…"

"The kid's mine!"

Mike roared, throwing his katana to the ground as he stood over Mia with his face only centimeters from hers. "I'm the dad."

"Dekker is," Mia reminded him. "You're the uncle. The number one uncle, but you're going to be Uncle Mike."

"I'm going to take care of that boy," Mike shouted. "I don't care where he came from or what he is! I'm going to raise him…"

"We all are."

"Shut up!" Mike balled his hands into fists and had to resist the urge to punch Mia with every fibre of his being. He knew she was right, he was just angry and he always lost control when he was angry. In recent years he had learned how to cool himself down before he exploded and he had learned to detect the warning signs for his anger so he could step away, but lately there hadn't been anywhere he could run away. Everything was starting to set him off. His own anger towards Serena, Emily's anger, Emily's hurt, the fact that there seemed to be no way out. He couldn't step aside and cool off, and he was afraid he was going to hurt someone. Right now, he was terrified it was going to be Mia.

Mia was smart enough to take another step back when she saw Mike ball his hands into fists.

"I know you're angry, Mike…"

"No shit!"

"You have every right to be…"

"Leave me alone!"

"But this has to stop. Serena had her reasons and I'm sure if you listened…"

"Shut up!" Mike roared again and raised his hand. Before he could stop himself, he felt the back of his hand striking Mia in the cheek. He hadn't meant to hit him, he didn't want to, but he was so angry he wasn't thinking straight and his aggression had always come out in a physical manner. He would yell and scream and beat on something until he was too exhausted to be angry.

The slap was loud, and Mike couldn't imagine how painful it was for Mia. The back of his hand was throbbing and he had been the one to deliver the hit so it must have felt twice as bad, at least, against Mia's face. He watched her hit the ground and she stayed down for a moment. It was just enough time for Mike's actions to really sink in. He grabbed his training sword and his sweater and with a quick apology to Mia he raced off, away from the Shiba House.

Tears filled Mia's eyes as she cupped her cheek with her hand and pushed herself into a sitting position. She watched Mike's retreating form and for a moment she thought of going after him. But her cheek began to throb and it felt like it had swollen to the size of a soccer ball. She rubbed it gently with her hand and stood up. She turned into the house. If Mike needed a moment to cool off, he would get it, but Mia wanted to know what had caused the outburst, and if she was honest, she was pissed off.

She walked to the kitchen and pulled out the bag of frozen peas from the bottom of the freezer. She hoped no one would walk in to see her, that way she wouldn't have to answer the question: "what happened?". Kevin was likely going to kill Mike once he found out, Emily would be humiliated and scared, and Jayden and Antonio were going to be really angry with Mike. Mia knew he deserved all the hell he was going to get, but before he died, she wanted to know what the problem was and if she could help him.

To her dismay, both Kevin and Emily walked into the room. Their conversation with Antonio had come to an end and Mia heard from the tail end of their conversation that they were going to make some hot chocolate. She glanced to the frozen peas against her cheek and debated whether or not to pull them away and stash them so neither would ask why she was holding frozen peas to her face. But her cheek still felt so swollen, she was sure they would notice either way.

Emily came bouncing in the room, truly happy for the first time in what felt like ages. She skipped over to the counter and took a seat on a barstool while Kevin walked over to start making the hot chocolate. As he was about to lean in to kiss Mia on the cheek and ask her how her talk with Mike went, he noticed the peas and the tears brimming her eyes. His expression fell.

"You were sparring and it was an accidental hit," Kevin tried to come up with an excuse, "He's going to walk in and apologize any minute now…"

Mia thought about lying, but she wouldn't lie to Kevin. She hated doing so and it would only add to all the drama once the truth came out.

"We weren't sparring," she shook her head and turned to Emily, "Would you mind getting me a dish towel from the closet?"

Emily wordlessly got up and did as she was told. Kevin glared down at Mia once Emily was gone.

"I'll kill him. Where the hell is he?"

"I don't know," Mia shook her head, "He ran off. Kevin, he was really mad and…"

"I don't give a damn!" Kevin shouted. He then took a few deep breathes and calmed himself down. He reached for the pack of peas and lifted it off her cheek slowly to see the damage. He hissed loudly, "I can see the print already Does it hurt?"

Mia nodded and leaned into Kevin. While one hand held the frozen peas in place against her face, the other wrapped around his waist. Kevin put his arms around her softly and kissed the top of her head.

"This is the only time he's ever doing this," he promised Mia, "He's not going to live long enough to ever lay his hands on another woman, especially you."

Emily came back into the kitchen with a small towel for Mia. She handed it to the pink Ranger who wrapped the bag of peas inside to keep her cheek from getting frost bite. Emily looked up at Mia apologetically.

"I'm really sorry."

"It's not your fault," Mia assured her.

"He's mad because of everything that happened," Emily nodded her head.

"He hit me because he's got his own problems," Mia said, "It's got nothing to do with you."

"He's been really mad lately," Emily sighed. "I shouldn't have let you go talk to him. I should have…"

"Emily, it's fine," Mia interrupted and then let go of Kevin to give her best friend a hug, "You didn't know and you're not responsible for him."

"I still… I'll make the hot chocolate and I'll bring it to you guys," Emily offered. "It's the least I can do."

"And then we'll discuss what's happening tomorrow," Mia nodded and looked up at Kevin, "Are we going to see Serena?"

Kevin exchanged a look with Emily and smiled at Mia, "Yeah. She's agreed to go as long as we go with her."

"You guys go," Emily pointed down the hall to their bedroom, "I'll be in with the hot chocolate in a few minutes."

Kevin smiled and wrapped his arm around Mia protectively as he walked her down the hall. His eyes kept straying the peas and it made him angry to think of what happened when he had his back turned. Mia hadn't even been with Mike for very long before she came back inside with a bruise the size of his hand embedded in her face.

But the worst part was that Mike was his best friend. The one person on Earth he could trust with nearly everything he cherished, including Mia. The slap to Mia's face hurt him just as much as it hurt Mia.

-Samurai-

The following morning, Serena was up bright and early and had started her first shift at the coffee shop. Amanda's uncle had been kind enough to hire her once he understood she was single, pregnant and broke, and had showed her the ropes to get her working on her own. Serena didn't plan on working there for long, but whatever shifts she did work, she was going to work herself to the bone doing all she could to help out.

She received a few stares from employees and customers who had been observant enough to notice her stomach as well as the lack of ring on her finger. Because she was working with food, most jewellery wasn't permitted, but employees were allowed to wear engagement rings and wedding rings. Many of the older employees did. The fact that Serena was missing a ring made the others question the kind of person she was.

There was one employee who didn't seem to judge her too harshly. He had been put in charge of training her and keeping and eye on her for her first few shifts, and, as a result, he had gotten to know her a little more than the others.

"Have a nice day," Serena wished to a customer who took his coffee without so much as a thank you. She rolled her eyes once his back was turned and saw there was no one left in line for her to serve. It was the start of the workday and she assumed most people were at the office by now.

Andrew, the employee responsible for keeping his eye on her, walked up behind her and handed her a rag, "When there's no coffee to make or customers to serve, you've got to clean the machines."

"Got it," Serena nodded and took the rag. Andrew showed her what needed to be cleaned and while he watched her making sure he did it right, he started another round of questions.

"So, how exactly do you know Mr. Johnson? He normally doesn't do pity hires."

"Can you stop calling it that?" Serena frowned. "I feel pathetic enough, trust me."

"What kind of in do you have?" Andrew asked. "I had to sit through three interviews to get this job. He doesn't mess around when it comes to hiring."

"His niece is dating one of my best friends."

"Must be serious."

"They just started dating."

"You must be really desperate for cash then," Andrew crossed his arms and leaned back against the counter, "You're lucky you got this job. Mr. Johnson pays well too. I'm sure you'll have that train ticket home in no time. And maybe if you do well, he can write you and amazing letter of reference so you can get a job back home. I'm assuming you'll need money once the baby pops his way out."

Serena glared at Andrew, "Don't you have something you could be doing?"

"I'm supervising."

"There's nothing better to do? Stock maybe?"

"Naw, not my job. I'm more interested you. Where exactly are you from?"

Serena put the rag down on the counter, "Please tell me you're not going to do this."

"Do what?" Andrew asked.

Serena gestured around the shop, "Every other guy has steered clear of me from the minute they saw my stomach," she said, "All the women look at me like I'm some kind of slut because I don't have a ring. You're the only one talking to me like a regular person, and now you're starting to really get on my nerves. I'm not desperate for cash; I'm desperate for a way home and that just so happens to involve me needing money. I'm thankful Mr. Johnson was kind enough to give me this job, and I'm going to make sure he knows just how grateful I am. Now if you don't mind, I know how to clean equipment. I'll call if I need you."

"Okay… whoa," Andrew backed off, "Hormones are hitting again, aren't they?"

Serena had to resist snapping at him with the rag as he walked off to find something else to do. She rolled her eyes when he was gone and started to scrub the coffee stain off the counter. It was then she heard the bell over the door ring and she looked up to see who she was going to have to serve. Her heart fell when she saw her sister, Kevin, and Mia making their way in. Kevin and Mia grabbed a table and took a seat, and Emily walked up to the counter. Andrew, seeing something to do, tried to call her over to take her order, but Serena pushed in front of him and handed him the rag.

"I was wrong; I don't know how to clean up stains. Do it for me."

Andrew grumbled and walked off with the rag. Serena looked down at her sister.

"You don't drink coffee."

"Can you take a break?" Emily asked.

Serena looked to the clock on the wall, "I don't…"

"I can't stay here all day waiting," Emily sighed, "After the coffee shop Kevin wants to find Mike."

"Find Mike?" Serena frowned. "Where is he?"

"Not sure," Emily shook her head, "That's why I can't sit around and wait."

"Emy, I'd love to sit and talk but…"

Emily pointed to a plate of cookies, "Fine, I'll order a cookie and five minutes with my sister."

"Emy…"

"I don't care about the cookie, but if I don't get my sister I will complain."

Serena nodded her head and walked into the back of the shop. Through the window in the door, Emily could see she was talking to an older man. Then, Serena pointed to her and the man nodded his head. Serena walked back to the front of the store, pulled off her apron, and followed Emily to the table Mia and Kevin had saved.

At the table, just before the sisters arrived, Kevin sighed heavily as he caught a look at the large bruise on Mia's cheek. Around the coffee shop, people were giving him and Mia odd stares, and he knew what they were thinking. He grabbed a sweetener from the table and began to flick it around.

"I hope Serena and Emily do make up," Kevin muttered to Mia, "Because the minute I see Mike, Emily's going to need a shoulder to cry on."

"Kev, let him talk first…"

"That doesn't deserve defending," Kevin growled and pointed to the bruise. "I don't give a damn if his excuse is that his mom died. He had no right to touch you."

"I'm pissed too, but can we please try not to turn this into something big. I'll let you hit him back, but I just want some peace."

"I'm not letting him turn you into his punching bag," Kevin shook his head and lighted his expression slightly as the girls took a seat. Serena was quick to notice the bruise on Mia's cheek and furrowed her brow to ask what happened.

"Training accident."

"Don't cover for him," Kevin said. He looked Serena right in the eye, "Mike punched her."

"Slapped me," Mia corrected, "but we're not talking about that right now."

Mia switched her gaze over to Emily, "There's something you wanted to say to your sister."

Emily looked down at her hands, "I didn't mean what I said when I told you… I don't wish you were dead."

Serena nodded her head. She took Emily's hand, "I know."

"I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted."

"Just like that?" Emily asked curiously as she looked up. "I basically told you…"

"I know," Serena said, "I heard it and it hurt, but I know what you meant and I know why you said it. You were mad and you have every right to be. I should apologise to you, Emily."

Serena slid off her chair and knelt down in front of her sister, "I have a million and one excuses for why I made that deal, but the truth of the matter is that the Nighlok tricked me. I'm stupid, I'm a horrible sister, and I made a really, really bad mistake, but I never would have made that deal if I had known what it was going to cost me. Dayu can make her own happiness. Mom and dad will figure themselves out, whether we like what happens or not, and we Samurai are a family. No matter what happens, we'll always stick by each other. I shouldn't have trusted the Nighlok over that. I love you, Emy."

Emily smiled, "Never trade anyone else's life again, okay?"

"I was never going to let it happen."

"You can move back into the house if you want," Emily nodded, "You don't have to work here. We'll figure something else out."

"I made a commitment, Emy," Serena glanced over her shoulder, "This shop is filled with judgemental people, but I have to finish what I started. Besides, I can't keep taking other people's money. I'll get a bit of experience here, and then I'll figure something else out so I can raise my kid and buy you a really big gift to make up for everything."

"So no adoption?" Emily asked. "We're keeping baby?"

Serena looked at her sister curiously before assuming Antonio must have told her about the adoption deal she had made with Dillon to protect her son. She chuckled and shook her head.

"We're keeping baby. You still get to middle name him."

"I'm working on that," Emily promised, "The book of names is big."

"I know," Serena chuckled before she heard someone clearing their throat over by the counter. She turned around and saw Mr. Johnson pointing to the clock. She nodded her head and looked back at her sister, "I've got to get back to work. I'll see you in a couple of days, when I move back in. I just made a few promises to Amanda's family that I kind of want to keep."

"A couple of days?" Emily pouted. Serena kissed her sister on the forehead.

"It'll fly by, and I'll call you every night," she promised before getting up and walking back to the counter. As she did, she heard her sister call her name. She looked up from the cash register.

"I love you too."


	110. Mike's Behaviour

"You know him best," Kevin said as he stopped looking around the city and focused his eyes on Emily, "Where would he have gone to?"

"You're not going to hit him, are you?" Emily asked worriedly. Since he had found out about what happened between Mia and Mike, Kevin had tried to hide his full anger from Emily, not wanting to upset her, but the yellow Ranger wasn't blind. She knew just how angry Kevin was with Mike. She knew Mia was angry as well, and anger was not an emotion that fixed problems. She had learned that the hard way with her sister. When she finally got the chance to sit and talk with Serena like the responsible young adult she was, the problem melted away on its own. She was mad at Mike too, Mia was her best friend and she didn't want anyone hurting her best friend, but she also didn't want to see Mike get hurt.

"Em," Kevin called her when he noticed she was slow to answer, "I told you, I'll try not to hit him, but I can't control myself. He hit Mia first."

Emily lowered her head and looked down nervously. She hoped Mike was ready to face his consequences, whatever they were.

"He may have gone to the arcade," she looked back up at Kevin and saw him smacking his own forehead. She knew the answer was obvious and Kevin and Mia should have been able to think of it on their own, but that just showed how angry they were that they weren't thinking clearly. As they rounded the corner and the arcade came into sight, Emily stepped ahead of the couple, "I can go in there first if…"

"And let him lay a hand on you?" Kevin shook his head. Emily stomped her foot."

"He would never…!"

"Stay with Mia," Kevin pointed to a bus bench, "I want to go in there myself first."

Even Mia didn't think this was a good idea. Kevin and Mike had had their blowouts before and she thought those were dangerous. Now, she was scared this confrontation would be a lot more dangerous than Jayden's duel with Dekker.

"Kevin…"

"I'll try to keep my fists to myself," Kevin said, "but I make no promises."

With that, he crossed the street and headed into the arcade on his own. Emily and Mia exchanged fearful glances before Mia signalled for Emily to follow her. The girls snuck up to the arcade window and peeked inside. They couldn't see Kevin or Mike from where they were, but they were sure they would notice if a fight broke out.

Kevin stormed into the arcade and was instantly on the hunt. There was not a single person on this planet who would ever be allowed to get away with putting their hands on Mia. He would fight his own grandmother to protect his fiancée, so he had no trouble going toe-to-toe with his best friend.

He smiled to himself when he saw Emily had been right. Mike was hiding out at the arcade and he seemed to be completely lost in his own world as he pounded against one of the machines. He had his "desperate to win" game face on, but Kevin didn't care. He stomped right over to the game and shoved his teammate right off his stool.

"Dude, didn't you see I was playing?" Mike shouted before he noticed it was Kevin. He pounded his fists into the floor before jumping up, ready to attack the asshole who thought he could pick on Mike and get away with it. He held up his fists in a threatening manner but was suddenly shoved again.

"Hit me, you coward, I dare you," Kevin shouted as he shoved Mike again. This time, Mike's back hit the wall and there was nowhere to run. A few curious heads turned to see what was happening, but most of the gamers were too absorbed in their games to notice a real fight was happening. It didn't help that the arcade was loud from all the sound effects from every game being played.

"Dude, leave me alone," Mike growled as he shoved Kevin back and tried to leave. The blue Ranger grabbed his arm and easily slammed him back into the wall.

"Hit me, you coward."

Mike shook his head. He felt bad enough for hitting Mia; he wasn't going to let himself lose control again.

"Look, I'm sorry…"

"Sorry doesn't erase the bruise you left on my fiancée's cheek, you asshole!" Kevin pushed Mike into the wall again. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Leave me alone," Mike hissed and he could feel his temper rising. He clutched his hands into fists so tightly his fingers were about ready to pierce through the palms of his hands.

"Does it make you feel better when you hit women?" Kevin asked as he stood over Mike. "When they're smaller, they're easier to knock down, huh?"

"Don't…"

"Hit me," Kevin turned his face, exposing his cheek to Mike, "Prove to me you're not a coward and hit me. C'mon you wuss, I can take it."

"Stop it," every muscle in Mike's body tensed up once again. If Mike didn't get away, he was really going to lose it. Kevin was tempting him and he didn't know how deep he was getting up. "Stop it, Kevin."

"Not so powerful now are we?" Kevin grabbed Mike's shirt and pinned him against the wall, "If you ever lay a hand on another human being, I will murder you."

Mike grabbed Kevin's wrists tightly as he tried to pull his friend away, "Let me go."

Kevin slammed Mike against the wall, "Do you understand me?"

"Stop it," Mike shut his eyes and tried to contain his anger before he lashed out again. Kevin slammed him into the wall once again when there was no answer and that was the final straw for Mike. He swung at Kevin but the blue Ranger was fast enough to get out of the way and respond with another shove to the wall. He wanted nothing more than to punch Mike back, but he remembered the promise he made to Emily. As long as he could control himself, he wouldn't stoop down to Mike's level. Mike, though, seemed to have lost all control as he shouted with rage and swung a second time, forcing Kevin to react instinctively and punch back, with all the power he had. He was blinded by anger for a moment as a mental image of Mike hitting Mia flashed through his head, but he could feel his fist connect with something and sensed whatever he hit immediately falling forward. He opened his eyes and saw Mike was still standing. If it was possible, the look in his eyes seemed a thousand times angrier. When Kevin looked down to see what had fallen, he saw Emily on her knees, clutching her chest and gasping for air like a fish out of water.

Mike, now obviously a lot angrier with Kevin, lunged for the blue Ranger but someone stood in his way. This time, fortunately, he wasn't using his fists, and the person who jumped between him and Kevin managed to stop him and push him back.

"Stop it! Both of you!" Mia shouted. By now, the entire arcade was watching, eagerly awaiting what would happen next. Kevin stepped closer to Mike, enraged by what had happened, but Mia grabbed him and pushed him back.

Mike knelt down next to Emily but he hadn't quite lost his cool yet.

"Don't you ever do that again," he growled, his voice sounding a lot more intense than he wanted. Emily finally managed to gasp in some air and Mike was quickly reminded of what he needed to do. He closed his eyes and took several long, deep breathes. When he felt his temper leaving, he gently took Emily by the arm and helped her back up, "I have something I need to tell you…"

Mia pulled Mike away from Emily and pointed to the door; "Outside!" she shouted to him and gave him a shove to the exit. She turned her glare to Kevin. She was a lot more sympathetic towards her boyfriend, but he needed to cool down as well. She gestured for him to follow Mike and Kevin did as he was told without another word. As the boys walked off, Mia turned to Emily, "You okay?"

"I'll be fine," Emily nodded. Mia wasn't quite convinced, but told herself she would keep an eye on her little sister just in case. She didn't doubt Emily's strength, but Kevin was a strong guy, easily capable of hurting her or worse with a single punch. She walked the yellow Ranger out of the arcade, ignoring the stares from the gamers inside.

As they stepped outside, Mia let Emily walk over to Mike while she dealt with Kevin. She stomped her foot angrily at her fiancé.

"I know I agreed I'd let you hit Mike once…"

"That was intended for Mike!"

"You could have killed them!" Mia shouted. "When I said hit, I meant a light punch or slap. I didn't mean assault!"

"I took it too far, I know," Kevin sighed. "I'll apologize to Emily, but Mike had it coming. He resisted."

"Of course he resisted! He's pissed off! You have to figure out why before you attack him."

"He threw the first punch. The first two punches. I was defending myself. And I was defending you!"

Mia groaned and rubbed her forehead. This was getting too complicated for her to handle on her own. It was now painfully clear that Kevin was deeply hurt by what Mike had done and he was just as dangerous as the green Ranger. Whatever was troubling Mike was having a terrible effect on him and it was hurting everyone else, and now she was almost certain neither side would be able to speak to each other calmly. Not without someone in the middle. She grabbed her Samuraizer and flipped it on.

"Mentor…"

"You're telling on me?" Kevin frowned. Mia nodded her head.

"We've got a problem. Can you meet us in the park?"

Kevin groaned and paced back and forth while Mia finished up her call. He knew she was doing the right thing, but he didn't want someone else to solve his issues for him. Mike hadn't punched Mentor's girlfriend. He had attacked Mia and it was up to Kevin to handle it. He didn't handle it the right way the first time, but the second time surely he could do it right.

Mia put her Samuraizer away and then gently took Kevin's hands, "It's just a bruise."

"It's what the bruise symbolises."

"What does it symbolise?"

"That someone thinks they can take advantage of you."

"I doubt Mike thinks that," Mia crossed her arms over her chest, "I've been working my ass off for a year to make sure you guys all know your place."

"No one's ever allowed to hit you," Kevin wrapped his arms around Mia and held her lovingly; "I won't stand for it."

"I know," Mia nodded and then pulled away from Kevin, "C'mon, we're meeting Mentor in the park. He'll help us figure out what's going on."

-Samurai-

Mentor no longer knew what to do with his team of Samurai. Most of the time, they were all the best of friends and he was certain nothing could ever tear them apart, but lately, their friendship had taken a turn for the worse and every relationship seemed to be suffering as a result. They outburst towards one another was always understandable. As protectors of Earth, they had a lot of responsibility, and they were all still so young. Normal people their age would still be in school during the day and out partying and hanging out with friends. Normal people got the opportunity to unwind a lot more often than the Rangers did, and even when their problems seemed bad, they were never end-of-the-world bad.

But while their behaviour was always understandable, it was usually not acceptable. He had seen the Samurai doing a few things that would shame the people who raised them. But this seemed to be the worst.

He arrived at the park right where Mia had told him, and saw the damage that had been caused instantly. There was what seemed to be a really painful bruise covering Mia's entire left cheek. It was big, it was dark, and every time Mia moved her face, even the slightest twitch, he could see her wincing in pain. This was no bruise from a battle. Mia was never careless enough to leave her head unguarded when she was under attack, and even if she did, the helmet would prevent injuries like this. This was a bruise that had been obtained outside of battle.

He also noted the body language from the Rangers standing before him. He didn't spend a lot of time with the Samurai, but he knew them well enough to pick up on their non-verbal communication. Kevin and Mike were standing as far away from each other as possible and when the other wasn't looking, they would shoot each other enraged, deadly stares. Mia's body language was giving Mentor the impression that she was not happy with anyone or anything, Kevin especially. Mike, finally, seemed to be the most closed off to the group, but occasionally turning to Emily to ask if she was okay. Mia seemed to be doing so as well, so that was where Mentor began.

"Girls…"

"We're fine, Mentor," Emily answered quickly while she rubbed her chest. She could feel the bruise forming, but there was really nothing anyone could do for her now expect prevent another fist from flying. Mentor, though, shook his head. He had a look at Mia's cheek, and then asked Emily to unzip her jacket so he could see the bruise for himself. He hissed at both their injuries and assumed they hadn't fought with each other. The girls had gotten angry, but their anger always seemed to come out verbally. He knew the boys were more likely to use their hands and glared angrily at blue and green.

"I want an explanation now!" he shouted. Mike and Kevin shrank slightly in fear. "I will not tolerate any form of violence from any of you!"

Kevin was first to turn to Emily, "Em, I'm really sorry…"

"It's not your fault. I…"

"No," Kevin shook his head, "I shouldn't have thrown a single punch. It's my mistake."

"Mistake?" Mentor roared furiously. Kevin lowered his head in shame.

"I'm sorry…"

"You could have killed her!" Mike shouted, "I don't know if you've noticed, Kevin, but you're a bit bigger and stronger than she is."

"Mike," Mia snapped and turned to the green Ranger, "Shut up."

"But…"

"Shut. Up," Mia growled. Mike crossed his arms and huffed as he looked away.

Mentor pointed to Mia's cheek, "Who did that?"

Mia wanted everything to settle as soon as possible. Lying didn't even cross her mind, "Mike."

Mentor sighed loudly and shook his head in disappointment before he looked over to the green Ranger, "It always comes back to you, doesn't it?"

"Shut up, Mentor," Mike snapped angrily.

"Mia's bruise appears older than Emily's," Mentor crossed his arms over his chest, "You hit her first and Kevin fought back."

"I would never take my problems with Mike out on Emily!" Kevin shouted, denying Mentor's accusation, but the older man shook his head, signalling to Kevin that now wasn't the time to talk. He closed his mouth and went back to listening. Mentor turned back to Mike, "You have thirty seconds to explain yourself."

Mike rolled his eyes and thought about remaining silent, but he felt a quick nudge from Emily. He looked down at her. She looked up at him.

"You said you wanted to tell me something," she turned her body to face him, "You can tell me."

Mike lowered his head, "It's something I thought I had a little more control over…"

"Obviously not," Kevin muttered and received a smack in the chest from Mia.

Mike looked up, but couldn't bear the stares from all the others, so he focused on Emily.

"Remember when I told you I bullied a few kids in high school?" he asked and Emily nodded his head, "That's not the worst of it. I'm aggressive."

"Tell us something we don't know," Kevin muttered and was again smacked by Mia. "_I'm_ going to bruise."

"Shh."

Mike ignored Kevin and kept his eyes on Emily, "I couldn't control my anger in high school. Sometimes, it got so bad I would lash out at anyone who looked my way. They didn't even have to give me a dirty look… and my aggressive behaviour just meant…" Mike took a deep breath, "My parents got on top of it, and for a year I saw a therapist who helped me control my anger. I used the tricks she taught me to keep from exploding… but with everything that's been going on, I couldn't find someplace to calm down and it just escalated."

"Escalated?" Kevin growled, "You damaged my fiancée's face!"

"And I'm sorry!" Mike cried. "I can't control it! I'm not using that as an excuse. When I get really angry, I can't control what I do and…"

"Conveniently," Kevin scoffed, "Oh, the green Ranger's just like that green monster in all those stupid picture books you read."

"Hulk?" Mike frowned.

"Whatever. That's no excuse!"

"I know, I…"

"A Samurai should always be in control!"

Mike pointed a looked Kevin's way, "Really? Is that why you nearly killed my fiancée?"

"I didn't nearly kill her," Kevin rolled his eyes, "Besides, that's different."

Mike shook his head, "You don't get it, Kevin. You don't even try! You take any opportunity to knock me down!"

"I don't think I'm grasping at straws in this case!"

"Maybe not now, but even when I do good you remind me of how much of a fuck up you think I am."

"Michael," Mentor growled.

"Just shut up," Mike clutched his head, "All of you. Shut up!"

"Mike, listen to me," Kevin demanded. The green Ranger shook his head.

"No! You always do this, Kevin. Every time I do something right you're always reminding me how you used to worry I would screw up! Especially with Emily! It's like you're waiting for it to happen."

"You hit my fiancée! It could have easily been Emily out there talking to you and then what would you have done? Maybe I was right to worry about you."

"Just shut up! You don't get it!" Mike screamed. He grabbed his Samuraizer from his pocket and threw it into the dirt. His anger was telling him to throw it to Kevin's face, but he didn't think the team could afford any more bruising.

Before the Samuraizer hit the ground, Mike took off.


	111. Calming Down

Mentor Ji watched Mike as the green Ranger headed off down the path and walked away from the group. He had to admit being furious with Mike for everything that had happened, but it seemed the forest Samurai wasn't the only one responsible. If he did have a problem, like he claimed, the others were going to need to be more supportive.

Mia and Emily exchanged looks and without a single word between them, they came up with a plan. Mia raced off to catch up with Mike while Emily glanced over to Kevin.

"You're protecting me?" she asked.

Kevin shrugged his shoulders, "It's hard not to. You're you and Mike's…"

"Serena's okay with Mike."

"Serena's not a guy. She doesn't know Mike like I do."

"Really?" Emily crossed her arms over her chest. "She's going to let Mike play daddy to her son. She would have to know someone pretty well…"

"He only got the gig because he's getting married to you," Kevin shook his head. He threw his hands up in the air, "Look, Em, most of the time, Mike's a great guy. But all it takes is one screw up and…"

"I know you're Prince Charming, Kev," Emily said, "but there are other people in this world who can be good boyfriends and husbands too. Mike's one of them. I'm young, but I'm not blind or stupid."

"He punched my fiancée in the face!"

"You punched his."

"He admitted to having anger issues! He admitted to being aggressive! What if this isn't a onetime thing? What if he hurts someone else? You? Serena? Your nephew?"

"He won't," Emily said to Kevin like it was a promise she was sure she could keep. He rolled his eyes, wishing he could be as optimistic as she was.

"Em…"

"You're going to help him," she said. "You're his best friend, Kevin. You've gotta have faith."

"And while you're building up your faith," Mentor Ji pointed down the street, "You can head home and wait for me to come up with a punishment for your behaviour. Punching another person, never mind a teammate, under any circumstance is extremely unacceptable. Whether it was in self-defence or not, you never should have put yourself in such a position."

Kevin nodded his head and sighed, "I know. I'm sorry, Mentor."

"You didn't hit me," Mentor crossed his arms.

The blue Ranger looked to the yellow, "I'm sorry, Em."

Emily rubbed her chest, "It's okay."

Mentor pointed down the path, "Home is that way. You will walk. No taking the bus home."

Kevin and Emily both groaned, but a stern look from Mentor told them not to argue. As they set off down the street, Mentor reached to the ground and picked up Mike's Samuraizer. He dusted it off and placed it in his pocket.

-Samurai-

Mia caught up to Mike before he got too far. She grabbed his arm and spun him around.

"Wait up!"

Mike forcefully pulled his arm from Mia's grip and stepped away from her, "I don't want to talk!"

"Is this how your therapist told you to deal with anger?" she asked him. "Lashing out every time someone comes to help you."

"Can't you just give me a minute?"

"You had a couple of hours already," Mia said. "Obviously you're not coping well on your own."

"Shit's hitting the fan for me at home, okay? Everything's screwed up! Life is fucking screwed up!"

Mia walked Mike over to a bench and had him take a seat. She sat next to him.

"Before we came here to find you, we stopped by the coffee shop Serena's working at. She and Emily talked."

"Did Serena apologize?"

"Big time," Mia nodded. "Things are good between them. Serena's moving back home with us in a couple of days."

"Can you tell me what Serena did?" Mike asked. "Emily came in upset about something after Serena tried to talk to her. She wouldn't tell me what it was…"

"She told Serena she wished she was dead," Mia whispered. Mike furrowed his brow.

"I thought Serena did something."

"Funny what can happen, huh?" Mia touched Mike's arm softly. He ran his hand through his hair and sighed.

"I yelled at her because I thought she hurt Emily…"

"She did, and you had every right to be angry about it. If someone put Kevin's life in danger, I'd be angry with them too. I would probably hit someone as well."

Mike hissed inwardly and looked at Mia's cheek, "I'm so sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it," Mia shook her head, "It'll heal."

"I get why Kevin hates me. The way I felt after he hit Emily… you're lucky you still have a fiancé to marry."

"Your anger can get pretty bad, huh? I've always known you have a bit of a temper but…"

"I lose control, Mia," Mike nodded, "And it scares everyone. I lash out and do things I don't want to do. Sometimes, it's like I black out and my body just takes over. I used to be able to sense when I was getting overwhelmed and I would go off for a bit and just calm myself down… you've all seen me do it. I get away from the problem and breathe."

"But things have been so shitty around here…"

"I couldn't run off," Mike sighed. "Emily needed me more than ever. It's a scary thing when you think there's nothing you can do to stop yourself from dying. She was freaking out. She couldn't run to her sister and I would have felt guilty if I had pushed her away for even just a minute."

"You've always got me, Kevin, Mentor, Jayden, and Antonio. Hell, I'm sure Spike would lend a hand."

"But I would feel guilty. She needed me, Mia. And I promised her I would never leave her."

"She knows you won't."

"I couldn't control myself, Mia…"

"There was no way out," Mia nodded her head and Mike was surprised by how supportive she was being. He always knew she had a big heart and was very empathetic, but he wouldn't have blamed her if she had turned the other cheek and walked away from him. After all, he had bruised the first one. "You needed a place to go and you felt you couldn't. You got trapped, you got angry, you didn't know what to do with that anger so you lashed out. We're going to make sure that never happens again."

"What's the point?" Mike sighed and slouched in the bench, "She probably hates me. I practically admitted to beating people up in high school. Thankfully she and I didn't go to the same school. She would have been the perfect target for me."

"Don't talk like that," Mia lightly punched Mike in the chest, "Emily doesn't hate you. She's back there defending you to Kevin as we speak."

"Yeah, right…"

"I'm serious, Mike," Mia nodded, "She's crazy about you. I know it's hard to see the other side. Sometimes, I wonder what Kevin's doing with me."

"You're hot," Mike shrugged and then wrinkled his face, "I just called my sister hot."

"Awkward for me too," Mia chuckled. "Look, Mike, it takes outside eyes to spot this, but Emily's just as crazy for you as you are for her. She loves you, every part of you, and she knows that who you were isn't who you are. You would never… almost never hurt someone like you did back in high school. You aren't going to bully people, beat them up, or anything like that because you know better, and you're certainly not going to do it to her."

"You're sure she loves me?"

"I am her best friend," Mia smiled, "When she and I get together, we don't just have pillow fights… when we do I usually win, but that's not the point. Her face lights up when she talks about you. Her mood changes instantly and for the best, as soon as you walk into the room. She shares her secrets with you because she trusts you'll keep them safe, and she gives herself to you because she trusts you'll keep her safe."

Mike started to blush, "But what does this have to do with my anger?"

"Keep her safe, Mike. Keep us all safe," Mia looked Mike right in the eyes, "When you're getting angry, when you need a minute to cool off, step away. Step away from her, step away from the problem and just… go and cool off. Do what you need to do for five, ten, fifteen minutes. Come talk to me if you have to, or send Emily my way if she can't be alone."

"Step away from Kevin."

"Yeah," Mia chuckled, "Step away from Kevin. He seems to only make things worse for you."

"I know how to handle my anger," Mike said, "and I promise, I'll keep it under control from now on. What happened will never happen again."

"I trust it won't," Mia nodded and got up from the bench. She turned to Mike and pointed to her cheek, "Because if I see this on anyone else it'll be you, not Dayu, who'll be number one on my kill list. It's a one-of-a-kind Mike bruising."

"Just for you," Mike promise. "I really am sorry about that. I'll make it up to you, I swear."

"Apologize to Serena. Apologize to Kevin. Apologize to Emily."

"Done," Mike wrapped his arms tightly around Mia in a big hug, "Thanks you for this, Mia."

"Now we might want to get home," Mia said, "Mentor seemed pretty pissed off when he saw the bruises. I don't think you're out of the woods just yet."

"I'll take anything he throws my way. I deserve it. I know I do."

-Samurai-

Emily bit her nails as she sat in the dojo to supervise Kevin's punishment. Mentor had him doing drills until the sun came up and he had promised to send Mike in as well once he was home. Emily was sure Mia would bring him back, and he had always come back before, but because her mother had walked out, there would always be that element of doubt.

She looked over at Kevin, trying to take her mind off Mike and Mia for her moment so she wouldn't chew her fingers to the bone. The water Samurai looked like he needed water himself and Emily could see his water bottle in the corner of her eye, but Mentor had set up a break schedule for Kevin and the blue Ranger needed to follow it as a part of his punishment. Unless he collapsed, he couldn't have water for another half an hour.

Rubbing her chest, she turned back to the door and hoped Mike would walk in soon, though she was starting to think there wasn't a lot for him to come back for. Kevin was being punished harshly for hitting her, and his intention hadn't been so. Of course, he did want to hit Mike, but all in all, his crime wasn't as bad as Mike's. Emily was certain Mike's punishment would be a lot worse than Kevin's and that wasn't something anyone would like to come home too.

"He'll come home, Em," Kevin assured her as he collapsed to his knees from exhaustion and took a few seconds to catch his breath, "Don't worry."

"It's just…" Emily trailed off when she heard voices from outside the dojo door. She slid it open slightly and peeked out. She was disappointed to see it wasn't Mike, but it was Mentor, Jayden, and Antonio with Mike's stuff.

"Why exactly are we taking this?" Jayden asked. Emily saw Mike's game console in one of Jayden's hand and in the other was a bag full of Mike's games. Almost everything he owned that didn't belong in a house of Samurai was being taking away.

"When Mia and Mike get home, you'll see," Mentor pointed down the hall, Emily couldn't see where.

"What's going on?" Kevin asked as he leaned over her to peek outside as well. She thought about telling him to get back to work but decided against it. Kevin was responsible enough not to need this punishment to know he had done wrong. A few minutes lost wouldn't do anything.

"They're taking away Mike's stuff," Emily whispered and looked up at Kevin. He looked down at her sadly and then back out. He glanced to Antonio and saw the gold Ranger was holding some of his stuff. Even he was having items taken away. Not as much as Mike, but he was still being punished. As he was about to curse he looked down at Emily and flashed back to the moment where he hit her. He was still ashamed about it and knew he was lucky he hadn't been sent home to his parents so they could deal with him. At least with Mentor, his punishment drills were going to end once the sun came up.

"Mine too," he sighed, "but we deserve it."

"But that's all of Mike's stuff!" Emily glanced up at Kevin, "It's everything! All his video games, his personal items from home and the stuff he's bought since he moved here."

"He hit Mia," Kevin shook his head. "He's lucky Mentor's letting him stay here."

Jayden and Antonio came back from hiding Mike and Kevin's stuff and met up with Mentor Ji right in front of the dojo once again. This time, Mentor had brought something else for them to hide. The blankets and pillows from Mike's bed. He had taken everything except the mattress itself. Now Emily really wasn't happy. She shared that bed with Mike.

"That's not…!"

Kevin clamped his hand over Emily's mouth before she gave them both away, "I'd hate myself if what I did punished Mia. Maybe that's what Mentor's trying to do to Mike."

"But it's December," Emily muttered. "It's cold in the house at night. I freeze already under the blankets."

Finally Emily heard a sound from the front of the house and she smiled. Scruffy running to the door confirmed her thoughts and she slid the dojo door open wide enough for her to jump out and race across the house over to Mike. She threw herself into his arms, squeezing tight.

"You've got to stop worrying," Mike chuckled as he kissed her forehead.

Emily was followed closely by Kevin, Mentor, Antonio, and Jayden and neither of them seemed as pleased by his arrival as Emily. Jayden and Antonio gasped loudly as Mia turned to hang her jacket up and they saw the big, dark bruise on her cheek. They immediately glared at Mike and Jayden seemed ready to kill. Antonio wasn't as angry, but Mike was sure to make a mental note to keep away from him in the foreseeable future.

"What the hell did you do?" Jayden shouted and Mike opened his mouth to explain himself, but Mia stepped up for him.

"It's fine," she said, "Mike's apologized to me, he's going to apologize to everyone else who needs it and then he's going to do as Mentor says, right Mike?"

"Yeah," Mike nodded his head and looked directly to Kevin, "Look, dude, I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have hit Mia and I shouldn't have snapped at you."

"Kevin," Emily prompted the blue Ranger, "I think you have an apology to make too."

"I do?" Kevin frowned. He couldn't remember talking about an apology with Emily. She nodded her head.

"You make Mike feel bad," she said. "He's a good boyfriend to me, and it's not up to you to judge that."

Kevin sighed, "I'm sorry, Mike…"

"Like you mean it," Emily crossed her arms and waited for a proper apology.

Again, Kevin sighed, "Mike…"

"Mean it," Emily demanded.

Kevin looked at Mike, "She's right. I'm sorry. When I said those things about me worrying about you… I didn't mean to make you feel like I was expecting you to screw up."

"Apology accepted, dude," Mike held his hand out in a fist and waited for a bump from Kevin, "So we're cool?"

"Keep your rage to yourself and not on my fiancée's face and we're cool," Kevin nodded.

Emily smiled happily and leaned into Mike for a hug. Mia walked over to Kevin and did the same. Finally everyone in the house was on the same page.

Jayden and Antonio still seemed pissed. The boys had apologised to each other, and Mia said Mike had apologised to her, but they still wanted answers.

"What exactly happened?" Antonio asked calmly.

"I lost control," Mike answered with his head down, "but I'll get myself back under control. I swear, I'll never hurt any of you guys again."

Neither Antonio nor Jayden seemed pleased with Mike's lack of answer. It still didn't explain the bruising on Mia's face. It was obvious from the shape that someone had hit her, and Mike had owned up to doing so, but they didn't know why.

Mentor Ji pointed down the hall, "Mike, Kevin will show you what I expect you to do as a consequence for your behaviour. Come tomorrow, neither of you will ever put your hands on anyone again, am I understood?"

"Yes, Mentor," both boys nodded and Kevin led Mike to the dojo so they could get to work on their punishment. Mentor, meanwhile, gave Antonio and Jayden another looked, "We still have some things to get rid of."

"Get rid of?" Emily asked, "As in gone?"

Mentor nodded his head, "Mike will have to earn back all his privileges. After what he did, do you think I should be expected to trust him?"

"But…"

"Mentor's right, Emily," Mia wrapped her arm around Emily's shoulder. The yellow Ranger looked up to the pink.

"He's taking some of Kevin's stuff too."

"Kevin hit you," Mia shrugged. "The boys will get it and they'll earn their stuff back."

"Until then," Mentor pointed down to Serena's room, "Mia, Emily, I would appreciate it if, until further notice, you were to move your stuff into the spare bedroom…"

"But Serena's coming home," Emily frowned. A smile crossed Mentor, Jayden and Antonio's face as they heard this.

"Then I guess you girls will be having sleepovers for the foreseeable future."

"Serena's coming home?" Antonio asked excitedly. Finally he was hearing some good news. Emily nodded her head.

"She and I talked. We're good again."

Antonio shoved Kevin's things in Jayden's arms and wrapped his arms around Mia and Emily, "I'll help you move your stuff and set it up so the three of you all have your own space."

"Antonio!" Jayden cried as he struggled to keep everything from falling to the floor, "You can't just leave me."

"You're the big, strong red Ranger," Antonio teased, "I'm sure you'll figure something out."

Jayden rolled his eyes and glanced at Mentor. The older man shook his head and chuckled as he reached out to help take some of the load from Jayden's hands.


	112. Everyone's Home

Mike was well aware of the crime he had committed and he understood that he needed to be punished severely for it. He still couldn't believe he had allowed himself to lose control like he had. He knew he was fortunate enough to have hit Mia, though, as much as he regretted it. If he had hit Kevin, Jayden, Antonio, or even Mentor, he was sure they would have responded in defense immediately, and as much as he hated to admit it, they could easily pack a punch that would send him to the hospital. Antonio had already done so when he knew a game controller in Mike's face. His nose had recovered from that, but it still hurt.

He didn't even want to think of what could have happened if Emily had come out to comfort him.

But he still thought losing everything was a bit unfair. Kevin was in a similar boat, with most of the stuff taken from his room, but he had a lot more than Mike did. The green Ranger's room was completely bear. There was only a mattress for him to sleep on and a few selections of clothing. Kevin, at least, had a few Samurai books to read, a blanket and pillow for the night, and his entire wardrobe.

Still, the thing Mike missed the most was sharing his room with Emily and spending time with her. Mentor had made a good point as to why he had asked the girls to move out of the room and why neither Mike nor Kevin could be alone with Mia or Emily. He couldn't trust Mike or Kevin around the girls, or around any of the other Rangers without supervision. Mia and Emily were off camping in Serena's room until Mentor told them otherwise. Even when Serena came home, and she was due home any minute now, the girls would all be crammed into one room.

Mike sulked in his bedroom as he tried to come up with something to do. No TV, no movies, no video games and no comic books meant he had nothing to do. Mia insisted he use this time to think of different ways to manage his anger when it started to bubble up again, but he had already done that in therapy. He knew he needed to take a minute and pull away from the problem; he just wasn't able to do that in recent days. Now that things were calming down, so was his temper.

"Knock, knock," Antonio called as he stood in the hallway. Another privilege Mike had lost was privacy. Mentor took his door away so he could easily keep an eye on what Mike was doing.

"What?" Mike asked a little grumpily. He was no longer angry like he had been a few days before, but boredom was making him lose his mind.

"Something's been bothering me."

"You can talk," Mike shrugged and rolled over on the mattress, "I've got nothing else to do."

"Bored huh?" Antonio took a seat on the floor, "Remember a few days ago when I tried to have that talk with everyone?"

Mike barely could. It was part of his rage. He remembered storming off from a conversation with the entire house, but he couldn't remember what it was about, or why he had gotten so angry. It had something to do with Serena and the baby, but the details were lost.

"Sorta."

"You walked… well stormed out before I could tell you."

"Is it really important?"

"You've got nothing else to do."

"Touché."

Antonio looked to the floor. The entire house was supportive of him, and with Serena coming home he knew he was safe to be himself, but it was still hard for him to come out to Mike. Aside from Jayden, Mike was his best friend.

"I'm gay."

Mike's jaw hit the floor, "Wow…"

"That time I hit you in the nose," Antonio pointed to his own nose, "I was confused and just… well, that's why. You don't know how confusing it is until you experience it yourself. You don't just wake up and realise you're gay. Anyways, I'm sorry about that."

"Dude, don't worry about it," Mike shook his head and sat up, "After what I did, I'm in no place to judge."

"So, you're cool with this?"

"Of course," Mike smiled, "So… how did you figure it out."

"That's personal, but I can tell you Serena helped me through it. That's why I'm spending a lot of time with her. She's kind of been my rock while I figured myself out."

"So she would know?"

Antonio frowned, "Know what?"

"How… or rather who made you figure out you were gay," Mike tapped his finger to his chin and realised he now had way too much time on his hands. If he had been surrounded with his video games, comics, and Emily, the conversation would have already been over and they would both be back to doing what they had been doing before the talk. Mike gave Antonio a curious look, "Was it me? You did lash out at me. That could have been…"

"You're cute, but it's not you. What's up with you guys? Jayden asked me the same thing."

"If it was me?"

"No, him."

Mike snapped his fingers and his eyes widened, "You like Jayden."

Antonio blushed and shook his head, "No, I…"

"That jealous because of Amanda thing… you have the hots for flame-boy!"

"No, Mike…"

"Dude, admit it."

"No."

"You won't admit it because it's true."

"Because it's not true."

"Liar!" Mike pointed to Antonio with a laugh, "Come on. It's so obvious now. You remembered a promise you made to him when you two were what? Five? You came back here for him. You're always hanging out with him when Em and I, and Kevin and Mia are off doing our own thing…"

"In our defense," Antonio said, "There's no one else to hang with when the four of you couple up."

"You worry about him more than the rest of us do…"

"You worry about Emily."

"Because I like her," Mike smirked. Antonio hit his hand for his forehead.

"I meant… I…"

"Say it," Mike inched closer to the edge of the bed and looked down at Antonio, "I will get it out of you. Even if it's not Jayden, someone must have made you realise…"

"Maybe it was just in general. Maybe, in general, I find myself more attracted to guys than girls."

Mike crossed his arms and backed away, "I've got nothing to do and a lot of time to do it in," he said, "I will find out before my punishment is over."

Antonio groaned and rolled his eyes, "Swear you won't tell anyone?"

"Swear," Mike had an eager look on his face that told Antonio he was dying to find out. Antonio couldn't help but mess with him.

"Mentor Ji."

"AH!" Mike shouted and covered his ears with his hands. He pressed them tightly to the side of his face as he tried to get the image of Mentor and Antonio out of his head, "Dude! Lie! Lie!"

"Enjoy solitude, Mike," Antonio chuckled to himself as he got up and walked out. As annoyed as he was about the fact that everyone seemed to be trying to figure out who he was crushing on (though he would never tell) he was happy with their reactions. What he had feared most hadn't come true and they were all accepting of who he was. The transition still wasn't over, and Antonio knew he had a long way to go before he was out and proud but at least at home he could be who he wanted to be.

As he walked by the front entrance on the way to the common room, he heard the door click. A smile lit up his face. Serena had promised to come home today and he couldn't wait to have her back. Her friendship with him meant the world and he wanted to be there to help her out when she needed him.

Before he could race to greet her, though, a yellow blur sped past him at impossible speeds and nearly knocked Serena right out of the house.

"You're home!" Antonio heard Emily's voice before he could get a clear view of her. She was bouncing around in her excitement so much he couldn't make her out. All he saw was a mass of yellow going up and down around Serena.

Serena placed her hands on her sister's shoulders, finally getting her planted on the ground. She waited for Emily to calm herself down before she wrapped her sister in a big hug. The rest of the house gathered around the entryway and said their hellos to Serena. Jayden was delighted when he saw that not only was Serena home, but she had brought Amanda with her. His girlfriend walked in with Serena's bags. After he said hello to Serena, he held Amanda in his arms.

"Thanks for taking care of her."

"Someone had to," Amanda said. "I couldn't let you guys kick a pregnant woman out on the streets. Besides, we had fun."

She looked to Serena as she said that last part and the older woman nodded her head.

"Can you thank your uncle again for me?" Serena asked while Amanda turned to leave the house, pulling Jayden with her. Amanda nodded, said goodbye to the house, and walked out with Jayden.

"I never thought I would be jealous of Jayden and another woman," Mike pouted and crossed his arms, wishing he could go on a date with Emily, or at least be alone with her, but that wasn't going to happen in the foreseeable future. Not without a chaperone.

"What?" Serena frowned to him as she picked up her bag and then saw the bruise on Mia's cheek. It was looking better than the last time Serena had seen it and it made her remember what Mike had done. She dropped her bag and glared at the green Ranger, "Oh, right…"

Mike took a few steps back. His sister in-law was smart, he was sure she had figured it out and she wasn't happy.

"I'm already punished for it," he said, "I apologized and everything! It won't happen again!"

He walked himself into a corner and shielded himself with his arms as Serena approached him. He was sure she was going to beat on him. He hadn't hit Emily, but Mia was her sister as well.

"Mentor!" he cried desperately, "Tell Serena the no punching rule! Hurry!"

Mentor shook his head, "I think we can make a few exceptions."

"A few?" Serena frowned and turned to Mentor, "I only want to hit him once. Unless…" Serena looked back at Mike, "Who else did you hit?"

"No one! I swear!" Mike made himself smaller in hopes Serena would take pity on him. "Only Mia! I promise! And I regret it! I regret it now more than ever!"

While Serena was distracted with Mike, Kevin slowly started to back away. He was nervous Serena would find out what he had done. His had truly been a mistake. His punch had been intended for Mike and Emily jumped in the way, but as soon as Serena saw the bruise he had given her little sister, the detail of how she got the bruise weren't going to matter. Kevin knew his was a dead man.

Especially once Serena started yelling at Mike.

"You ever put your hands on another woman, I swear, Michael, I'll bury you alive in the horses' stable and let them stomp and shit all over your grave. You'll be begging for mercy from the afterlife!"

"I won't," Mike wanted Serena to hit him so this would all end. She shoved him into the wall, nearly knocking him through the dry wall.

"And if you ever put your hands on my sister…"

"I would never," Mike assured Serena, "Just hit me, please! Get it over with."

Serena glared at Mike and then tapped him gently on the cheek, "I'm sure you're suffering enough, because I'll be keeping an eye on _everything_ you do."

"Part of Mike's punishment is that he is not allowed to be alone with any of you girls," Mentor Ji explained to Serena. "It is for that reason that you will be sharing your room with Mia and Emily until I trust Kevin and Mike can keep their rage and their fists under control."

"What did Kevin do?" Serena frowned. "Why can't he sleep with Mia?"

Now Emily began to back away and she zipped up her sweater, hiding the bruise. Just because she had forgiven Kevin that didn't mean the blue Ranger would be getting a pass from her older sister's wrath. Kevin's punch had been an accident and the water Samurai would never hurt Emily. Serena didn't know that. Anyone who picked on Emily sooner or later had the misfortune of running into Serena's fists.

"I'm afraid Mike isn't he only Samurai who decided to let his fists do the talking," Mentor said.

Serena's first instinct was to look to Mia, "He didn't…"

"He didn't hit me," Mia assured Serena. "If he had, would I still be wearing this?"

Mia held up her hand, showing Serena her ring. The older earth Samurai nodded in agreement with Mia and trusted that the pink Ranger was strong enough to take care of herself when it came to her relationship with Kevin. She looked over at Mike. It seemed logical that Kevin would hit him, after all Mike did deserve it for hitting Mia.

"He tried to hit me," Mike said, "but it missed me."

Serena looked to Antonio, "Repaying Mike for the broken nose? You took the hit, didn't you?"

"I wasn't even there when it happened," Antonio said. "And before you ask, neither was Jayden."

"Mentor…?"

Ji shook his head, "Not me."

"Hey, Serena," Antonio smirked wickedly, "Not that I've been looking, because, you know, but has Emily always had a dark birthmark on her chest."

Serena furrowed her brow and shook her head, "What? No. She's got one…"

"Serena!"

"No," Serena looked at Antonio, "Why do you…?" it finally dawned on Serena what Antonio was hinting at and she turned to her sister, "Show me."

"I walked into a door."

"Liar, take off your sweater."

"It's kind of chilly…"

"Don't protect that asshole," Serena growled, "Show me."

"I missed you."

Serena grabbed her sister's zipper and pulled it down. Emily knew her sister had no problem stripping her of her sweater, and while her shirt hid most of the bruise, a part of it was still visible. Like Mia's, it had started to heal, but it was still dark and painfully obvious. Serena gasped loudly when Emily opened up her sweater, pulled down her shirt slightly and she saw the bruise.

"That rat bastard," she growled and took off running after a blue Ranger who had been smart enough to run away with enough time to get a decent head start.

"Are you technically widowed if your fiancé dies or does that apply only to people who are actually married?" Mia asked with a heavy sigh.

"Either way, I'd start looking for a new prince charming," Antonio chuckled.

Mike looked to Emily, "Are you sure your sister doesn't suffer from anger problems like I do?"

"She might," Emily nodded her head, "but it usually only comes out when someone threatens me. She's crazy protective."

"I've noticed," Mike answered.

Antonio sighed happily, "It's nice to have everyone home again."

The front door was suddenly swung open and Kevin raced back inside the house. He bolted past the Rangers and ran for safety, hoping he could outrun Serena. The protective sister was not too far behind him, keeping up with the man who was running for his life.

Jayden and Amanda were next to step inside the house, "What the hell's going on with them?" Jayden asked.

"Serena saw the bruise Kevin gave Emily," Antonio chuckled, "It's kind of funny watching Kevin run for his life for once. Usually it's Mike or me."

"Feels good," Mike nodded in agreement and bumped fists with Antonio. Even Mentor was chuckling as Kevin and Serena raced by again.

"I think I should rescue him now," Mia said.

"But Kevin will tire her out and I won't have to worry about her beating on me," Mike whined. "I'm sure Kevin will be fine."

"This is what you were talking about when you said your family was weird, right?" Amanda whispered to Jayden. He nodded his head.

"This still isn't scaring you off? This happens almost daily."

"Nope," Amanda shook her head and kissed Jayden, "I'll see you tomorrow night for dinner?"

"Yep," Jayden smiled and held the door open for her. As Amanda was about to leave, she looked to Emily, "By the way, when Serena finally settles down and has a seat on the couch or whatever, put your hand on her stomach."

"Why?"

"Just do it," Amanda winked.

"I'll walk you to the car," Jayden said to Amanda as he escorted her out.

Mentor looked over to Mike and pointed to the green Ranger's bedroom, "Don't think you're getting off the hook just because Serena nearly beat you to a pulp. You're still being punished."

Mike groaned and dragged himself off to his bedroom. He was bored out of his mind, but he knew he needed to do his time. Mentor followed him to make sure the green Ranger was doing as he was told, and to find and rescue Kevin so he could return back to the land of the punished.

Antonio was left with Emily and the gold Ranger couldn't help but smile.

"I love it when things go back to normal. Everyone's home, we're beating each other up…"

"That's just like when we're fighting," Emily chuckled.

"When we're fighting we're not talking to each other," Antonio pointed out. "When we're beating each other up, we're getting along."

Emily was about to respond but then laughed, "I think you have a point."

"Want to help me make a special dinner to welcome your sister home? You know what she likes more than I do."

"Cookies?"

"What _she_ likes, Emily."

"She likes when I'm happy and cookies make me happy."

"Cookies for dessert, then," Antonio chuckled. He wrapped his arm around Emily's shoulders, "C'mon, squirt, let's make a dinner everyone will enjoy."

"We'll definitely need cookies, then."


	113. Independance

After Kevin was rescued from her wrath, Serena walked into her bedroom and crashed on her bed. She had loved her time at Amanda's house, but was overjoyed to be home with her family. She knew she had made a big mistake making that deal with a Nighlok and had learned her lesson about trusting faces she couldn't see. She knew she was lucky to have been forgiven, especially by her sister.

She crawled out of her bed when she remembered she still had a bag to unpack. She wasn't going anywhere so there was no need to live out of a suitcase anymore. As she started to pull out some of her clothes there was a knock on the door. She looked over at it opened and smiled at Mentor Ji.

"Hey."

Mentor nodded his head at her and took a seat on her desk chair.

"I hope you don't mind sharing a room with your sister and Mia for the next little while."

"It's fine," Serena smiled. "Besides, after what Mike and Kevin did, I think I'd like to keep a close eye on the girls and keep them away from Mike and Kevin for a while."

"I doubt this is an incident that will be repeated."

"Maybe not," Serena shrugged, "but the man my baby's sister's going to marry just admitted he's aggressive and angry, and the other man was the only who actually punched my baby sister."

"You may have a point."

Serena nodded her head and reached back into her suitcase. This time, she pulled out her work shirt and frowned. She wasn't going to need it anymore. She had worked every day and all day in the time she was gone and had earned herself a fair bit of money. Mr. Johnson was happy to let her leave and Serena knew it was for the best. While she wasn't a Ranger, she had a lot of responsibilities here at the Shiba House, and with a baby on the way, she needed time to get ready.

Unfortunately, she was starting to realise that money was going to be an issue. She never enjoyed having everyone else pay for her baby's necessities, but she knew there was no other option. However, now that she had gotten a job and had been forced to figure her own way out, she was starting to feel like she needed to take her mothering role seriously. The baby was hers and she needed to provide for it.

"What's on your mind?" Mentor asked. He had gotten to know Serena really well, and when her mother abandoned her he felt he had to take her in as one of his own, more so than any of the other Rangers. They all had each other and their own families to depend on. Mia and Kevin were always supportive of each other and when one started to feel weak, they knew they could depend on the other. Jayden was already Mentor's son, but even he had Antonio as someone he could depend on when times were tough. Antonio obviously had Jayden.

Mike and Emily had each other, and even though times were tougher for Emily than Mike, she had an entire team of people to support her. It was one advantage of being the youngest.

Serena, though was the oldest and while everyone would take care of her, she wouldn't always let them. She had been an older sister long before any of the other Rangers because unlike Kevin, Mike, Mia or Antonio, Serena had a younger sibling so it was part of her normal life to put her own needs second and care for her little sister. But when times were tough, especially when Serena didn't have a mother or a father to turn to, she needed someone, and Mentor Ji had stepped into that role for her. It was the reason he refused to turn his back on her when she made the deal with the Nighlok. Even though he was angry with her, he knew she didn't need more anger. If things were going to be fixed, she needed guidance.

It was for that reason he knew her so well, and that was also the reason he could tell when something was bothering her before she was even aware she was sending out signals.

Serena let out a heavy sigh, "What am I going to do when the baby comes?" she asked Mentor. "My job is here, helping the Samurai and that's pretty much full-time. I can't earn money and what I have now will barely stretch out a week once the baby's here."

"You could always return to the coffee shop."

"For barely four months before maternity leave?" Serena shook her head, "Mr. Johnson's been too nice. I couldn't ask him to do that. And no place else is going to take me. Who wants to hire a pregnant woman?"

"They can't refuse to hire you simply because you are pregnant," Mentor told Serena.

"Yeah, but where can I work? If I do shift work… that won't work. My schedule's going to be small, and the more pregnant I get, the less I'll be able to work. And I don't have the qualifications to do much else except ask people 'would you like fries with that?'. I was sick. I didn't finish high school."

"Mike didn't finish high school either. Nor did your sister."

"Emily's going back," Serena said. "Once she's done here, we're putting her right back in. And Mike made that choice."

"You are more than welcome to live here without worry until you figure something out," Mentor Ji offered. "This is the home of the Samurai."

"Yeah, but not the money of the pregnant Samurai. It wouldn't be right to mooch off everyone else. I need to provide for my baby on my own."

Mentor could see where Serena was coming from. It was a matter of pride. As happy as he would have been to help, Serena did need to take care of her own child. He couldn't believe it, but she was already grown up.

"I'm sure there's a place for you," he told her, "and until you find that place, there is no shame in asking for help."

As Mentor rose to his feet the door to the bedroom opened up and Emily walked in. She had a spoonful of cookie dough in her mouth and another one in her hand. She held the extra one out for Serena.

"I convinced Antonio to make cookies for dinner," she beamed. "Here, we get to lick the spoons."

Serena accepted the spoon and stuck it in her mouth as she finished unpacking. Emily walked over to the bed and took a seat.

"I'm so happy you're home," she smiled, "And we're sharing a bedroom again! I mean, I miss Mike, but this is better than sleeping in the dojo or the common room."

"Even if someone's going to have to take the floor now that I'm home?" Serena asked. "I'm sure you and Mia both slept comfortably in my bed, but three and a half people aren't going to fit."

"Mia will be happy on the floor," Emily nodded her head. Serena scoffed.

"You're kicking Mia out."

"I call the bed!" Emily's hand shot up in the air. Serena walked over and lowered it.

"Mia has to be in the room, if not, it's unfair."

"But you're my sister… we should share."

"Don't pout," Serena pointed her spoon at Emily, "We'll make it fair, don't worry. Now, do me a favour and put my suitcase away for me."

Serena tossed the empty bag onto Emily's lap and pointed to the closet. Emily rolled her eyes but did as her sister asked. She walked over to the closet and tried to find a place to stuff it in. Playfully and because Emily was already halfway in the closet, Serena pushed her in and closed the door.

"Your own little room," she chuckled to Emily from outside, "And it's got privacy. You can sleep there and Mia and I can share the bed."

"Let me out," Emily whined.

Serena chuckled and was just about to open the door when she heard her phone go off. She reached into her back pocket and answered without checking the number.

"Hello?" she waited but there was no answer. Her bedroom door opened again as Mia walked in. The pink Ranger remained silent when she saw Serena was on the phone. "Hello? Who's calling?"

Because no one spoke up, Serena grumbled and hung up. She walked back to her bed and took a seat while she checked the number.

"Prank call?" Mia suggested.

"I guess. I don't recognise this number at all."

"Pay phone," Mia glanced over Serena's shoulder. "My grandmother didn't get a cell phone until very recently and always used to call me from pay phones when she was out."

"Probably some dumbass teenager then," Serena said and Mia nodded as she walked to the closet to grab a sweater. She didn't know how long she would be camping in Serena's room and had decided to unpack her own stuff. It helped to keep the room looking clean. With three people living in the one bedroom, it was going to feel crowded enough.

She jumped when she opened the closet and saw a pouting Emily.

"Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" Mia asked as she pulled Emily out of the closet. "What the hell?"

"My bad," Serena laughed. "I put her in there. Sorry Mia."

"Sorry Mia?" Emily frowned. "You stuffed _me_ in the closet!"

"Why?" Mia turned to Serena. The older woman shrugged her shoulders.

"I figured she could sleep in there, with all the privacy she wanted, while you and I shared the bed."

"I don't want to sleep in the closet. I want…"

"Sure, I'll sleep on the bed," Mia smirked.

Serena turned to Emily, "I think that qualifies as Mia calling dibs on the bed."

"But… but… I… and you… and…" Emily huffed and stomped her foot, "Not fair!"

"You get the entire floor," Mia teased as she gestured to all the open space on the cold, hard floor at the foot of Serena's bed.

"This isn't over," Emily pouted as she snatched her pillow off Serena's bed and dumped it on the floor. "I will win."

"Bring it on," Mia and Serena taunted her.

-Samurai-

Mentor Ji knew there was a problem with Serena. She was being forced into motherhood and like almost every other single mother out there, she wanted to make her own way and provide for her own child. While what she was doing now was something she could be proud of (not everyone could be part of the team that saved the world on a regular basis), it was a thankless job as well as a non-paying job. Mentor thought about giving Serena the opportunity to do a little work around the house and he could pay her, but that wouldn't help her take her first steps into independence at all.

She seemed convinced there was no place that would hire her and Mentor knew she had a point. It wasn't for employers to refuse to hire her because she was pregnant, but she was also under qualified for a lot of jobs. The only jobs she was qualified to do would barely pay her enough money to take care of a baby on her own.

Still, if Emily's word could be trusted, Serena had a lot of skills. Mentor had seen quite a few of them for himself. Only days after recovering from her illness, Serena was back on top with her Samurai training. She had also done wonderfully as the Guardian of the Tengen Gate, which showed Mentor she was dependable, adaptable as well as autonomous. She had taken up her duties, but had also taken initiative and she had done something no elder guardian before her had managed to do. Train an entire academy full of guardians to not only cook, clean and study the secrets they were keeping safe, but she also whipped them back into shape. The responsibly of guarding the gate no longer rested solely on the shoulders on one guardian. All of them were capable of fending off intruders, especially Nighlok.

Mentor was certain Serena could do anything she set her mind to. She just needed a push and a reason.

He started up his motorcycle and headed off into town. He was going to find something for her and he wouldn't come back until he did.


	114. Kevin Trains His Symbol

Normally Emily would have asked for Mike's help, but if getting Mike's help was an option, she wouldn't be pulling this prank in the first place.

So she knocked on Jayden and Antonio's door. It was the middle of the night and they were fast asleep, but she needed their help with something and if she played her cards right, they wouldn't be able to say no.

"What the hell?" Antonio asked as he opened the door. He yawned and scratched himself before he saw it was Emily. "Em, it's…"

"I know, but I need you and Jayden. It'll take two minutes, I swear."

"What does she want?" Emily heard Jayden groan from inside the room and she heard him shifting around under his blankets.

"Serena and Mia are forcing me to sleep on the floor."

"So?" Antonio asked.

"So, we're in the middle of a war and I can't be a one man army. Can you please just help me? I'll make you breakfast in the morning, I promise."

"Bacon?"

"All you can eat," Emily nodded. Antonio was suddenly wide awake. Jayden took a bit more convincing. Emily raced inside his bedroom and jumped up on his bed, "Please, Jay! I'll make breakfast and work extra hard in training! I promise I will."

"Stop bouncing."

"And I'll stop jumping on your bed," Emily giggled. She shook Jayden awake, "C'mon! It's just five minutes!"

"Fine," Jayden pushed Emily off his bed before swinging his legs over the side and getting to his feet. Emily jumped up from the floor. She grabbed Jayden's arm and raced out while making sure to tug Antonio along as she ran past him.

The three got to Serena's room and Emily signalled for them to sneak their way in. Doing as they were told, Antonio found himself on Serena's side of the bed, while Jayden was on Mia's. Emily then whispered for them to lift the sleeping girls out of bed and set them on the pile of pillows and blankets Emily had set up on the floor.

"They're going to kill us for this," Jayden said to Antonio as he carried Mia over to the floor and laid her down carefully. "Mia's not a fun person when she doesn't get a good night's sleep."

"Neither am I," Antonio whispered back, "but I think this could be funny."

"Thank you," Emily smiled to the boys as she crawled into the double bed and lied down right in the center. She pulled the warm blankets up and rested her head in the pillow. "You'll have a nice, warm breakfast delivered right to your beds."

"Funny, and totally worth it," Antonio smirked as he and Jayden tip-toed out of the room before they were caught.

-Samurai-

Kevin was slowly beginning to lose his mind. Unless permitted by Mentor Ji, he was not allowed anywhere but his bedroom, the dojo, or the kitchen (but only between certain hours and his schedule did not match up with anyone else's. He couldn't remember ever being punished for anything before in his life, and now he knew why. Crimes were not worth the consequences, not in Mentor's house.

Fortunately, an accidental punch to Emily's chest while trying to defend himself against a beating from Mike was less of an offense than slapping Mia across the cheek, so while Kevin suffered through his punishment, he could make his time a little less painful by reminding himself that Mike had it worse.

Being alone for so long also gave him a lot of time to think and when he had a lot of time on his hands he liked to do something productive that would help the team fight against Xandred. He couldn't come up with anymore Megazord combinations at this time, nor did he have any ideas for new weapons, but he remembered one weapon that still needed to be worked on.

The Black Box.

There was nothing he hated more. He couldn't remember suffering while his stone was programmed into the box, but he had seen what Emily and Mike's stone had done to them and he didn't want to see Mia go through that. Jayden had used a painless symbol on him and Emily to keep them from feeling the effects of the Black Box, and Mentor had shown Kevin the symbol for when it was Jayden's turn to program his stone. The red Ranger couldn't use a symbol on himself when he was on the ground, withering around in pain, and so, because Kevin was second best, it was up to him to learn.

As much as he hated the box, and even though he never wanted Mia to suffer, he knew they would eventually need whatever weapon was inside. When the time came, Kevin wanted to be ready. It also didn't hurt to know the painless symbol. Fighting Nighlok always put the Rangers at risk for serious injury. Sometimes, putting his friend in a painless coma was a lot more human than keeping them awake to suffer through their injuries.

He traced the symbol in his notebook before finally feeling like he was ready to try the real thing. He just needed a target to practice on.

He wasn't too sure where Mentor Ji was, but he hadn't walked by for inspection at all so Kevin hoped he was in the clear. All he needed to do was get into Mike's room and then they could both meet in the dojo.

He poked his head out into the hall and saw the coast was clear. No one was even awake yet. He snuck down to Mike's door and knocked quietly before entering.

Kevin though his room was bear until he saw what Mike was forced to live with. Nothing. It was amazing the green Ranger hadn't lost his mind.

"Mike, wake up," Kevin gently shook the green Ranger awake. Mike groaned and reached for his blankets but then remembered he didn't have any. He rolled over, instead. Kevin shifted over to the other side and lifted Mike's eyelid, "Don't make me use my symbol."

Mike reached out and snatched Kevin's Samuraizer from him. He tucked it in his boxers and rolled back over to the other side. Kevin frowned but that wasn't going to stop him. Remembering what Tori taught him, he traced the symbol for pond with his finger over Mike's head. After spinning the symbol, enough water to fill a small pond splashed onto Mike, soaking the green Ranger.

"Dude!" Mike sat up and coughed, spitting water from his lungs, "You're not even supposed to be here."

"Get dressed and meet me in the dojo. I want to practice something."

"You wake me up, soak me, and now you want to pound my head in?" Mike shook his head, "No way, dude. I'm sorry I hit Mia, but the minute you hit Emily is the minute we got even."

"What else do you have to do now that you're awake?"

"Go back to sleep?"

"Get up, dry off and meet me in the dojo."

"I guess I'm already showered," Mike peeled himself from his mattress, "Dude, you totally owe me."

"If this works, you'll be sleeping like a baby in no time, I promise."

-Samurai-

Emily had to focus hard to keep herself from smiling as she pretended to be fast asleep. It was early morning and Serena and Mia were both awake and surprised to find themselves sleeping in Emily's makeshift bed. Emily couldn't miss their reactions, but the prank would be ruined if they found out she was awake and listening to them.

They were standing over the bed looking at her, completely stunned. Neither of them thought of themselves as heavy (all things considered given Serena's pregnancy) but there was no way Emily would have been able to get them out of bed without waking them up.

"How did she do it?" Emily heard Mia whisper to Serena. She bit her lip to keep herself from smiling and giggling. She owed Antonio and Jayden a big, delicious breakfast for helping her to pull this off.

"She's a resourceful little bug," Serena grumbled. "Tonight, I say we actually lock her in the closet. That way we're sure to get the bed."

"Or we dump her outside," Mia suggested. Serena chuckled and nodded her head.

"I love that plan."

"You get her feet," Mia said as she reached for Emily's arms and lifted the yellow Ranger from the bed. Just as Serena was about to grab her feet and carry her off, Emily started to squirm.

"No, no!" she pulled away from Mia and dove under the blankets, "It's cold outside!"

"Trap her!" Serena called and the two older girls tried to catch Emily in the blankets, but the earth Ranger slipped out before she was caught and race out of the room giggling. Serena and Mia thought about going after her, but decided they would leave her be. If she was already giggling in the morning, she would be able to outrun them for sure.

They walked to the common room and got comfortable. Mia started to play around with her turtle Zord and Serena had pulled out a book to start reading.

-Samurai-

"You want to what?"

Kevin rolled his eyes, "It's not going to hurt you, it's painless."

"Dude, no way," Mike shook his head. The last thing he was going to do, especially this early in the morning, was let himself be a target for whatever crazy technique Kevin was trying to practice. Even if the blue Ranger was practicing the painless symbol, there was no telling how many ways this could go wrong.

"I think I've finally got it down," Kevin said, "I just need to make sure I can do it right."

"Hit the dog," Mike suggested, "Not me."

"If, and it's a big if, but if I do screw up, Emily would kill me."

Mike shot Kevin a look, "What do you think she'd do to you if you screwed up on me?"

"Nothing, because I won't mess up."

"Your logic confuses me," Mike muttered. He stood in the middle of the room with his arms crossed, "Whatever, let's just do this. But I better get a badge of honour or something."

"Stand still," Kevin said as he pulled out his Samuraizer. He took a few deep breathes and cleared his mind. The painless symbol was difficult to master and required a lot of focus and symbol power. It wasn't something that could be done without years of experience. Fortunately, Kevin had been training his entire life, nearly as long as Jayden. He was ready for this.

Mike winced as he braced himself for the hit, causing Kevin to chuckle slightly. It was the painless symbol for a reason, it wouldn't hurt, but he didn't say anything as he traced the symbol and hit Mike. The green Ranger lost all feeling in his body as he slumped down. Kevin raced over to catch him before he fell and hurt himself. He gently laid Mike down on the mat and smiled to himself.

"I can do it," it felt good knowing he had this power. Now, if they couldn't find a harmless way of programming the rest of the stones into the box, Kevin could trust that he had the power to make sure Mia didn't suffer and he didn't let Jayden down. Eventually, they were both going to have to program their stones.

Kevin reversed the symbol and tapped Mike lightly on the cheek to wake him up. The green Ranger stirred and slowly came to.

"Did you do it?" he grumbled.

"Yep. Mastered it."

"No more practicing symbols on me," Mike said as he pulled away from Kevin and tried to stand. He felt a little shaky but knew it was normal. "We're lucky that went well."

"You doubt I could do it?"

"There wasn't a moment where I didn't doubt you," Mike nodded.

-Samurai-

While Emily was in the kitchen making breakfast for her midnight helpers, Serena and Mia were keeping themselves entertained in the common room. There wasn't much conversation, leaving them in almost a complete silence until Serena's phone went off again. She pulled it out from her pocket and didn't bother to check the number before she answered.

"Hello?"

Just like the last call she had received, there was no answer. She tried prompting whoever was on the other end a few times before she decided to give up. Just as she was pulling the phone away from her ear, she thought she heard someone calling her name.

"Hello?"

"… Serena…?"

"Who the…" the call was dropped before Serena could finish her question. She looked at her phone curiously before shutting it off. If this was another prank call it was getting freaky.

"Someone must have gotten your number somehow," Mia said. Serena nodded her head and leaned back against the couch.

"If this continues, I might just trash my phone and get the Tengen Gate to send me my great grandmother's Samuraizer. It does everything except morph."

"Might as well do that anyways," Mia shrugged her shoulders as Emily walked in. "That way you're not always sharing with the little monster."

Emily stuck out her tongue at Mia and took a seat next to Serena on the couch. She had delivered her special breakfast to Jayden and Antonio and now found herself with nothing to do but hang out with Mia and Serena.

It was then she remembered what Amanda told her: to put her hands on Serena's stomach when she was sitting down or resting. She hadn't gotten much chance up until now and decided to take advantage of the quiet time to do so.

At first there was nothing special about it. Her stomach was just a big bump and Serena didn't even have a funny reaction to Emily touching her. Serena was used to it and thought nothing of it most days. Emily noticed Serena did smile slightly this time, but didn't think there was anything to the smile.

Just as Emily was about to pull her hand away she felt something hit it. She jumped and pulled her hand away quickly before looking over to Serena. Her sister chuckled. Serena reached for Emily's hand and gently placed it on her stomach.

"He kicks when I'm not moving around," Serena explained. "He doesn't like when I sit still."

"That's weird," Emily whispered.

When Mia heard the baby was kicking she raced over to join the sisters. She also placed her hand on Serena's stomach and waited to see if she could feel something.

Serena chuckled and grabbed her book, "Let me know when you two are done."


	115. Mentor's Gift

Serena woke up to the irritating sound of her cell phone vibrating on her night table. She had hoped it would stop so she could go back to bed, but only seconds after the last vibration would stop and the call would be ignored, another would start up. Serena refused to open her eyes, but she was certain this had been going on for half an hour.

Finally frustrated with what the calls were doing to her sleep schedule, and the fact that her baby seemed more active than ever, Serena got up, grabbed her phone and hoped she could catch whoever was calling her next. The only good thing about her midnight wake up was the fact that she had woken up her in bed and not on the floor.

She quietly stepped over Emily as she walked out of the room. As soon as the door was closed she heard shuffling and knew it was her sister sneaking in to steal her half of the bed. Emily had been doing that for nearly a week now. Mia and Serena couldn't get up to go to the bathroom without losing the warmth and comfort of their bed, or, if they didn't get up, Emily would find some other way of getting into bed.

This night, Serena didn't mind. She was too busy with her phone and her baby. She knew her walking around would lull her son back to sleep. He seemed to always be on a different clock from her and it was especially bad when he shifted into his Nighlok form because he was bigger. Serena couldn't feel the pain, thanks to her mother, but she could still feel the switch and knew when it happened. Right now, judging by the way he was moving, he was literally a little monster.

As she paced the halls she didn't have to wait long for her phone to start up again and she answered it on the first ring.

"I don't know who the hell you are, but if you call my phone again…"

"I don't know who else to call," a familiar voice on the other end said. As hard as Serena tried, she couldn't identify the voice.

"About what?" she asked. "Speak now or forever…"

"I don't know," the voice interrupted her. "Can you meet me…?"

"Who are you?"

"I don't know…"

Serena scoffed and shook her head, "Goodnight."

She hung up and turned off her phone. She was not going to fall for some stranger's trick again. He could call her all he wanted, she wouldn't be fooled again.

Before heading back into her room she entered the common room. She needed a few moments just to breathe and relax before she could fall asleep again, especially if she was going to have to take Emily's bed on the floor. It was then she heard the front door open and her heart stopped. A dark shadow walked into the house, trying to stay as silent as possible. With Mentor out of the house on a mission (one he refused to explain to her or any of the other Rangers until he returned home), Serena took it upon herself to take care of the house and the Rangers. She crept towards the front hall and picked up a roll of wrapping paper that Kevin and Mia had bought the other day when they went to the store.

Before beating the intruder to death with Christmas cheer, Serena flicked on the lights. Thankfully, too, because if not she would have attacked Mentor Ji.

"Ji?" she lightly smacked him with the wrapping paper, "What the hell? You scared me half to death."

"Sorry," Mentor said as he removed his coat, "I assumed you would be sleeping."

"There's seven of us," Serena frowned, "Odds are, when you're sneaking in, someone's going to be awake to hear it. Where have you been, anyways?"

Mentor Ji handed Serena an envelope, "Remember that talk you and I had?"

"No," Serena looked down at the letter and saw it was addressed to her. "What talk? You haven't been home in a week. Mike and Kevin were starting to think you had forgotten about them."

"Have they respected the rules of their punishment?"

"Yeah… can you answer my question?"

"Then it's lifted," Mentor smiled, "And just in time, too. I figure now that everyone's getting along we could start decorating the house."

"For what?"

Mentor pointed to the wrapping paper in Serena's hand, "Christmas."

"Fantastic," Serena tossed the wrapping paper aside, "Will you answer my question now?"

"The answer is in the envelope," Mentor told her, "I wanted to wait until Christmas to give it to you, but I'm sure I could come up with another surprise by then. This will hopefully ease your mind so you can relax over the holidays. Open it."

Serena let out a deep sigh, "Cards are thoughtful, Mentor, but Hallmark poems can't fix… whatever problem you think I have."

"It's not a card."

Serena rolled her eyes as she pulled out several papers from the envelope. The first one she opened was a copy of a police check she never requested. She looked at Mentor, "What?"

"I had to pull a few strings to get it done quickly. You're going to need that to work with kids."

"Work with kids?" Serena shook her head, "Last I checked, mothers didn't need police checks to deliver babies, and working with one seventeen year old, who is also my sister and a well-trained Samurai, isn't exactly working with vulnerable people."

"Continue reading," Mentor smiled to her. Serena handed him the police check and read the next paper. Her jaw dropped.

"Why does this say congratulations?"

"I have a few friends who work for the local schools. Normally they get a few police officers to go around and do this job, but when I told them of your experience with the matter and the situation you were in, they agreed to take you on board, full pay, as well as a paid maternity leave if you so choose."

"Wait, what?"

Mentor Ji took Serena's hand and walked her to her stool. He had her sit down and then he took a seat with her. He looked her in the eyes.

"You must remember yearly visits from the local police station when you were in school. One or two officers would talk to the students about bullying and give out information on what to do if you were being bullied or if you saw someone was being bullied."

"A lot of good that would do," Serena scoffed.

"You will be doing that for a few of the schools in the city."

"I'll be what?"

"A few of the schools have hired you to talk and help stop and prevent bullying in their schools. Given what you know, I'm sure you'll do a wonderful job helping the victims and the bullies. You will be paid by the school board to come into their schools a few days out of the week to give speeches and work with students. The money you will make will be more than enough to help you get by on your own with your son, even if you choose to get your own place outside of the Shiba House."

"You're kidding."

"You needed a job, Serena," Mentor nodded his head. "You made that very clear. This position will give you everything you need, and the hours aren't difficult."

"And paid maternity leave?"

"If you choose to take it," Mentor said. "It's up to you. All you need to do is mail in that third paper saying you accept and the job's yours. Pay, benefits, and independence included."

"You were gone all this time…" Serena threw herself into Mentor's arms, "Thank you, Mentor."

"You will start the first day back in January. That will give you a couple of weeks to prepare."

"Wait… what about my job here? The Rangers and…"

"I am the Rangers' mentor, Serena," Mentor chuckled, "You have done a wonderful job helping me, and I'm sure even with this job you will continue to help whenever you have time."

Serena hugged Mentor Ji tight, "You're amazing, Mentor. I so owe you."

"No thanks is necessary," Mentor kissed her forehead before he let her go, "I suggest you head back to bed, Serena. It's late."

Serena nodded and got up but stopped before she left the room, "Actually, can you do me one more favour? I don't feel like sleeping on the floor."

-Samurai-

When Mike woke up the following morning, he was surprised to see there was a note left on his night table. Thinking it was instructions to head to the dojo to train, he groaned and thought about dumping it. But then he recognised the handwriting to be Mentor Ji's and he shot up in bed. The older man had been gone for several days and only he could lift Mike's punishment. He hoped the note meant he was back.

_I am sure you have learned your lesson and you have found a way to get your anger and aggression under control. Under the condition that you never strike another teammate again, you may return back to your normal life._

_Mentor Ji._

_PS: as soon as you wake up, sleepy head, we're decorating the house. And I have a surprise for you._

_Serena._

Mike jumped up from his bed and raced into the common room, where nearly everyone was finishing breakfast. He pumped his fists in the air and fell to his knees.

"I'm free!"

"Finally, you're up," Kevin said with a big smile. Mike assumed he must have gotten the same letter.

"Dude, I can't wait to get my video games back and…" he noticed one person was missing. He scratched his head and looked to Mia and Serena, "Where's Emily?"

"Did you get my note?" Serena asked. Mike nodded and flashed her the paper. Serena then chuckled, "She's your surprise."

"What do you mean?" Mike frowned.

"The entire time Emily and I have been sharing Serena's room, we've been in a bit of a bed war," Mia explained to Mike. "Serena got one half of the bed because she's pregnant and it's her room. And I got the other. That meant Emily had to sleep on the floor."

"She wasn't happy about that," Serena smirked. "And every night she tried to fix it."

"How so?"

"Well, night one, she hired two buffoons to move Serena and I onto the floor while she took the bed," Mia glared over to Jayden and Antonio. The red and gold Rangers looked to her innocently.

"What? We got paid in breakfast," Jayden shrugged.

"I have no regrets," Antonio nodded.

"The other nights, she either crawled in between us and pushed me onto the floor," Mia said.

"Or she waited until one of us got up and stole our spot," Serena added. "With Mentor's help, I've got the perfect revenge, while keeping true to the spirit of Christmas, of course."

It was then the gang in the common room heard bells softly jingling and they turned to the doorway. Judging by the laugh Serena was trying to muffle, Mike could only assume the bells had something to do with Serena's plan.

Finally, the bells stopped ringing and Emily, dressed up as an elf from neck to toe, glared into the room. In one hand she held her elf hat in her hand and when she crossed her arms, the little bell on the end jingled.

"I'm fine with the occasional short joke," she pouted, "but forcing me to wear an elf suit is not funny!"

Mia smiled at Serena, "How did you come up with this?"

"How did you get her into the elf suit?" Jayden asked.

"I'm really good at hiding clothes," Serena smirked.

"This is all I have to wear!" Emily grumbled.

"That'll teach you to steal my bed from me when I get up," Serena chuckled. She got up from her seat and offered it to Emily, "but here, for being a good sport about this, you can have my chair."

"I'm fine here," Emily huffed. "If I move, I jingle."

"It's cute, Em," Antonio assured her, "You should consider yourself lucky. Serena could have done much worse."

"Besides, now we'll know when you're coming and if you're hyper," Jayden added. "I don't know why we didn't think of putting a bell on you before."

"Ha-ha."

"Put on the hat," Serena asked her sister. "C'mon, Emy! I know you want to."

Mike leaned in and whispered into Emily's ear, "You know, it won't be very good revenge if you enjoy the elf suit."

"What do you mean?"

Mike took the hat from her and put it on her head, "Trust me, punishment only works if you're miserable. Why not have a little fun?"

Emily grinned. Maybe Mike had a point. Besides, dressing up for Christmas had been a tradition in her family before Serena had gotten sick. Christmas Eve, after her family went to church, they would always have a little fun and put on festive costumes. Her father was Santa Clause, her mother was Mrs. Clause, Serena had been Rudolph, and Emily had been the elf.

She shook her head from side to side and made the bells jingle, "I could have fun with this!"

"Atta girl," Mike kissed her and quickly realised this was the first kissed they shared in nearly a week so he deepened it. It didn't matter that everyone was looking, or that Emily seemed to be jingling.

Antonio leaned in to Jayden, "Thankfully we only punished two of them. I don't think I could handle another _I-missed-you_ kiss."

His eyes strayed over to Mia and Kevin as he glared at them.

Mike and Emily's kiss was finally interrupted when the only person missing from breakfast walked into the room. In his hands he had a big box and no one, not even Jayden, knew what was inside. He set the box on the floor and smiled to each of his Rangers. When his eyes fell on Emily he let out a small laugh.

"I see I'm not the only one who decided it's time to start celebrating the holiday season."

"This gives me a direct link to Santa Clause," Emily said as she pointed to her hat, "Be nice to me or I'll make sure you end up on the naughty list."

Mentor nodded and then opened the box, "The entire house is yours to decorate as you see fit. I'm not sure you all celebrate Christmas, but I assumed we could all use a little holiday fun."

The Rangers dove into the box and started pulling out decorations. Mentor could see their little minds running wild with ideas and they were already discussing what they could do to decorate the house.

Serena walked over to Mentor. She was excited to start decorating as it would be the first Christmas in years where she wasn't too sick to celebrate, but she had something to do before.

She handed him back the envelope, "I accepted the position. I don't know where to mail it to, though."

"I will take care of that," Mentor took the letter from her and tucked it into his kimono. Serena gave him another warm hug.

"I can't thank you enough."

"Take care of yourself and your son, and that will be more than enough."

"I will," Serena nodded. She then gestured to the box, "You bought all this Christmas stuff when you ran out to get Emily's elf suit, didn't you?"

"Jayden and I didn't celebrate Christmas," Mentor nodded, "I wasn't going to settle with paper snowflakes. This year, we go all out."


	116. Holiday Spirit

Mike looked at the decorations in the box. Mentor had admitted that there weren't going to be enough to satisfy the imagination of the Rangers, but even with that thought Mike still had the feeling that there was something missing.

Fake snow was being sprinkled everywhere in the house. Nearly every surface was covered with it. Mike tapped his chin. There was no snow outside, but that wasn't what was missing.

Kevin and Mia were decorating the windows. They had window stickers of snowmen, snowflakes, elves, and a giant _MERRY CHRISTMAS_. Around the windows were bows and every ornament imaginable.

Serena was helping Antonio decorate the rooms. There was not an inch of the house that didn't look like a winter wonderland, and by the time they were done, the Shiba House would look as if a winter storm had blown through and dropped Christmas in the house.

But Mike still felt there was something missing.

Jayden was making a gingerbread house. He had no clue what he was doing, but insisted the job was better left in his hands than Emily's or Mike's. Given how much candy he had to decorate the house with, he knew it was more than enough to make either of the youngest Rangers hyper if they chose to eat rather than decorate.

And little elf Emily was going around from team to team, helping with the decorations wherever necessary, all while insisting someone needed to buy Scruffy a doggie elf costume so he could match her.

Finally, Mike snapped his fingers. He knew what was missing. He flipped out his Samuraizer with a wide grin on his face.

"Stand clear!" he called out, "Symbol power! Tree!"

He traced his symbol and suddenly a tree appeared in the living room. The perfect Christmas tree. It was tall, had no bald spots, and many branches just waiting for ornaments to be hung. He smiled proudly at his creation and everyone else stopped what they were doing to admire it.

"That is the perfect tree," Antonio said to Mike.

"You're getting better with symbol power," Kevin pointed out. Mike shrugged his shoulders.

"I was locked in my room or the dojo for a week. What else did I have to work on?"

"I wanna decorate it!" Emily hand shot up in the air and she raced over to the box of decorations. She slid it over next to the tree and took a seat right at the foot so she could start decorating from top to bottom.

Noticing her excitement, all eyes turned to Jayden. He shook his head.

"I haven't let her eat a single candy," he said defensively. He was not going to be blamed for the hyper elf.

The Rangers exchanged looks and figured it was the holiday spirit that had gotten into her. They could all feel a little excitement bubbling inside them as well. Everyone finished with their tasks and the house had been completely transformed. What was once a Samurai Home now looked like a Winter Palace. All that was left was the Christmas tree.

Emily could make it halfway up with the decorations, but the tree was so big she was starting to struggle. She was on the tips of her toes, reaching up high to try and hang a pink Christmas ball when she suddenly felt someone lift her up. She giggled, hung the ball up, and then looked down. She was now sitting on Kevin's shoulders and could reach the top of the tree.

"Teamwork," she smiled as she gave him a high five. The other Samurai all helped out as well, as they completed decorating the tree and handed up ornament to Emily to hang on the top.

Finally, the tree was almost done. There was just one thing missing.

Kevin knelt down and let Emily get off his shoulders before looking up and realising what it was.

"A tree topper. We don't have a tree topper."

"There's nothing left in the box," Emily pouted as she squat down beside the box. She lowered her head and even her jingling bells seemed upset.

Serena suddenly got an idea and plucked Emily's Samuraizer from her hip. She traced a symbol, too quick for anyone to see, and aimed it at the top of the tree. When the glow faded, they saw an ornamental Shuriken sitting at the top of their tree.

"There we go. It's perfect."

"Christmas tree in a Winter Wonderland with a touch of Samurai," Jayden nodded his head. "I don't think we could have done any better."

Mia looked to Emily, "We're done decorating now, so if you wanted to take off the elf costume…"

"How dare you!" Emily gasped and clutched her hat tightly, "I'm wearing this until Christmas!"

"Oh boy," Serena gave Mia a worried look."

"A little over ten days… are you sure, Em?" Jayden asked. "Isn't the elf suit a little… tight?"

"Nope. I'm comfortable! Besides, it's like running around in the Ranger suit! Only this one jingles!"

"So much for revenge," Serena huffed.

-Samurai-

After the house was decorated, Kevin was itching to leave. Not because his home felt like Santa had attacked it, but because aside from the occasional Mooger or Nighlok attack, he hadn't been allowed to leave in nearly a week.

He took Mia by the hand as they walked leisurely through the forest. The dead leaves crunched under their feet and the cold air nipped at their cheeks. It already felt like winter had come, but there was one thing missing.

"I hope it snows," Kevin said.

"I'm sure it'll come," Mia smiled.

"I hope it does. There's nothing worse than a dead Christmas."

Mia turned to Kevin, "There's a depressing thought."

"Just meant dead as in… look around," Kevin gestured to the trees, "They've lost their leaves and now they're bare. Everything's brown and… dead for the winter. If it were to snow…"

"I get it," Mia chuckled, "I'm sure you'll get your snow, though."

"Let's hope. Mom, dad and I always used to have snowball fights after the first big snowfall. It was the only time where dad would drop the Samurai training and just let us have fun in the snow. Mom and I would build a big snow fort and it would be indestructible. We'd throw snowballs at dad and hide when he tried to get us. We'd always win, and dad would always make us hot chocolate to celebrate."

"We can do that here," Mia smiled brightly and leaned her head on Kevin's shoulder. "I know you won't have your parents, but snowball fights are fun with big groups of people."

"Like the football game? One team against another?"

"Exactly," Mia nodded.

"What did you do for Christmas?" Kevin asked. "We played in the snow, what did you and your grandmother do."

"Don't laugh."

"I promise."

"We baked cookies."

Remembering Mia's struggle to bake, and how it was a _"skill"_ passed down from generation to generation in her family, Kevin had to supress a chuckle.

"You baked cookies?"

"Now that I think about it, they tasted like charcoal," Mia laughed, "but it wasn't the eating that was fun. It was the baking and decorating. Every weekend before the holidays, we used to make cookies. Aside from that, we didn't really celebrate Christmas. My family's not Christian."

"What are you?"

"We don't have a religion," Mia shrugged. "Grandma grew up training to be a Samurai. There wasn't much time for anything else. She raised mom that way and my dad… just stopped believing as he got older. Celebrating Christmas was more of an excuse for the whole family to come together than anything else."

"Still, that's special," Kevin smiled. Mia nodded her head.

"I'm not saying it's not. I still love Christmas. The idea of hanging out with everyone and just relaxing…"

"If Xandred doesn't interfere," Kevin said. "Let's face it, if the Grinch was real, it would totally be Xandred."

"It probably is," Mia laughed. She then bend over and collected a pile of dead leaves in her hand. With a smile, she threw them in Kevin's face, "Who says you need snow to have a snowball fight?"

"The name?" Kevin frowned as he spit out a leaf. Mia hit him again with another pile.

"We'll have to make do, I guess," Mia smirked.

Playfully, Kevin collected his own pile of leaves, complete with some dirt and twigs and dropped it over Mia's head. The wind Samurai laughed and started to run from her fiancé as he collected more leaves in his arms.

"You started it!" he called as he ran after her.

-Samurai-

Antonio walked around the house, admiring the work he and the other Rangers had done with the decorations. As he walked, he hummed the tune to jingle bells and he could help notice Jayden kept looking up at him every time he walked by.

"Do the holidays always make you so happy?" the red Ranger asked. "To be honest, I have no idea what the big deal about Christmas is."

"You…" Antonio gasped and covered his mouth with his hand, "How do you… and…"

"Yesterday at lunch Amanda told me she wanted me to take her to see Nutcracker on ice before Christmas. It's something of a big deal for her. What's so special about a nutcracker?"

"Not a nutcracker," Antonio shook his head, "The Nutcracker."

"Either way, Mentor and I didn't celebrate holidays."

"Do you know about Santa?"

"Of course. But he never stopped by. I mean, Mentor never pretended he was real. The only gifts I got were all related to my training."

"You, my friend, are deprived," Antonio took Jayden by the arm, "C'mon. I think they're starting to air Christmas specials on TV. Let's see if we can find one. You're going to sit with me and watch until your nose shines red."

"Huh?"

"It's a Rudolph reference," Antonio explained, "You don't…" he noticed the blank look on Jayden's face and groaned loudly. He pulled the red Ranger over to the television, "I have a lot to teach you! Christmas specials might not cover it all…"

The gold Ranger pushed the red Ranger onto the couch and sat next to him. He picked up the remote and started flipping through the channels. Christmas day was still far off, but the specials always started airing in December, some right after Thanksgiving, in order to get people into the holiday spirit. Antonio was going to bring Christmas to Jayden if it killed him.

He and the red Ranger curled up on the couch as Antonio searched through the channels. Somewhere he was going to find a TV movie of frosty, or Rudolph, or Santa so he could show Jayden just how wonderful the holidays were.

If not, he was going to sing. He knew every Christmas carol by heart. One way or another, Jayden would know everything there was to know about Christmas before dinner.

Fortunately, he found a TV movie that wasn't too far from the beginning. He smiled and set the remote down on the table before grabbing a blanket. He draped it across himself and Jayden and the two Rangers started their movie.

"A talking snowman?" Jayden frowned. "How is that possible?"

"Shh!" Antonio hushed him, "You have to watch!"

-Samurai-

While the rest of the house was enjoying the start of what would be a very special holiday, Emily was in her sister's room, packing up her stuff. Now that Mike's punishment was over, she could go back to her own room, and sleep in her own bed, and she couldn't wait to do so. No more fighting for the bed and no more wars. She loved sharing a room with Serena and Mia, but not when there weren't enough beds.

She adjusted her hat as it fell over her eyes and then she picked up her pillow. The bells on her costume were still jingling and every time it made her smile. At first she hadn't been happy about the costume, but Mike had been right, by having some fun with it, she could make the costume work and she could enjoy it.

While holding her pillow in one arm, she collected the blanket and started making her way over to her room. The blanket was huge, and several times she nearly tripped over it. Only a few feet away from her door, she did slip and fall, and her jingling bells alerted whoever was coming down the opposite end of the hall.

"Careful, Em," Mike chuckled as he helped her up, "If you're going to deliver presents at Christmas with Santa, you're going to have to try not breaking your neck."

"Ha-ha," Emily rolled her eyes, "Help me, please."

Mike grabbed the blanket from her and rolled it up. Mentor had promised to return all the stuff to his room and Kevin's room before the end of the day, so he could fold up the blanket Emily had used and stuff it in their closet.

Emily walked over to her bed and set her pillow down on the mattress. She smiled, fixed her hat, and looked over to Mike.

"I hope you learned your lesson about hitting people," she said, "Your punishment punished me too."

"It won't happen again, Em, I swear."

"Good, because I missed my bed," Emily fell onto the mattress.

Mike smirked playfully at her comment, "The bed, huh?"

"Yes," Emily teased him as he got onto the bed and crawled on top of her, "I missed the bed, and the privacy, and having a bathroom connected to the bedroom."

"I'm locked away for a week and you miss the bedroom?"

"Yep."

"What about me? Did you miss…" just as he was about to lean down for a kiss, the Gap Sensor went off. He groaned loudly and Emily rolled her eyes.

"Seriously?" he pounded his fists into the bed, "You choose now, Xandred?"

"Mike," Emily said in a warning tone. He took a deep breath and smiled.

"You're right. We can continue after kicking Nighlok ass. C'mon, elf Ranger."

"That better be a joke because of the costume!"


	117. Kevin Can't Do It

The Nighlok was attacking the beach. An odd place for him to choose, given the cold season meant there were very few people who ever walked along the coast, but to the Rangers, that meant he had a plan.

"Be careful," Jayden instructed his team. For once, he was thankful the Nighlok had chosen to attack. He couldn't get away from Frosty the Snowman fast enough.

The Rangers stopped a couple of yards away from the Nighlok, smart enough to know not to get too close until they had a better idea of what the Nighlok could do. Kevin inspected him closely. He was a Nighlok make up of arrows pointing in nearly every direction that curved under, over, or around the other arrows on his body.

"Stop right there, Nighlok!" Jayden shouted, calling the Nighlok's attention to the Rangers.

The Nighlok seemed excited to see his enemies.

"Just who I was waiting for. You Rangers ready for a switch?"

"A what?" Mike frowned. The Nighlok raised his hand and pointed it to Mike. Suddenly, one of the arrows grew and was aimed directly for the green Ranger. All seven Rangers scattered, jumping out of the way before they could get hit.

"Note to self," Antonio said as he bounced back up to his feet, "Don't let the Nighlok touch you."

"What are you trying to do, Nighlok?" Kevin asked. He stood up and clenched his fists. He wouldn't go near the Nighlok until he knew a safe way.

"Skillswitch," the Nighlok bowed to the Rangers, "I have orders from Master Xandred to get you all."

"Switchskill?" Mia asked Kevin, "Switch with what?"

"I don't think we want to find out," Kevin said. He pulled out his Spin Sword and got ready to attack. The others followed his lead, while keeping Antonio's note in their heads.

"Avoid my arrows all you want," the Nighlok just out of the way as Jayden and Mike swung, "One by one, I'll make sure to switch your skills with mine."

"What exactly can he do?" Emily asked.

"He sure can bounce," Antonio commented as the Nighlok again jumped away from the Rangers' attack and ran.

Emily was about to chase after him went her Samuraizer went off. She answered it, leaving the others to fight the Nighlok on their own, "What's up?"

"Don't let the Nighlok swap with you," Serena told her sister. "He can't do anything."

"Seriously?" Emily asked, but realised her sister was right when she saw the Nighlok was still trying to run away from the Rangers and find shelter, "Okay, I believe you. But why would Xandred send him?"

"He can switch skills with whoever he touches," Mentor warned Emily. "If he gets you, everything you can do will be forgotten."

"And he'll be able to do it all. He'll fight like a Samurai, and he'll know how to create you elemental symbol."

"My earth symbols," Emily whined. She then thanked her sister and Mentor for the information and hung up, ready to join the fight.

Kevin was getting more and more frustrated with this Nighlok as time went on. Anytime he tried to hit him, the Nighlok ran away. It was the most cowardly monster he had ever faced.

"We've got to surround him," Jayden called out. Each of the Rangers nodded their heads and formed a circle. The Nighlok spun around, looking for a way to run.

"Uh oh, there's nowhere to go."

"Now!" Jayden shouted. His Spin Sword transformed into his Fire Smashed and he swung the large weapon around to strike the Nighlok, but the creature ducked under the attack, avoiding it completely. He jumped up to his feet as Jayden spun around due to his momentum.

The Nighlok stuck out his tongue and another arrow shot out from his body to hit Jayden. Emily jumped in the way just in time and smashed it down with her sword.

"Don't let him hit you!" she told the team.

"Thanks, Em," Jayden said as he found his balance.

"This guy's really starting to piss me off," Kevin muttered and attached his disk to his Spin Sword, "Hydro Bow!"

He aimed his bow at the Nighlok, "I can fight arrows with arrows. Let's see if you can jump out of the way of all my arrows!"

"Hey!" the Nighlok shouted as he ducked and dodged each of Kevin's arrows before he was suddenly hit in the butt. He jumped and howled, rubbing the sore spot, "Ouch! That's not nice! Let me return the favour!"

"Don't even think about it," Mike charged the Nighlok with his Forest Spear, but the monster jumped and raced away from the green Ranger, keeping his eyes on blue. The tip of Mike's spear landed in the ground and he catapulted into the sand. "Stupid Nighlok," he muttered while shaking the sand off his visor.

Antonio and Mia tried to attack the Nighlok as well, while Kevin switched his weapon back into the Spin Sword, determined to take out the Nighlok once he was weakened. Mia attacked with her sky fan, but the monster ducked, missing the attack. Antonio tried slashing at the Nighlok as quickly as he could and finally landed an attack that Switchskill couldn't dodge, but it still wasn't enough to send him to the ground.

When he was close enough to the blue Ranger, the Nighlok shot out another arrow. Kevin knocked it aside with his Spin Sword and charged at the Nighlok. He slashed the monster across the chest, but felt something scratch his arm.

The Nighlok recoiled in pain and then suddenly felt empowered as he began to glow. Kevin did as well and then sunk to his knees. Switchskill ripped his Spin Sword from his hands and swung the sword at Kevin, blasting him into the ocean.

The Rangers watched in awe.

"Now he knows how to fight?" Mike asked. "When did he learn that?"

The Nighlok turned on the other Rangers and the Spin Sword glowed. In a flash, it transformed back into the Hydro Bow. He raised his new weapon to the skies and shot out hundreds of arrows at once.

"Oh shit," Mike grumbled when he realised what this meant. He covered his head with his arms as a shower of arrows fell from the sky, striking each of the Rangers painfully. The Nighlok screamed with laughter as the tables turned in his favour.

"This is fun! Who should I steal from next?" he asked and while the Rangers got to his feet he ran towards, them, hitting them all with Kevin's sword.

They fell back to the ground and powered down. The Nighlok jumped gleefully before suddenly feeling a pain in his side. He looked down and saw he was starting to dry up. With a heavy pout, he dropped Kevin's sword and disappeared into a gap, swearing he'd return for the rest of the Rangers.

"Is it just me, or did the Nighlok not know how to fight like that three seconds ago?" Antonio grumbled. He clutched his ribs as he got back to his feet.

"He must have switched skills with Kevin when he hit him," Emily explained. "Now he can do everything Kevin can do."

"So we're basically fighting Kevin again?" Mike asked. "That's just wonderful…"

"Where is Kevin?" Mia looked around the beach. She had seen Kevin blast off, but normally he was always back to help his friends. This time he was nowhere in sight. She remembered he had be knocked into the ocean and turned to see if he was swimming back. It was then she saw splashing in the distance and she could hear her fiancé screaming. It was then that it dawned on Mia. If the Nighlok could fight like Kevin, because he switched his skills with Kevin, then he could also swim like Kevin. That meant…

"He's drowning!" Mia shouted in a panic and her realization struck everyone.

"The Nighlok didn't know how to do anything," Emily added. "Kevin must have forgotten how to swim."

Antonio was the first to know what he had to do. He wasn't as good a swimmer as Kevin was, and never would be, but he had spent so much time by the water fishing his father had made him take swimming lessons. He took off almost all his clothes, stripping down to his underwear, and ran into the water. Once he was deep enough, he dove in and swam out to Kevin.

Jayden picked up Antonio's clothes and with the other Rangers he raced to the shore and waited to see what would happen. He wished he could help, but being fire Samurai, his focus was never on water training. He could swim for fun, and he knew how to tread water long enough to save his own life, but he had no idea how to save another.

Sensing her mistress' partner was in danger, Mia's turtle Zord flew out from her pocket to help. On her own, she grew into a mega turtle and swam out to Antonio and Kevin. The turtle arrived just as Antonio wrapped his arm around Kevin, and the gold Ranger lifted the blue up onto the turtle's fin before he pulled himself up. With both Rangers safely out of the water, the turtle turned back and headed to the beach.

When her fiancé was back on solid ground, Mia wrapped her arms around him in a hug and pulled him in for a deep kiss, thankful he was alive. She noticed there was something off about the kiss, but was too happy for Kevin's safety to care.

Jayden handed Antonio back his clothes and then instructed that the team head home to warm up.

-Samurai-

After tending to the Rangers' minor injuries, Mentor wanted to see just how much damage Switchskill had done to Kevin.

They had already concluded he had lost his ability to swim, but they needed to see just how far the Nighlok had gone. Mentor placed a training sword in Kevin's hand and stepped back.

"Show me what you remember."

Just like when Kevin found himself in the water, he knew what to do; the problem was that he didn't know how to do it. He gripped the sword tightly and swung it around.

"Watch it!" Antonio called as he jumped to the ground and covered his head.

"Dude! Not the nose!" Mike curled up into a ball and hid his face in his arms.

"My hat!" Emily cried as Kevin's sword sailed right over her head, knocking her elf hat right off. Kevin lost his grip on the sword and it went flying across the room, smashing into a bookcase and knocking an old pot onto the ground. It broke into pieces and Kevin winced.

Mia draped a blanket over his shoulders and hugged him, "For a first try that wasn't too bad."

Kevin sulked and pushed Mia away, "I've never been that bad before!"

"Really?" Mike asked. "Did you arrive into this world with perfect Samurai skills?"

"So you can't swim, you can't fight…"

"Who says he can't fight?" Antonio asked as he interrupted Jayden. He got to his feet and stood in front of Kevin, "So far we know he can't wield a sword without nearly taking someone's head off. Maybe he can still punch the living daylights out of us. We don't know how much the Nighlok took."

"Do you really want to make yourself into a human punching bag?" Emily asked and rubbed her chest, "Kevin's pretty strong."

"Are you sure you want to do this, Antonio?" Kevin asked. The gold Ranger nodded his head.

"Hit me with your best shot, Amigo," Antonio opened himself up to attack. Kevin knew what to do, but when he went to do it, he forgot how. He tried to punch Antonio in the stomach, but the gold Ranger simply stepped aside. He tried grabbing Antonio's arm, but the gold Ranger flipped him before he could try anything. The next thing Kevin knew, he was on the ground, completely out of breath. Mia knelt down beside him.

"Are you okay?"

Kevin rubbed his face with his hands, "You tell me?"

Mia pulled him back to his feet and dusted him off, "The Nighlok couldn't have taken everything from you. Try using a symbol."

"I'm getting out of the room for this," Mike slowly backed away until Emily grabbed his arm.

"Be supportive," she whispered.

Kevin pulled out his Samuraizer he tried thinking of a symbol he could use that wouldn't be too dangerous if it backfired and then traced it.

He groaned when nothing happened. He turned to Mia who looked at him sadly. Mentor Ji stroked his chin.

"The strokes weren't in the proper order," he told the blue Ranger, "You were trying for rain?"

"Proper order," Kevin smacked his hand to his forehead, "I knew I was forgetting something. Let me try again."

He held his Samuraizer up but paused. He couldn't remember where to start. He had the symbol in his mind, but the order of the strokes was completely lost.

Mia took out her own Samuraizer and showed him how to do it. Nothing happened because it wasn't her element, but a little reminder was all Kevin needed. He did as Mia showed him and traced the symbol in the air.

"There you go," Jayden encouraged him and a cloud formed over the Rangers. It began to drizzle. Everyone smiled until lightning struck and the light rain turned into a torrential downpour.

"Make it stop!" Antonio shouted, hiding under a blanket to keep dry.

"I don't know how!" Kevin called over the thunder.

Jayden took it upon himself to recall the symbol. On his call, the cloud disappeared and the rain and thunder stopped. He swayed slightly from all the energy used and took a seat.

"No using symbols indoors, Kevin," he said.

"I think we can add symbol training to the list of must-do for Kevin," Mike said, "Along with fighting, sword training, and swimming."

"And everything else," Kevin tried to take a sit but misjudged where his stool was and fell flat on the floor. He groaned and slammed his fists into the floor, "Dammit! Is there anything that Nighlok could do?"

"He could jump," Antonio said but he knew it didn't help. The blue Ranger sat up and glared at him. He looked down sheepishly, "Sorry."

"Great, so I can jump. Fantastic," Kevin muttered sarcastically. He pulled himself up using the stool and tried again to take a seat. This time, the stool slipped out from under him and he landed face first on the floor. "Are you kidding?"

Mia helped him up to his feet, "Maybe a little sleep will help."

"Are you sure I haven't forgotten how to do that either?" Kevin muttered and pulled away from Mia, refusing to accept her help. He wanted to do this on his own.

"Sleeping's not a skill," Serena pointed out, "You'll still be good at that."

"Kevin was never good at sleeping," Mike said with a laugh, "He only sleeps because he needs to."

On his way out, Kevin tripped over his own feet and nearly hit the floor, but Mia caught him and steadied him. He turned red in frustration and stormed off to his room, stumbling one more time before he was out of sight.


	118. Kevin's Attitude

The morning after the Nighlok attack, Kevin lied awake in bed, scared he wouldn't remember how to get up. After the Nighlok had taken all his skills, he found himself unable to do the most basic things. Even walking was proving to be a challenge.

He felt Mia rolling over in bed next to him and then she cuddled up against him. Kevin leaned down for a kiss and when he pulled away he saw Mia had a less than satisfied look on her face. When she noticed he was looking at her, she forced herself to smile.

"Good morning."

"What?" Kevin frowned, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Mia lied and shook her head. She sat up in bed, "Do you want me to make breakfast?"

"Now I'm the bad cook," Kevin groaned and buried his head under his pillow. Mia crossed her arms.

"Hey!"

"Sorry," Kevin slowly lifted himself from his bed, hoping if he paced himself, he wouldn't trip and fall flat on his face. Mia watched his carefully, ready to catch him if he did stumble.

Kevin walked himself to the door without losing his balance once. He stepped out of the room and Mia followed him down the hallway. As usual, they were the first two out of bed. Kevin took a seat at the table, making sure his butt landed on the seat, while Mia walked to the fridge.

"Any requests?"

"Something I can make," Kevin huffed.

"Normally, I'd tell you you can do anything," Mia said, "but after what happened yesterday…"

"I can't believe I let that Nighlok get me," Kevin smacked his fist against the table. "Of all the people for him to rob, it had to be me?"

"It happens to the best of us," Mia shrugged her shoulders.

Kevin shook his head, "Name one time it's happened to the best of us?"

"Emily and that spirit stealing Nighlok."

"I said the best of us," Kevin grumbled. Mia crossed her arms.

"You're grumpy, but I'll play your game. Jayden and me with the death Nighlok. We both let him get us and we needed to be saved," Mia cut up some fruit, put it in a bowl, and handed Kevin his fruit salad, "Look, Kev, that Nighlok took your skills, it's not the end of the world. You built them up once…"

"It took a lifetime for me to get where I'm at now!" Kevin jabbed his fork into grape. "It'll take me at least twenty-one years to get back to where I was yesterday! And that's if my body will allow it! I'm not getting any younger, you know!"

"It'll be easier the second time around," Mia assured him. "Look, you've already figured out how to use a fork."

"Great, I can eat food," Kevin muttered, sticking the fork in his mouth. He twirled his finger around in the air, "Whoo… Next up, swordplay."

"How about you master walking first?" Mia suggested. Kevin shot her a look.

"You let Emily walk around with a sword and she obviously hasn't mastered walking yet."

Again Mia crossed her arms, "Are you going to spend the entire time insulting Emily?"

"No, I'll move onto Mike next. The only skills he's got are defeated virtual monsters. Why couldn't the Nighlok hit him? At least we wouldn't have lost anything."

"I get it, Kevin, you're frustrated and you have a right to be grumpy, but taking it out on the others isn't right. If they heard you…"

"Mia, I've lost everything," Kevin growled, "the last thing I have to worry about is my friends."

"You're not going to have any if you keep up with this attitude," Mia muttered.

Kevin pushed himself up from the table, "If you don't mind, I'm going to see if I can do anything with a sword. Unless you want to be knocked into a coma, I suggest you stay away from the dojo."

Mia picked up Kevin's empty bowl from the table and shook her head as she brought it to the sink. While cleaning it, she heard someone walking in and chuckling slightly.

"Apparently, it doesn't take any skill to be a pain in the ass," Antonio said as he opened the fridge and looked inside for something to eat.

"Apparently not," Mia nodded. "Still, I get where he's coming from. He's allowed to be frustrated."

"He's one of the best," Antonio smiled to Mia, "He's in a bit of a slump now, but by the end of today, I'm sure he'll have found a way to climb back to the top. He might fall off the ladder a few times…"

Mia tossed the wet sponge at Antonio, "Don't make fun of him; he's having a bad day."

"Sorry," Antonio smirked, pulling out some eggs, "Hungry?"

"Yes, thanks," Mia nodded and took a seat at the table. She could hear Kevin grumbling in frustration all the way from here and knew he was far from improving. Meanwhile, there was a Nighlok running loose who was just as powerful as Kevin once was.

-Samurai-

Serena was making her way to the kitchen for some breakfast when she thought she heard something coming from the dojo. Curious, she peeked inside and saw Kevin was already up and training on his own. He wasn't nearly as skilled as he had been the morning before, in fact, Serena had seen goofy amateurs do better at the park, but at least he was still determined.

The sword slipped from his hands and nearly hit her in the head, but Serena was fast enough to duck and the sword flew out of the room. It hit the wall, leaving a noticeable dent. Serena hissed inwardly.

"Lesson one: hold your weapon."

"I don't need pointers," Kevin grumbled. "I know what I'm supposed to be doing; I just don't know how to do it."

"That sounds like a problem."

"It's that stupid Nighlok," Kevin threw a punch at the punching bag, but it swung back and hit him, knocking him to the floor. "Dammit."

"You know…"

"Don't bother lecturing me," Kevin interrupted. "Just get out before I do something else wrong and you or baby gets hurt."

"I was just going to…"

"Leave me alone."

"Fine," Serena threw her hands up in the air in defeat, "If you want to sit here and sulk, go ahead. I'm going to eat breakfast."

"Fine," Kevin snapped and he waited for Serena to leave before he picked up another sword. He was going to do something right by the end of the day. He had to.

Serena walked into the kitchen and saw everyone was up and enjoying breakfast. She walked to the counter and picked up the plate left for her. As she made her way to the table she glanced at Mia.

"Your boyfriend's in a shitty mood."

"I know," Mia nodded, "He's just frustrated. He feels like he's lost everything."

"He can get it back, though," Mike pointed out, "We just have to defeat that Nighlok."

"If he steals your skills though, you guys are doomed," Serena said. "He won't stop at one. If I were him, I would go for the whole Samurai set."

"We can't let him hit us," Jayden agreed with Serena, "But we need to find a way to defeat him."

"Well, he fights like Kevin, right?" Antonio asked, "We just need to find Kevin's weakness."

"I can fight him again," Jayden suggested. "I defeated him when he was hypnotized, I can do it again."

"The problem there is if you get hit by his arrow, even once, Switchskill is going to be just as skills as you and Kevin," Mike said.

"Combined," Emily sighed, "Then we're really doomed."

"Unless, you know, Serena or Mentor can whoop out some secret ass-kicking skill," Antonio looked to Serena hopefully. She shook her head.

"The bigger my ass gets, the more ass-kicking skill I lose. Junior's a pain sometimes."

"Besides, she's not risking it," Mike said.

"What about Mentor?" Mia asked. "He could be our backup."

"Let's just focus on finding Kevin's weakness first," Jayden said. "Worse come to worse, we'll call in for backup."

"You mean Mentor can fight?" Mike asked excitedly, "Dude, do you know how awesome that would be to see?"

Suddenly, the Rangers heard a loud crash coming from the dojo and they all winced, already aware Kevin had slipped up again. Mia groaned and got up from the table to see if he was okay and the others followed. Emily quickly rushed to the freezer to pull out the peas.

"He's going to need a lot of these," she commented.

The Rangers hurried to the dojo and saw Kevin on his knees and folded over in two. He was clutching his face and groaning in pain. Mia knelt down in front of him and lifted his head to have a look.

"What did you do?" she asked.

"Nothing," Kevin answered. He saw Emily holding out a bag of peas and with a sigh he took it. He noticed his friends curious looks and grumbled, "The dummy hit me back."

"What?" Mia asked. Kevin pointed to the training dummy and then his sword.

"I hit the dummy; the sword bounced and hit me in the face."

Mike set the dummy upright, "At least you managed to knock him down in the process."

"It's not funny," Kevin said. "I'm obviously useless."

"You're not useless, Kev," Mia assured him and helped him up to his feet, "Look, no one ever starts at that high a level. When I first started training…"

"I'm not restarting!" Kevin stomped his foot. "I'm a Samurai master! I'm better than most of you! I know what I'm doing!"

"Ouch," Antonio whispered and placed his hand on his heart.

"Kevin, relax…"

"You relax," Kevin shouted to Mia. "I'm going to do try something else. Maybe I won't drown if I swim in the kiddie pool."

"Kevin…"

Kevin didn't stick around to listen to anyone. He stormed off, leaving Mia to sigh loudly in defeat. She looked to the others, particularly Mike, Emily and Antonio.

"He's just frustrated…"

"Don't make excuses for him, Mia," Jayden said. As he was about to follow Kevin to have a few words with him, the Gap Sensor sounded. The Rangers all groaned and rolled their eyes.

"Great, now we've got to deal with Kevin again," Mike grumbled as he raced off with the Rangers.


	119. Samurai Ranks

Kevin heard that his Samuraizer had gone off, signalling there was trouble, but he didn't bother himself to go. He was useless to the team now that he couldn't remember how to fight. All his training, all his practice, it had all been for nothing.

He knew it was likely he could get his skills back once the Nighlok was defeated, but he was starting to lose hope that that could ever happen. He was one of the best Samurai there was, and if the Nighlok couldn't defeat the others, he would at least be able to steal their skills as well.

He kicked a can down the sidewalk and huffed loudly. He felt sloppy. He was uncoordinated, unbalanced, and he couldn't do anything right without trying really, really hard. On this walk alone he has stumbled too many times to count. He considered himself a danger and tried to keep clear of most people before he accidentally hurt someone.

The battle with the Nighlok was going on only a couple of streets down. Kevin could hear the explosions and the civilians screaming, but if he couldn't handle a sword, he would be no use.

He couldn't even swim. He had been swimming since before he could remember, and yet, right after the Nighlok attacked him, when he landed in the water, he didn't know what to do to keep his head up. Had it not been for Antonio, he was certain he would have drowned.

"That's the way to go," Kevin muttered to himself and he tried to kick the can again, but this time he missed and slipped on his butt. "I'm useless…"

-Samurai-

Serena wasn't just watching the map for this battle. She also had the TV turned on and was watching the Rangers fight on the news, dreading every time they had to get close to the Nighlok to land an attack. One hit from one of his arrows would cost them everything, and the team couldn't afford to let the Nighlok steal anymore of their skills.

She glanced over to Mentor Ji, who seemed equally as worried as she was. It didn't matter who the Nighlok stole from next, even if the Rangers were all at different levels in their training, they had skills that helped make the team stronger. After all, they all had their own individual weapons that only they had mastered. As much as Serena liked to make fun of Mia for fighting with a fan, she never wanted to be on the receiving end of one of Mia's attacks, and no one else knew how to fight with, or defeat an opponent with a fan.

On the TV, Serena and Mentor saw the Nighlok shooting the Rangers with a copy of Kevin's Hydro bow and the team went down once again. Serena covered her eyes, knowing the Rangers weren't going to jump back up right away. They were hurt.

"They need Kevin," Mentor said. "Where is he?"

"Probably off sulking," Serena answered, "besides, what can he do?"

"If he let us train him properly, he could help the Rangers. The Nighlok doesn't take, he switches."

Serena turned to Mentor, "Wait a minute…"

"Switchskill," Mentor nodded, "He'll switch Kevin's skills with his own. If he were to hit Kevin again…"

"It would undo what's been done," Serena gasped. "The Nighlok knows that, he wouldn't attack Kevin, and if he does, we'd have the old Kevin back! We have to find Kevin!"

"Serena, sit," Mentor instructed as Serena jumped up from the couch. She looked to him curiously before doing as she was told.

"But we have to…"

"Kevin needs to understand being a good Samurai isn't about being the best at everything."

"Uh, Mentor, the Samurai who couldn't wield a sword never really lived long enough to be called Samurai. And while we're on the topic of skills, I've never seen an Olympic swimmer who couldn't swim."

"Neither have I," Mentor agreed, "and it is unfortunate that Kevin has to start again from scratch, but sometimes even the best need to go back and learn from the start."

"Kevin knows the basics," Serena said, "He just doesn't know how to do them."

"I know what it takes to do a lot of things, Serena," Mentor nodded his head, "but I won't be able to do them unless I practice. I'm sure, when you were young and you were learning to ride a bike, you knew you needed to peddle and keep moving in order to stay up, but you couldn't do so until you got a little practice."

"So we need Kevin to realise there's always a second chance?" Serena asked. Mentor smiled.

"Only if he's willing to take it."

"Good luck," Serena leaned back against the couch. "Kevin's excitement and determination to learn a new skill and practice it is admirable. Kevin's excitement and determination to go back to basics and learn something he spent years perfecting... needs improvement."

-Samurai-

Mike hit the ground hard and rolled a few feet before finally stopping. His world continued to spin and his chest hurt from the attack. He didn't know how much more he could take.

Emily was quickly by his side and helped him back up to his feet, but it was painfully obvious that Mike wasn't going to last much longer.

"You're weak and pathetic!" the Nighlok cried and turned away from Mike and Emily, "There's no way I'm going after you!"

"Shut your mouth, freak!" Mike called back. He couldn't fight back, but he wasn't going to take the insults."

"Hmm," the Nighlok tapped his chin and looked around at the other Rangers, feeling it was time for a switch. The Blue Ranger's powers were fun, but there wasn't much he could do with water. He needed something more.

"Fire Smasher!" while the Nighlok was distracted, Jayden thought he could sneak in an attack. A smile light up the Nighlok's face. He blocked Jayden's attack with his own version of Kevin's spin sword, and quickly shot out one of his arrows, striking Jayden in the stomach. Both Jayden and the Nighlok glowed for a moment and Jayden suddenly fell to his knees and powered down.

"Dammit!" he shouted. He picked up his fallen Spin Sword and refused to get up. To his surprise, he still remembered what to do and how to do it. As the Nighlok summoned his own Fire Smasher, Jayden blocked the attack and hurried away before he was hurt.

"How did you do that?" Antonio asked, "I saw you get hit!"

"Don't tell me you're just so awesome there is no stealing your skills."

"I can fight, but something feels off," Jayden admitted and he looked to his Samuraizer. He tried to morph, and remembered how to do it. He traced the strokes perfectly and in the right order, but it wouldn't work. He tried it again, this time closing his eyes to better focus.

"Fire Smasher!" the Nighlok cried out, imitating Jayden as he swung around his own version of the Fire Smasher. The Rangers gasped loudly in shock and before they were run, a big, ball of flaming energy hit them. They hit the ground, powered down, and withered around in pain.

Jayden was the first to sit up and he looked down at himself. Fire didn't affect him as easily as it did everyone else because it was his element. With a little focus, he knew how to keep it from hurting him. But he seemed to be just as badly burned as the others.

He found that to be slightly odd as well. They were all still morphed when they were hit. They would have gotten a few burns, but he should have been worse off. If the Nighlok took his powers and blasted him with fire, he should have been cooked.

Just to make sure he was still alive, he tapped himself. He frowned when we felt his clothes were still slightly damp.

"What the hell?"

"Oh no," the Nighlok looked down at himself as his skin began to crack, "All this fire's making me dry up! Stupid red Ranger!" the Nighlok stomped his feet before storming over to a gap and disappearing. Jayden pounded his fists in the ground before he turned to the rest of his team.

"Are you guys okay?"

"I feel like I'm well done," Mike muttered, "A few minor burns, here. Nothing to worry about."

"Same," Emily, Mia, and Antonio nodded.

"We need to get home, then," Jayden pushed himself up to his feet, "We need to figure this all out."

-Samurai-

After their burns and cuts were treated, the Rangers, Serena and Mentor stood around in the dojo, this time they were circling Jayden and waiting for him to try something.

"I have power, I can feel it," Jayden said, "I just can't summon it."

"Do something," Mike suggested. "Make a bunny or something."

"Or a second elf suit for me," Emily smiled. "I can't wear this one every single day."

Serena shook her head and turned to Mia, "Revenge backfire. She likes it."

"Don't mention fire," Mia muttered.

Jayden sighed and traced the symbol for elf. To his surprise it worked out perfectly, and a new suit for Emily appeared on the ground at her feet. She picked it up happily, but the others seemed confused.

"Why is it you can use symbol power, but Kevin can't even walk?" Antonio asked. "You're good, Jay, but you're not that amazing."

Mentor looked over the other Rangers and his eyes met with Serena's. He didn't need to say anything in order to get the gears spinning in her head. When they finally started going she gave him a look and he nodded. Serena gasped.

"Of course!"

"What?" Emily looked to her sister. "You figured it out?"

"The Nighlok switches skills! He'll trade what you have with what he has!"

Mentor stood in front of Jayden, "I want you to close your eyes and trace whatever comes naturally. Don't think, just trace."

Jayden did as he was told. He had no idea what he was drawing, but when he finished he heard the others muttering amongst themselves. He opened his eyes and their widened instantly. He thought he had traced the Kanji for fire, but in front of him was the Kanji for water.

"I'm Kevin?"

"Awkward," Antonio hummed.

"So wait…" Mike looked around the room, "If Jayden's got Kevin's skills, and Kevin's still got no skills…"

"The Nighlok's got Jayden's skills," Emily realised.

Antonio rubbed his head, "It's like musical chairs set on expert level."

"I'm confused too," Mia said. "The Nighlok's just going to keep switching our powers around?"

"If he keeps doing that, none of us is going to have our own powers or skills," Emily said. "We're all going to be a confused jumbled mess and… Oh! I want to switch with Serena!"

"Hey!"

"What?" Emily shrugged and ducked slightly behind Mike, "We have the same element, you're just better at it. It's my turn to be better than you at something."

"Everyone's keeping or getting their own skills back," Serena said. "End of story. We need to find a way to defeat the Nighlok."

"But now he's just as good as Jayden, and our best Ranger is Jayden, but as Kevin and Kevin can't beat Jayden, even if Jayden's Kevin!" Mike whined. All eyes turned to him.

"What?"

"We're screwed."

"That I get," Antonio nodded.

Mentor sighed loudly, shook his head, and walked off. The Rangers watched him leave, feeling as though they had somehow disappointed him. They exchanged looks amongst themselves before turning to Serena. She had been spending the most time with Mentor. If anyone knew what had changed his attitude, it would be her.

"You guys seriously think you can't beat Jayden?" Serena asked and crossed her arms.

"Here's the ranking," Antonio nodded. He held his hand at waist level, "Mike, Em, and I are about here," he lifted his hand to his chest, "Mia's here," he moved his hand up to his chin, "Kevin's here," he raised his hand to his forehead, "Jayden's here. And with Kevin gone and the Nighlok as Jayden… we don't stand a chance."

"Seriously?" Serena looked to the Rangers in shock before she shook her head and walked out, "Morons."

"Name calling's not nice," Mike called after her and he crossed his arms, "Dudes, why can't they ever just tell us what they think we should do?"

"Welcome to my childhood," Jayden sighed.


	120. The Team's Weakness

Kevin could tell the city was starting to go back to normal and he knew that meant the Nighlok was gone. Whether or not the Rangers were able to defeat him was another story. He decided to see for himself by trying out his skills. Kevin assumed the Nighlok's powers would wear off once he was destroyed. They always did.

He kicked and punched the air and felt anything but graceful as he did. When he landed in the grass, with a mouthful of dirt, he decided enough was enough. He was never going to be good again.

The sun was setting and he knew it was probably best if he went home, but he didn't feel like facing the others. He wondered how he could when he was no better than any of them. Long ago he had come to terms with the fact that reaching Jayden's level of mastery was going to take a lot of practice and patience, but he prided himself on being second best. In the Shiba House, with the exception of the great red Ranger, there was no one better than him.

As he headed home, taking the scenic route because he dreaded facing the others, he kicked a clump of dirt and groaned. He hated feeling inferior. He knew the other Rangers all tried their best, and sometimes they could beat him in training, but he hated knowing that they were now so far ahead of him that they could kick his ass without breaking a sweat. He had nothing against Mike, or Emily, or Antonio, but he would rather eat the dirt under his feet than ever sink down to their level of skill. It worked for them, but it wasn't good enough for Kevin.

After a long walk he found himself standing before the Gates of the Shiba House. He pushed them open and made his way inside the house. All was quiet from what he could tell, except for a few voices in the common room. He tried to sneak to his bedroom, not wanting to confront the others, but he was caught.

"You lost your skill to sneak, too," someone _gently_ pointed out and Kevin turned around to see he was face to face with Mia. He noticed the cuts, scrapes and burns on her face and arms but didn't ask about them.

"I'm going to bed."

"Where were you?" Mia asked him. "Didn't you hear your Samuraizer go off?"

"What good am I now?"

"You could have at least shown up for support," Mia said.

Kevin shook his head, "Like hell you need me."

"Kevin…"

"I'm worthless, okay!"

"Seriously? Again with this, dude?" Mike frowned. "You may not be able to fight, but we could have found something for you to do."

"Do you want me to get killed? Thanks a lot, guys. I thought you were my friends."

"No, Kev, we didn't…"

"I'm going to bed."

"Kevin stop," Jayden demanded and the blue Ranger froze, stiff as a board. Jayden rose to his feet and demanded Kevin take a seat on his stool.

"I'll fall."

"Sit down," Jayden growled. Kevin walked over and slowly lowered himself down. He nearly missed, but Antonio subtly shifted the stool under Kevin's butt without the blue Ranger knowing. The last thing any of them wanted to deal with was Kevin exploding in anger.

Jayden picked up the book of Nighlok from the middle of the table. After Mentor and Serena left in a huff, the Rangers had been doing research on the Nighlok to try and figure out what the two mentors were trying to get at. After hours of searching they hadn't figured it out, but they had found out quite a bit of information on the Nighlok.

Jayden pointed to the page and told Kevin to read it. The blue Ranger groaned but looked down at the paper. The words weren't making any sense. They didn't even look like words. He couldn't remember how to read. The second he realised that he smacked the book with his hands, flipping it off the table while he jumped up to his feet.

"Rub it in, guys."

"Kevin…"

"Reading's a skill, dumbasses!"

"Kevin!" Mia shouted furiously.

"Were you going to have dyslexic over there read to me once I admitted I couldn't do it anymore?" Kevin asked and pointed to Emily. "Was Antonio going to start preaching to me about Samurai History? You were going to have Mike offer to train me, weren't you? You guys are all enjoying this!"

"Kevin, stop it," Mia growled, "You're acting like a jerk. The only thing keeping you at such a low level is yourself!"

Mia picked up the book and slammed it in Kevin's chest, "If you had just asked for help, we all would have offered, but apparently you're too good for all of us. If you insist on doing this by yourself, we'll give you what you want."

Mia took Emily by the hand and signalled for the boys to follow her to bed so they could leave Kevin along. As his friends walked off, the blue Ranger sighed.

"Mia…"

"I don't want to hear it, Kevin," Mia shook her head and glared at her fiancé while the others continued making their way to their rooms, "I guess being a dick to everyone else just comes naturally to you. Enjoy your reading."

Kevin sighed, dropped the book onto the table and started searching the room for a blanket. He knew better than to try and crawl into bed with Mia when she was angry with him. Sleeping on a couch was his only option.

As he searched the room, he heard someone walking in. Assuming it was one of the other Rangers coming back for something they had forgotten, Kevin turned to apologize.

But it wasn't the Rangers, it was Mentor, and he seemed crossed.

"I'll apologize in the morning," Kevin assured the older man. "I know what I said was wrong…"

"It's not what you said," Mentor corrected, "It's what you meant. Emily knows she struggles to read, Antonio knows he has very little knowledge of Samurai history, and Mike knows that while he could teach you a thing or two, he is in no way the best person to teach you everything you once knew. You pointed out the obvious."

"Fine, I'll apologize for what I meant."

"What did you mean?" Mentor asked in a tone that indicated he already knew the answer. Kevin rolled his eyes.

"Mentor, I hate to say it…"

"You did so without a second thought only moments ago," Mentor shrugged. "Now, suddenly, you have a conscience?"

"We have a totem pole, okay," Kevin shrugged his shoulders. "Some of us are better than others. We can't all be good."

"And you believe you're at the top?"

"Not anymore," Kevin grumbled and took a seat on his stool.

"On a good day, I mean."

"No," Kevin shook his head, "Jayden is, obviously."

"And you're right beneath him?"

"Yeah."

"Who is at the bottom? Mia?"

Kevin shook his head, "No way, Mentor. I'm not just saying this because she's my fiancée but… have you not seen Mia in training or in battle? Aside from Jayden, if anyone stands a chance at defeating me in a real fight, it's Mia."

"Then Mike?"

"Well… no," again Kevin shook his head. "Mike might not be the best with symbol power or with a sword… but he's really good at hand to hand combat. Maybe one of the best."

"So where would you put him?"

"Not at the bottom."

"Then Emily?" Mentor suggested. Again Kevin had to shake his head.

"She's better than Mike once she knows her symbols, and it takes her a little longer to pick up on new techniques and moves, but once she's got it, she's got it."

"So she's not at the bottom. That means you would put Antonio…"

"Antonio's got his own style," Kevin said. "It's different, but I don't think he's at the bottom, either."

"Well, you've got an oddly shaped totem pole," Mentor said. "Can I ask you another question?"

"Shoot."

"Who's better at swimming? You or Antonio?"

"Seriously?"

"Answer honestly. No one will judge."

"Me. I owe him my life, I guess, but before this Nighlok hit me, I was a much better swimmer."

"Who is better at fishing?"

"Antonio," Kevin looked to Mentor as if he were crazy, "What are you…?"

"Who is the best at coming up with strategies? I'm not just talking about on the battlefield. In general, who has the best, if not sometimes riskiest, plans?"

"I guess that one goes to Mike," Kevin shrugged. "I've got to admit, he's pretty good at getting himself, and us, out of tight situations. Probably from all those video games."

"When you first started training on horses here at the Shiba House, who was the best."

"Surprisingly, Emily," Kevin said. "She was right up there with Jayden. But she's been riding horses since she was little."

"Who is the best at getting the team to calm down and focus? When everyone seems to be frustrated and losing their tempers, who can you always depend on to cool tempers?"

"Mia."

Mentor shrugged his shoulders, "You may be skilled with a sword, your symbol power was excellent, but you are not the best in the house. At any time, any of your friends could have outmatched you in any field."

"Seriously?"

"You trained quite a bit with Mia and Mike. Have you ever let them beat you?"

"No."

Mentor nodded his head, "Precisely."

"Fine, they won a few rounds…"

"And yet Mike is still at the bottom of the pack in your eyes?"

"I… but…"

"Those beneath you are not weaker," Mentor said, his tone suddenly very serious. "In fact, those that are beneath you support you and they need to be strong to do so. They work hard, sometimes harder than you, just to keep up. I'm sure, if they believed in themselves, they could defeat you or Jayden."

"Mentor…"

"That Nighlok isn't the enemy this time," Mentor turned to leave. "You Rangers are slowly defeating yourselves."

"But…"

"I suggest you get some sleep. Even in your condition, I'm sure you can find a way to make yourself useful."

Mentor turned off the lights and headed out of the room. Kevin sighed loudly and made a bed out of three stools. He lied down, draped the blanket over his body and looked up to the ceiling.

"Maybe he's got a point," he whispered.


	121. Ranger Totem Pole

While Emily was getting ready for bed, Mike was playing with his hands, trying to keep them from balling up into fists. After what Kevin had said about him, Emily, and Antonio, it was hard not to get mad. Mike had promised to keep his rage under control, but it was really hard not to get angry when someone was, once again, calling him incompetent.

It was an issue that had only just been settled again between Mike and Kevin, but it had come up. Kevin seemed to think of himself as some kind of godsend. Mike couldn't lie, the blue Ranger was a very valuable member of the team, and if the Nighlok had taken someone else's skills, especially his, Emily's, or Antonio's, the fight would likely be a bit easier, but Kevin didn't need to point it out like it was a bad thing. They weren't dead weight.

"Is that a warning sign?"

Mike looked up when he heard Emily's voice and unclenched his fists.

"Don't worry about it, Em. I won't get mad."

"If you do, I'm sure you won't be punished for hitting Kevin. I hate to say it, but he kind of deserves it."

"You're not useless, you know that, right?" Mike wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her down onto the bed. Emily nodded her head.

"I think I've proven myself by now. Kevin doesn't think clearly when he's frustrated, so I'm doing like what I did in school. I'm ignoring him."

"Good," Mike hugged her tight and Emily responded but pulled away after a minute. She looked Mike in the eyes, "You're not useless either."

"He keeps pointing it out."

"Because he has problems," Emily smiled. "The common denominator isn't you. It's him. He's pointing the finger at you, but there's three pointing back at him."

"Yours, mine, and Antonio's?"

"His other three fingers, silly," Emily chuckled and showed Mike on her own hand. She pointed to him and wiggled her middle, ring, and pinky fingers. "It's something Serena told me when the bullies started calling me names. They feel bad, but they don't want other people to know so they project their insecurities onto other people."

"You really think that's the case? I would hate to see your school dances if you were the most graceful person there."

"Sometimes they were true," Emily gently shoved Mike.

"So, you're telling me Kevin's jealous of me?"

"I don't think he's jealous of you per se," Emily shook her head. "Maybe jealous of how you do what you do. Kevin's trained his entire life, and really, he's no more of a Samurai than the rest of us. We all save the world. We all get the glory."

"Some glory when the world has no idea who you are."

"Kevin's going through a rough time. Imagine what it would be like if you couldn't do the most basic things, especially if you could do it before."

Mike propped himself up and looked at Emily, "He called me out basically for being lazy. I guess I can handle that. He called you out on something you can't change. Why are you so forgiving?"

"I can read," Emily huffed. "Look, I know how he feels. Everything he's trying to do seems so basic. We can all do it and for some reason he can't. It's like… before we found out I was dyslexic. Everyone was reading out loud in front of the class and it was just… so easy for them. Then it was my turn and I knew what I had to do, but I couldn't do it. The words didn't make sense, I couldn't focus. I thought the books were picking on me, too. It's frustrating. One night, Serena was too tired to read so she asked me to read to her. I tried really hard, and couldn't do it. I got frustrated and yelled at her, like Kevin yelled at us. That's when she found out that I had a problem. Learning mainstream wasn't working for me."

"Mainstream?"

"Like everyone else," Emily nodded. "I learn the same things in a different way."

Mike smiled and kissed Emily's forehead, "I'm going to sleep on that."

"Mainstream?" Emily furrowed her brow.

"Learning the same thing in a different way," Mike said to her. "You're a genius, Em."

"Can you tell my teachers from first to fourth grade that?" Emily crawled up next to Mike in bed. "Um, by the way… why am I a genius?"

"I'll tell you tomorrow. I need to figure this out first."

"Oh… okay."

"Do you feel left out?" Mike chuckled.

"You and my ideas seem to have inside jokes that I'm not aware of," Emily pouted playfully.

"You're smart, you'll figure it out."

"Apparently I already did."

Mike gave Emily a kiss and then flicked the bells on her elf hat, "Goodnight, Genius Elf."

-Samurai-

After so many prank calls on her phone, Serena had decided to turn it off, but she knew at one point she was going to have to face the music and turn her phone back on. While in her room, there was nothing else to do. She wasn't tired just yet. So she grabbed her phone and turned it on.

"Eighteen missed calls?" she groaned loudly and fell back onto her bed, "Okay, someone out there is seriously trying to piss me off."

She noticed that on some of the calls, the caller had left a voicemail. Assuming there was no harm in listening to them she started up her messages and put the phone to her ear. At first she heard the typical: _"I guess you're ignoring me now but I need to talk to you."_ Or the creepy: _"Whenever you get this, please come meet me in the park."_

But the last message was really an odd one and she had to play it again to make sure she heard it right.

"_I'm sorry for bothering you, but I didn't think there was anyone else I could go to. I ran into someone today. Someone different. I couldn't trust her at first but I feel a connection to her… like I do with you. I don't know how she found me, but she promised to help me. I'm just calling to let you know I'll stop with the calls… but I would still like to see you. The park at night would be the best time. We'll be there for the next few nights. At least consider it."_

Serena snapped her phone shut and immediately turned it back off. Either this guy was seriously desperate and the only number he knew was hers, or he really needed to work on keeping his creepiness subtle. No woman in their right mind would go to the park in the middle of the night to meet a man who obviously found some sort of partner.

She laid her head down in her pillow and pulled the blankets up to her neck. She tried to fall asleep while telling herself that as long as she didn't go to the park or leave the house alone she was safe. But the more she thought of her mystery prankster, the more she started to feel curious. Why did he have her number? Why was he calling her? How could she help him? What connection did he think they had?

Just as her mind started to drift off she felt her baby kick. He always started up just when she was trying to get to sleep. She placed her hand on her stomach and rubbed it gently.

-Samurai-

Completely out of character, Mike was the first one up. Before the sun could even begin to poke its head out for the day, the green Ranger was dressed in his uniform, had eaten his breakfast, and was now going around the house pounding on everyone's doors.

"Wake up!" he shouted. "Wake up! It's time for training!"

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Antonio grumbled as he dragged himself out of his room. "What time is it?"

"Way too early," Mike answered and tossed everyone their clothes "Get ready. I have a special training idea I want to try today."

"I'll sit this one out," Kevin said and crawled back into his makeshift bed to get some sleep. Mike pulled the blankets off him and shook his head.

"It stars you. Now go get ready!"

"Is this where my genius kicks in?" Emily asked Mike. He nodded and nudged her back into their room so she could get changed.

"Just go along with it, okay?"

The Rangers retreated into their rooms (or the bathroom in Kevin's case) to get changed. Mike headed over to Mia's room and knocked.

"Can I come in?"

The door slid open and Mike saw Mia was close to being completely dressed already. She just had to slip her training shirt on over her tank top, and fortunately she was wearing one, or he was sure Kevin would kill him.

"First you wake me up, now you…"

"I need your help. I know you're pissed at Kevin, but you obviously want him to get better again, right?"

Mia sighed and slipped her shirt on, "I'm listening…"

Half an hour later, Mike joined the others in the dojo. None of them seemed really happy about the fact that even though he had scheduled this training lesson at this time, he was still late.

"Finally you show up," Antonio said. "I was going to get started on breakfast while we waited for you."

Mia walked in shortly after Mike, her hair looking like a mess. No one made much of it. It was early in the morning and she had been woken up.

Finally in the same room as his fiancé, Kevin tried to take this opportunity to apologize, "Mia, about what I said last night…"

"You didn't offend me," Mia pointed out.

"This is no time for apologies," Mike shook his head. "Training's obviously going to be messed up today. Jayden's Kevin, Kevin's no one and…"

"Wait, what?" Kevin turned to Jayden. The red Ranger looked to the blue.

"I got hit by the Nighlok in that last fight. He took my skills and switched them with yours."

"Anyways!" Mike interrupted, louder than needed so attention would go back to him. "Since we're all mixed up, I figured we'd mix ourselves up again in training. Mia, you're with me."

"That's an excellent idea, Mike," Mentor said as he walked in. He heard the Rangers moving about and decided to check up on them. To his surprise, Mike was leading the early morning training session, but there was a lesson the green Ranger was missing.

"Antonio…"

"Emily," Mentor interrupted her when he saw she was going to ask the least experienced between Jayden and Antonio to train with her, "You'll be with Jayden."

"But…"

"That works out," Mike smiled. "Antonio managed to teach himself how to be a Samurai in record time. I'm sure some of his magic could rub off on Kevin."

"Don't expect anything," Kevin muttered.

The Rangers took their spots in different corners of the room with their partners and their early morning (very early morning) training session began.

Kevin struggled right from the start against Antonio, and he knew the gold Ranger was holding back. It frustrated him, but a quick glance to Mentor reminded him of the talk he had the night before and he was sure the older man had something planned to help him out. He took a deep breath and focused.

He still got his ass kicked, but by remaining calm he realized he was picking up a few things from Antonio. After fifteen minutes, he remembered how to block an attack. It wasn't much, but it kept him from getting hit in the face.

Then, Mentor called for the Rangers to practice fighting with symbols. It wasn't something they did often, given the state they would leave the dojo in when they were done, but he figured this would be a good time to practice. Jayden would need all the help he could get before the Nighlok turned up again, and there was no such thing as too much practice for the others.

Kevin knew it was useless to try, but worked on avoiding getting hit by the symbols Antonio was throwing his way. But suddenly, he heard an interrupted cry that made his blood run cold. When he turned around to see what had caused it, his blood began to boil again. Forgetting about the loss of his skills, he charged over to Mike. The green Ranger had summoned up a vine and wrapped Mia up, immobilizing her. It was a good strategy, even Kevin had to admit that, but the green Ranger had taken it too far, especially for training. One of the vines wrapped around her neck and Mia was being squeezed breathless.

Mike saw Kevin's attack coming. He knew it was coming, so he readied himself to fight. At first, he could easily hold Kevin off, but the blue Ranger's attacks were coming down on him with such force and power, Mike couldn't hold him off for long.

"Stop, stop, stop!" Mike began shielding himself with his arms as Kevin continued to swing at him.

"Kevin!"

Kevin looked up when he heard Mia calling his name and saw she was okay. He forgot about Mike and raced over to check up on her.

Emily went to Mike to see if he was okay.

"Was that my genius plan?" she helped Mike to his feet and dusted him off. Mike nodded his head.

"Yep."

"I don't think I should be a genius, then. People get hurt."

"Jayden did that to me once," Mike said to her. "Really unethical, making someone believe the person they care for most is in trouble, but you really see what someone's made of. Kevin beat me fair and square."

"He…?"

"It's like you said," Mike wrapped his arm around Emily's shoulder, "Learning the same thing but in a different way. I figured we couldn't run Kevin through all the techniques again like when he first started training. He's done that once before already. We needed to get him started in a different way. Nothing would get him started faster than Mia in danger."

"So you strangled her?"

"She's pretty good at pretending to die," Mike chuckled. "She was never really in danger. Come on, Em, after what just happened between me and her, did you really think I was going to hurt her?"

Mentor overheard the conversation between Mike and Emily and smiled to himself before approaching Kevin.

"Seems we were both wrong. Maybe you could learn something from Mike."

"I'll kill him," Kevin muttered and let go of Mia to challenge Mike. Mentor put his hand on Kevin's chest.

"You don't realise what you just did, do you?"

"I…" Kevin looked to Mentor, then Mia, "What did I do?"

"If you can fight like that against the Nighlok, I doubt you'll be useless," Mia smiled.

Kevin furrowed his brow. Mentor placed his hand on Kevin's shoulder.

"You're not the best, but you're always better at something. That Nighlok took away what you were good at, but that doesn't mean you'll never be good at anything ever again."

"Mike taught me that lesson?" Kevin rubbed the back of his neck. "Seriously?"

"Mike showed you there's still something you can do," Mentor nodded. "But that is not the lesson I wanted to teach."

"We're working on figuring out your lesson," Mia assured Mentor.

Mentor looked around the room and decided that maybe this lesson was one he was better off sharing. He called the Rangers over and had them all take a seat.

"There's an issue I need to address with all of you. I believe you all call it the Ranger Totem Pole."

"Jayden's on top, I know the answer to that one," Mike nodded his head.

Mentor sighed, "No one is on top."

"Uh, someone's been blindfolding you during training," Antonio said. "I think it's obvious…"

"Jayden," Mentor quickly turned to the red Ranger, "Do you honestly believe that you are better and more valuable than every single person on your team?"

Jayden looked around at his teammates and shook his head, "I may be the red Ranger, and I'm the one with the sealing power, but we're not a team without everyone. I mean, look at any time we've been a Ranger down. The battles are tougher."

"There is no Ranger Totem Pole," Mentor said. "You are all equally important, and you each bring your own strengths to the team."

"Jayden's strength just so happens to be the one that'll save the world," Antonio shrugged.

"But I can't do it without you guys," Jayden smiled. "Besides, I'll need you guys to help me beat that Nighlok. In this condition, I don't have the power to use the sealing symbol at all."

"You make my skills sound like a bad thing," Kevin pouted playfully.

"They are better in your hands," Jayden nodded. "When the Nighlok comes back, we'll have to defeat him. No letting him get away."

"We won't have to wait long," Mike said as the Gap Sensor sounded, "He's back."

"And he may have my skills, but that doesn't mean we can't beat him," Jayden smiled. "C'mon Rangers."

Mentor watched them leave with a smile, happy he had gotten that issue out of the way. He knew Jayden was important, but he couldn't stand watching the rest of the team slowly bring themselves down. In their own ways, they were all the strongest Rangers.

Serena walked up to the doorway and looked at Mentor.

"I'm going for a walk," she told him.

"Be careful," Mentor instructed. "There's a Nighlok in the city."

"I'll keep my eyes open," Serena said.

"Would you like me to go with you?" Mentor offered. Serena shook her head.

"No. I'm just going to clear my head."

"Take your phone with you."

"After all the prank calls I've been getting, I'd rather not," Serena answered. Mentor frowned.

"Those have been a bother," he reached into his kimono and pulled out his own Samuraizer. It only worked to call the other Rangers, but he assumed it was better than nothing, "Here, take mine then and I'll get in touch with the Tengen Gate. I'll have them send you over your great Grandmother's old Samuraizer."

"Thanks," Serena nodded and turned to head off.


	122. Mystery Prankster

Serena knew she had promised Mentor to stay safe, and that it was already a bad idea going out into the city when she knew there was a Nighlok attack. She also knew it was a horrible idea to go to the battle site and watch.

But she needed to clear her head and relax, and there was nothing more relaxing than watching the good guys destroy and annoying monster.

She didn't know what had happened in the dojo, but whatever the Rangers had done, and whatever Mentor had told them, seemed to work. They were a team again, and even with their lack of skills, or their mismatched skills, they were still the mighty Rangers.

She watched as the Nighlok made its biggest mistake. Jayden's fire powers caused it to dry out too quickly, and he switched back with the red Ranger in order to get Kevin's water powers back. But by doing so, he opened himself up for Kevin to attack. The blue Ranger no longer had anything to lose and gave the fight his all. It was a sloppy battle, but it seemed to be working out for Kevin.

The big mistake came when the Nighlok fought back, tired of being beaten up by Kevin. He struck the blue Ranger, forgetting for a moment that that would undo everything he had done. Kevin got his powers and his skills back, and the Nighlok had nothing. Now the blue Ranger was empowered and enraged, and the Nighlok had no idea what hit him.

Then the monster grew into Mega-mode and the Rangers quickly joined him as they summoned their Zords. Serena knew they were good now. In their second lives, the Nighlok were always desperate and they always made too many mistakes. They never stood a chance.

Running for cover (because Megazord battles were extremely destructive), Serena found herself at the park. It was daytime, so she wouldn't encounter her mystery prankster, and with a live attack in the city, the park was emptied. For the next little while, it would be the perfect place for her to clear her head and figure out what she was going to do about this man who seemed to want to see and talk to her so desperately.

-Samurai-

Mike danced up the walkway to the Shiba House after winning the battle against the Nighlok. He was happy things were back to normal and everything was right again. No more angry Kevin, no more skills being swapped around. Just regular, old Ranger fun.

"We did it, we did it!" he chanted happily and spun Emily around. She giggled as he wrapped his arms around her.

Kevin trailed back slightly. He knew everything was back to normal, but there was still something he needed to do before he felt right again.

"Hey guys," he called and they turned to look at him, "About the way I was acting and the things I said… I'm sorry."

"You were frustrated, Kevin," Emily smiled. "It's okay."

Kevin shook his head, "No, it's not. I'm not better than you guys and Mentor was right, there is no Ranger Totem Pole. I'm one of the best with a sword, we all know that, but being a Samurai, and being Rangers, is about more than that. We're all different colours because we're all different, and we're all strong. Jayden may be the red Ranger and I may think that blue comes right after but that's not how it works. Jayden's the best red Ranger. I'm the best blue. Mia's the best pink, Mike's the best green, Emily's the best yellow and Antonio's…"

"Golden," Antonio smirked and was playfully shoved by each of his teammates. Kevin nodded his head.

"We can't compare ourselves to each other. No one can be a better blue than me. No one can be a better green than Mike."

"Stop with the mushiness," Antonio teased Kevin. "We get it. You're sorry."

"In a nutshell," Kevin nodded, "Do you guys forgive me?"

"Yep," Emily smiled. She then started tugging Mike's arm, "Let's go inside! I want to get my elf suit on!"

"Sedatives," Mia whispered to Kevin. "We'll need lots of them on Christmas Eve."

-Samurai-

After getting into her elf suit, Emily walked around the house in search of her sister. She hadn't seen much of Serena since the night before.

She skipped over to her sister's bedroom and shook herself, making her bells jingle. For the first time in a long time she was really excited for Christmas. She would be away from home, but she had all the family she needed, and she didn't have to open her presents in her sister's bed so Serena could be a part of Christmas morning. She wouldn't have to carry up a small, modified version of Christmas dinner to her sick sister's room, and, if Mentor permitted, she and Serena could go to Church on Christmas Eve together, like they used to do when Emily was younger, before Serena was sick.

She knew her bells could be heard from inside Serena's room. For the last few days this was how she got everyone's attention. Even Scruffy started to respond to her jingling bells. But when Serena didn't answer, Emily decided to just let herself in quietly.

"Are you napping?" she whispered and looked to the bed. It was empty. Emily crossed her arms. "That's weird…"

"Secret Santa time!" Mike bounced excitedly down the hall with a pen and several small pieces of paper in his hands. Emily giggled. If there was anyone more excited for the holidays than her, it was definitely Mike.

Assuming her sister could hear Mike no matter where she was hiding in the house, Emily joined her friends in the common room to pull names for Secret Santa. She took a seat on her stool and waited for the others to gather.

Mentor was last in the room. He had a big smile on his face. He also seemed happy for Christmas.

Mike looked around with a smile. In his excitement, he forgot to count heads. The room seemed full enough so he got started.

"I put everyone's names down on a paper and… Em, can we have your hat?"

Emily took off her hat and handed it to Mike. He dumped the little pieces of paper inside and started shaking them up.

"Youngest first," Mike held the hat above Emily's head so she couldn't cheat. Emily still noticed her sister was missing and hoped she would join soon. Mike smiled down at her, "Unless you get your own name, no saying who you picked."

Emily nodded and picked a paper from the bunch. She covered it up and read it as privately as she could while Mike passed the hat over to Kevin.

"Me next," he called and Kevin held the hat up high. Mike reached inside, grabbed a name at random and smiled excitedly.

Antonio was next and he pulled a name, followed by Kevin, Mia, and then Jayden.

The next person in line was obvious. There were only two people left, and unless Serena had some age-defying secret, she was much younger than Mentor Ji.

Mike spun around in a circle for a bit as he looked for Serena. He spun around and around but he couldn't find her. He spun until he got dizzy and nearly fell into Jayden's lap. The red Ranger steadied his friend with a chuckle.

"Serena's probably taking a nap. You know how junior can be sometimes."

"But she has to draw a name," Mike pouted and then shrugged, "Oh well, here Em, pick for your sister."

"But then I'll know who she got," Emily frowned.

"Just don't look," Mike said. Emily did as she was told and pulled one of the two remaining cards from her hat. She didn't look at the name inside and place the paper in a small pocket in her costume. Mike then held the hat out to Mentor, who had no choice but to take the last name.

Mike lightly tossed Emily her hat back and a bright smile lit up his face, "Twenty bucks," he said. "I don't care how much you give; you're not allowed to spend more than twenty bucks on a present."

"Got it," Kevin nodded his head. "I've already got an idea for under twenty bucks."

"We have a week and a half to figure it out!" Mike said happily. "Starting now! Go!"

Mike raced to his bedroom, where he was keeping his laptop, so he could browse for something online. He didn't want to walk all around town without an idea. Looking on the internet was the best way to pre-shop without walking in the cold.

Emily now had a real excuse for going to find her sister. She had to give Serena her name for the Secret Santa before she _accidentally_ snuck a peek. She knew her sister wasn't in her room. She didn't know where else she could be, but she knew how to find Serena. She pulled out her phone and dialled her sister's number.

"Ring, ring, ring," Emily pleaded the phone but heard nothing until Scruffy walked over to her with something in his mouth. She looked down at her dog and saw her sister's phone vibrating in his mouth.

"Scruffy," she shook her head at the dog, "No chewing electronics! Mike or Antonio would kill you if they saw you doing that."

She pulled Serena's phone out of Scruffy's mouth, scolded him one more time, and then looked around for her sister. If Scruffy had stolen her phone, surely Serena was nearby.

When Mentor walked by Emily, he saw she had Serena's phone in her hand.

"Your sister will no longer be using her old phone," Mentor thought it best to inform Emily before she really got confused. "Your great grandmother's old Samuraizer is on its way here and she will use that instead."

"Because of the prankster?" Emily asked. Mentor nodded.

"Exactly."

"Do you know where she is?"

"She went out for a walk," Mentor said. "She should be home soon."

"You trust nothing's going to happen when my sister's out by herself?" Emily shook her head, "Do you know where she went? I'll catch up to her."

"She has my Samuraizer with her."

Emily looked down at her Samuraizer and set it to locate Mentor's. It was a weak signal, but that was because the older man rarely left the house. Still, it gave Emily a starting point on where to find her sister. The park.

"How long has she been out for?" Emily asked as she walked to the front door and grabbed her jacket and boots.

"Since late this morning."

"Late this morning? When the Nighlok attacked?"

Mentor nodded his head and checked the time, "It's been a while. I guess I haven't noticed."

"I'll bring her back," Emily said, "Before it gets dark."

Emily stepped outside again and checked her Samuraizer, just to make sure Serena hadn't moved. Given how weak the signal was, she was going to have to check often to make sure she didn't lost track of her sister.

As she walked beyond the Shiba grounds, she felt something in her pocket vibrating. She remembered she still had Serena's phone with her and decided to see what was causing it to buzz. Her sister was getting a call. She answered the phone and hoped it was the prankster so she could set him straight."

"Listen…"

"Serena, I know I promised not to call again, but if you're going to meet me…"

"Meet you?"

"We want you to come alone."

"Come alone?" Emily frowned. As Serena had pointed out before when she ranted about the annoying prankster, the voice sounded familiar. She couldn't pinpoint who exactly it belonged to, but she knew she had heard it before.

"Dalia says it's best if you come alone… and after everything she told me, I agree. We really need to talk."

"Who's Dalia?"

"An old friend of yours… she says," the voice answered. "Look, Serena, I'll stop calling you, but please, meet me in the park and come alone."

Emily looked down at her Samuraizer. Serena was already at the park according to her signal.

"Fine," she said into the phone and hung up. She dropped Serena's cell phone to the ground and crushed it with her boot. That way, no matter what happened, the prankster would never be able to reach her sister again. When the phone was crushed beyond repair, Emily raced to the bus stop. She was going to have to get to the park and fast.

-Samurai-

It was starting to get dark out. With the winter season fast approach, the sun set so much earlier than it would in the summer. Serena noticed nearly everyone was leaving the park and decided it was time for her to go too, before she accidentally ran into her mystery prankster. As much as she wanted to meet him and see what the hell he wanted from her, she knew better than to walk straight into the unknown.

She got up and adjusted her jacket. She was going to have to buy a new one now that this one was starting to feel a little snug, but until she started working, she was going to have to wait. She didn't have much money to spend. Just enough from her job at the coffee shop to cover her Christmas expenses.

When she got up from the bench, she didn't notice Mentor's Samuraizer slipping out of her pocket and falling under the bench. She left it there as she walked off, quickly exiting the park and making her way home. She thought about taking the bus, but she wasn't sure if she would encounter her mystery prankster that way. She had no idea who he was, but without her ever telling him, he knew her name and her phone number. She wouldn't be surprised if he knew what she looked like as well.

Assuming it was safer to walk she skipped the bus and made her way home on foot.


	123. Meeting At The Park

"Somewhere," Emily looked down at her Samuraizer again, "Serena, I know you're around here somewhere."

She stood in the middle of the park, looking around for any sign of her sister. Serena wasn't going to be that hard to spot. Aside from a few romantics enjoying an evening stroll in the park, there weren't many people and Serena would (hopefully) be the only singleton in the park. Emily hoped she would make it to her sister in time to stop Serena from her encounter with the prankster.

Her Samuraizer told her she was standing right on top of Mentor's, but Emily knew that meant Serena could be anywhere in the park. She groaned and rolled her eyes before decided she would call Mentor's Samuraizer. It sounded like an ordinary phone, so it wasn't like anyone would be suspicious.

Emily heard a ring and smiled to herself. Serena was near. She followed it over to a park bench she noticed was empty, but it was where the ring was coming from.

"This doesn't make sense," Emily grumbled and leaned against the back of the bench. She hung up her Samuraizer and the ringing stopped instantly. Finally, she got an idea and checked under the bench. "Aha!" she smiled and picked up Mentor's Samuraizer, "found you!"

Then her smile fell. She couldn't care less about Mentor's Samuraizer. She was looking for Serena. If it wasn't with her sister, then she had no idea where Serena was. She crossed her arms and huffed.

"My sister's stupid. It's official."

She tucked Mentor's Samuraizer in her pocket and took a seat on the bench to think. While she sat, she hoped her sister would realise she had dropped important Ranger technology and would come back for it.

That was when she noticed a man parting from a cloaked figure as he made his way over to her. Emily gulped.

"Uh-oh. Don't tell me that's him."

Emily tried to get up to leave, hoping she could get away before he caught up to her. Somewhere more public would be safer. As she walked off, she put her hand in her pocket, touching her Samuraizer. She had every intention of whipping it out and calling one of the Rangers.

Suddenly, she felt someone grab her arm.

"Serena?"

Emily shook her head and tried not to show her face.

"Nope."

"Dalia said I would probably recognise you. Look, I just want to talk."

"I'm not Serena. Let me go."

"You sound familiar," the voice said. "Please, whoever you are, maybe you can help me."

"Help you?" Emily turned and looked up at the mystery prankster. At once, they both gasped.

"I… I remember that face…"

"Dekker?" Emily's voice was filled with terror and anger. She ripped her arm from Dekker's grasp and took a few steps away from him, "No! Mike said he killed you."

"You're not Serena. You… you are…"

"Leave my sister alone!" Emily screamed and with a swipe of her Samuraizer she was morphed. She pulled out her Spin Sword, ready to do anything to keep Dekker away from her sister when suddenly she felt something cold and sharp press up against her neck.

"Drop your weapon."

This voice Emily recognised immediately. It was Dayu. Remembering her last encounter with the Nighlok, Emily did as she was told. She dropped her Spin Sword to the ground, but she also tried to run. Dayu caught her arm and pulled her back in.

Dekker looked at Emily, "The yellow Ranger," his eyes looked up at Dayu, "I remember her…"

"Her sister," Dayu explained. "Serena didn't come alone."

"But I told her…"

"I should have known she wouldn't listen. Rangers always work in teams of two or more," Dayu said.

"Does that mean there's another one waiting?" Dekker asked.

"Her sister or fiancé, most likely," Dayu nodded. "We should go before they turn up."

"Go?" Dekker frowned and shook his head, "What about our baby?"

"Your baby?" Emily asked. "Ew…"

"Not like that, you brat," Dayu hissed. "Your sister's baby. The baby that should have been mine."

"Yours?" Emily shook her head. "No way! You set her up! This was a trap!"

"Dalia, how are we going to get my baby now?" Dekker asked. "If we leave without Serena."

"Change of plans. We don't need Serena," Dayu wrapped her arm tightly around Emily's neck, suffocating the yellow Ranger until Emily was forced to power down. Just before she passed out, Dayu let her go and pushed her forward. "Walk, yellow Ranger."

Emily tried to run away and pull out her Samuraizer, but Dayu was much faster. The Nighlok ripped her Samuraizer from her hand and threw it to the ground, next to Emily's Spin Sword. She grabbed the yellow Ranger by the back of the neck.

"You can try to run away, but one way or another we will get your sister and her baby. If you cooperate, maybe once your sister hands over her child to us, we'll spare her her miserable life. If you run, we'll kill her and you."

"Kill her?" Dekker asked Dayu, "If she's carrying my child…"

"How many times do I have to tell you, Dekker," Dayu groaned tiredly, "You did not love Serena. She took advantage of you. She wanted your child. She's the bad guy."

"Yeah right," Emily muttered. Dayu landed a hard punch in Emily's back.

"I have no problem killing you now," Dayu said. "Walk, yellow Ranger."

With her head pounding in her chest, Emily started to walk in the direction Dayu was shoving her. By now most of the people in the park had cleared out. Those who hadn't seen Dayu and ran screaming had walked off on their own accord.

Just as Dayu was about to lead Emily onto the street, they walked by a civilian. Emily hoped Dayu wouldn't want any more attention and would make a mistake that would give her a chance to flee, but she wasn't so lucky. She felt something sharp poke her in the back and winced.

"Breathe a word, yellow Ranger, or draw any attention of any kind, and I'll kill them."

Emily gulped and nodded her head. She felt Dekker grabbing her arm while Dayu retreated into the shadows. There was no getting away from the two Nighlok. Not anytime soon.

"Emily? Is that you?"

Emily's heart stopped. She recognised that voice.

"Amanda?"

She turned around just in time to find herself buried in Amanda's arms. Worry and relief washed over her and she wondered if she would get the chance to run, while at the same time she wondered what Dekker and Dayu would do to Amanda.

"What are you doing out so late?" Amanda asked. "Who's your friend?"

Emily wanted to tell Amanda Dekker wasn't her friend, but she knew better. She opened her mouth to come up with any other answer when suddenly she felt herself being ripped away from Amanda.

"We've wasted too much time. Grab the girl. We can take them both."

"W-who are you?" Amanda stuttered and tried to run, but Dekker grabbed her by the arm and held her tightly. Amanda tried to pull but she couldn't run. She looked to Emily and saw the younger girl giving her an apologetic look. "What's going on?"

"Shut up, both of you," Dayu growled and shoved Emily forward, "The gap's just down the street. Keep walking."

Emily's eyes widened, "Gap? We can't go to the Netherworld!"

"Do you think I care whether or not you live or die?" Dayu snapped and shoved Emily again. "But if it'll keep you from squirming, we're not taking you to the Netherworld. Now walk!"

"Emily…"

Emily took Amanda's hand comfortingly, "We'll be fine."

"These are the monsters the Rangers fight, right?"

Emily nodded her head, "I'm sure they'll help us."

"Shut up!" Dayu shouted. "We only need one of you. I have no problem killing one of you pathetic girls."

-Samurai-

Serena returned home to the Shiba House. It had been a long walk, but she was starting to feel better. Once her Samuraizer came in, she could keep her phone turned off, and her mysterious prankster would stop bugging her. She could get back to focusing on what was important: her family.

She hung up her jacket before she reached into her pocket to pick out Mentor's Samuraizer. Now that she was home, she didn't need it and though it best to return it to its rightful owner. She searched the first pocket to no avail, and then the second.

Mentor walked by in his pyjamas, ready for bed. His pyjamas looked a lot like his regular clothes, because he usually only wore kimonos, but Serena was starting to pick up on the subtle differences. She turned to him.

"Mentor, I think I lost your Samuraizer!" she said in a panic, "I don't know how but…"

"Relax," Mentor approached her and placed his hands on her shoulders, "It's got a tracker and it's late. It's not likely anyone will have found it. You and Emily can retrace your steps and…"

"Emily's probably sleeping. Think you can come with me? I must have dropped it at the park."

"Emily should be with you," Mentor frowned and shook his head. "She went out to bring you home."

Serena shook her head, "I didn't see her."

"She was tracking my Samuraizer," Mentor told Serena. He got his jacket from the coat rack and handed Serena hers, "I will come with you."

"She'll be at the park, then," Serena groaned. "Dammit and I just came from there."

"We'll take Jayden's car. I'm sure he won't mind," Mentor suggested as he grabbed the keys. Serena smirked.

"I'll be napping in shotgun then."

Serena got into the car and realised this was the first time she would see Mentor actually driving a real car. She had seen him take his motorcycle out once or twice, but never a car.

"Uh, you do know how to drive this thing, right?"

"Do you?" Mentor asked Serena.

"I got my license right before I got sick and I learned to drive on my dad's tractor," Serena smirked proudly. "Give me a machine and I can drive it."

"Same here," Mentor said and he started the car. Serena shrugged her shoulders, leaned back and closed her eyes.

"Let me know when she's in the back seat."

Mentor chuckled and shook his head as he pulled away from the house and drove down to the park. Because Serena was determined to get a little rest, the ride was mostly quiet. Mentor respected her wishes and didn't bother to turn the radio on. He didn't care for any of the music that the DJs played anyways.

When he finally did arrive at the park, he pulled over and got out of the car. It was dark out now, but the park was lit up nicely with Christmas lights, making it easier for Mentor to see. He couldn't spot his yellow Ranger right away, but he did see a small crowd of teenagers forming.

He approached them, hoping they had seen Emily.

"Excuse me…" Mentor called for their attention and suddenly found himself taking a few steps back in order to avoid having his face sliced in half by what seemed to be a very close imitation of the Samurai's Spin Swords. Mentor knew the city had a deep fascination for the heroes who saved them all regularly, and sometimes made their own costumes or weapons. It was always obvious that the imitations were fake, except this time around. If Mentor didn't know any better, he would say the sword was real.

"Dude, you almost hit the old guy," A teenager chuckled to his friend and snatched the sword from his friend's hand. "Let me hold it, you ditz."

"Sorry, sir," the teenager who nearly killed Ji apologized.

Mentor had half a mind to yell at the teenagers for nearly killing him and calling him old, but decided against that.

"Just be careful with your toy," he told them. "By the way, I'm looking for…"

"Dude, it's not a toy," the boy holding the sword smirked. "It's totally real."

"Really?" Mentor extended his hand. "Do you mind?"

The boy gave Mentor the sword on the condition that Mentor wouldn't steal it. The older man promised he just wanted to look, and that was exactly what he had done.

"See," the boy said, "One of the Samurai Rangers actually dropped their sword, and until they come back for it…"

"You should return this to the police," Mentor told the boy, "I can't imagine it would be safe to walk around or play with a real Samurai weapon."

"Dude, relax…"

Mentor took the sword back from the boy, "The toy store sells quite a few of these. They are much safer, and you won't be viewed as a menace for playing with those."

"Just dorks."

"In ten years, when you still have all your fingers and no scars from your reckless youth, you'll thank me," Mentor pointed to the city, "Now it's getting late and it's a school night. Boys like you should be at home doing homework."

The boys sulked, but when one of them mentioned he had a picture himself holding the sword on his phone, they all got excited to post it online and raced to one of their houses. Mentor didn't care which. He looked at the sword and rolled his eyes before noticing something important. Something he had missed when he first glanced at it. The details of the Spin Sword were exactly like the ones the Rangers used in battle. Every single detail, even the disk, was exactly the same as Emily's sword.

His first instinct was to be angry at Emily for being so careless, but he soon realised that while his Rangers were messy at home, they would never, ever leave their weapons lying around in the city. They were always careful. Occasionally they had to run back for their Samuraizers when they went out to dinner and left them on the table, but they would never lose a sword.

He raced back to the car and tapped on Serena's window, waking her up. He turned to see who was making such a racket and jumped when she saw a shadow of a man with a sword. Finally, it dawned on her that it was Mentor Ji. She clutched her heart and opened the door.

"What's wrong with you?" she slammed the door shut. "The last thing you want to do is scare a pregnant…"

"Recognise this?" Mentor held out the sword for Serena to take. She looked at it carefully.

"It's Emily's… where is she?" Serena looked around Mentor for any sign of her sister. Mentor shrugged his shoulders.

"I found that, but no Emily."

"The kid's dressed as an elf and jingles when she walks. What do you mean you can't find her?"

Mentor pulled his phone out of his pocket and called the Shiba House. He waited a few rings before Jayden picked up.

"Hello?"

"Jayden, it's Mentor. I need you to check the map and see where Emily is. We thought she was at the park, but there's no sign of her."

"Okay."

Mentor heard some shuffling in the background and assumed it was Jayden making his way to the common room.

"Try not to alert the others. There's no need to panic just yet," Mentor said. He then looked to Serena. She was still inspecting the sword with a worried look on her face. Normally the Ranger powers kept it clean between battles, but she noticed the sword seemed used, and if it was out, that meant Emily had to have summoned it. Mentor wrapped his arm around her shoulders and squeezed her softly. "She may have just wondered off."

"Mentor?" he heard Jayden say over the cell phone. "You said you were at the park. So is Emily. Her Samuraizer's signal is coming from the park."

"Where?"

"About the middle. Are you sure you checked everywhere?"

Mentor passed the information onto Serena, who raced out into the park to double check. Mentor heard her calling Emily's name, but there was never any answer.

"Jayden, can you tell me if you can pick up my Samuraizer? I lent it to Serena and she thinks she dropped it in the park."

"Not the park. I don't have a signal right now, but the last place your Samuraizer was seen was just a few blocks from the park. It disappeared off the map about half an hour ago."

"Disappeared?" Mentor frowned.

"Yeah, as in wherever it is, it's not in the city anymore."

"Mentor," Ji looked up at Serena's call and saw her walking over to him sadly. She had something in her hands and when she was closer to him she showed it to him. It was Emily's Samuraizer. Mentor sighed.

"Jayden, get the others and meet Serena and I down at the park."

"Did you find Emily?"

Mentor shook his head, "No."


	124. Missing

The Rangers searched all over the park for any sign of Emily, but while the park was well lit thanks to the Christmas decorations, it was still dark enough to prevent them from find proper clue. Torn fabric or even the dreaded stain of blood would have been useful to tell the team where Emily had gone.

"The Gap Sensor never went off," Kevin said to Mia as she searched the play structure for a hiding Emily, but came out with nothing, "Maybe she did just wander off."

"She wandered off, dropped her Samuraizer and her Spin Sword?" Mia jumped down from the play structure and ran her hand through her hair as she looked around again. "That doesn't sound like Emily. She came to find Serena. Unless something happened, she would still be out there looking for Serena."

"So maybe she decided to widen her search," Kevin suggested. He was just as worried as Mia, but he didn't want to imagine the worse. He didn't want to give up and assume something terrible had happened. For all they knew, something had taken Emily off course. "Serena dropped her Samuraizer, maybe the same thing happened to Emily."

"That doesn't explain why Mentor's Samuraizer is missing too."

"Maybe some kid found it," Kevin wrapped his arms around Mia softly, "We'll keep looking for her, but she's a big girl. She can take care of herself."

Jayden and Antonio approached the couple, panting heavily. They had been running around the park calling Emily's name, hoping to hear her answer back. While everyone else was doing a more thorough search of specific places in the park, Antonio and Jayden were covering the entire lot and looking in the obvious places.

"Nothing," Antonio shook his head worriedly, "and we're probably not going to find anything tonight. The city's about to turn the lights off for the night and we'll be left in the dark."

"Emily may have gone home. Until tomorrow, we can only hope for the best," Jayden nodded his head.

Just as Antonio had predicted, the Christmas lights in the park were shutting off. Only the street lights, the moon, and the stars provided the Rangers with light, but it wasn't enough to do a search, even for a yellow Ranger in an elf costume who jingled as she walked.

The four Rangers sighed sadly and started walking to meet up with Mike, Mentor, and Serena when Jayden's phone started to ring. Hopeful it was Emily, Jayden quickly answered.

"Em…"

"Jayden, this is Mr. Johnson."

A call from his girlfriend's father was the last thing Jayden wanted to hear.

"Hi, Mr. Johnson. I'd love to stay and talk but…"

"Is Amanda with you? She was supposed to be home a couple of hours ago."

Jayden shook his head and then reached out and grabbed Antonio's arm, stopping him, Mia, and Kevin in their tracks.

"She's not with me, no. We didn't have plans to meet up."

"You're not lying to me, are you?"

Jayden shook his head, "No, sir. Amanda's not with me. Are you sure she's just not late coming home?"

"Amanda's never been late before," Mr. Johnson said. "And if she knows she's going to be late, she always lets me or my wife know."

"Did you try calling her phone?"

"Of course! She won't pick up. That's why I thought she was with you. If I find out you and her were…"

"No way, sir. If she were with me, I would tell you," Jayden promised.

"Then I'm calling the cops," Mr. Johnson said. "It's not like her to be late home from work."

"Let me know when you find her. I'll keep my eyes peeled. If I see or hear from her I'll let you know," Jayden assured the worried man before he hung up his phone and looked at the Rangers sadly, "It's not just Emily. Amanda's missing too."

"Missing?"

"She had a shift tonight," Jayden nodded, "Apparently it ended a couple of hours ago and she's still not home."

"Coincidence?" Kevin asked.

"Emily wouldn't just wander off," Mia shook her head, "And from what I know about Amanda, neither would she. If either of them were going to be late…"

"They would call," Jayden nodded.

"But the Gap Sensor never went off," Kevin frowned.

"Mystery prankster," Serena said as she, Mike, and Mentor joined the Rangers. "I knew I couldn't trust him. He wanted to meet me here at the park."

"Were you going to meet him?" Mia asked.

"Of course not," Serena answered. "He wanted to meet me when it was dark and he said he had a friend with him. I've made some stupid judgment calls before, but I would never do anything that stupid."

"But she dropped my Samuraizer and that was what Emily was tracking," Mentor said. "Serena came home, but Emily was still on her way to the park because that's where she thought Serena was."

"You don't think Emily ran into mystery prankster, do you?" Antonio asked nervously. "I mean, there aren't too many people in the park after dark, but surely he wouldn't know Emily was your sister. What would he want with her anyways?"

"He knew my name," Serena said. "I never told him, and it's not like I'm in the phone book. He knew my name, he knew my number… who knows what else he knew about me."

"So he could have known Emily was your sister, and when he saw it was her at the meeting place and not you… he settled for her?"

"Settled with what?" Mike asked. He was shifting around nervously, trying to keep himself from really losing control with his panic. He had no idea where his fiancée was, and if Mentor and Serena were right about mystery prankster he was scared she wasn't in a good place.

"Mystery prankster always sounded familiar," Serena said. Every time he called I got the feeling I knew him… but I couldn't figure out from where, or who he was. It makes sense he would know Emily too."

"Got any enemies?" Antonio asked Serena.

"Dayu," Serena shrugged, "but mystery prankster is a man. That's all I know. Besides, Dayu doesn't know my phone number."

"What about back home?"

"I was sick for years," Serena shook her head, "I couldn't make friends, never mind enemies. And before that, everyone loved me."

"Everyone? Every single person?" Kevin frowned.

"It was a small town," Serena shrugged, "Everyone knew everyone and we all got along."

"You all got along, but there were kids who picked on Emily."

"I don't have enemies," Serena shook her head. "No one from back home would be stupid enough to try and mess with me. No one from back home would be able to mess with me or Emily. I'm a Samurai; she's a freaking Power Ranger!"

"Okay, okay," Kevin backed off.

Jayden sighed loudly, "Besides, that doesn't explain why Amanda's missing too. The Gap Sensor didn't go off, so it's not a Nighlok. I hate to say it, but anything could have happened to Amanda, but not Emily. Someone couldn't have just plucked her off the street. Either it's a horrible coincidence that they both go missing on the same night, or hopefully they're together."

"With someone who is really bad news," Mike muttered.

"We still don't know if Emily is missing, though. Maybe she gave up and went home. We should check there," Kevin suggested, "before we all start losing our minds."

-Samurai-

Emily had no idea where she was. After Dayu and Dekker had forced her and Amanda through the Gap, she had lost all sense of direction. She didn't know if she was still in the same city, state, or country as her friends. All she knew was that she and Amanda were in a shack, far from any city. She was crammed in a small, tight cage with Amanda in the corner of the shack while Dayu and Dekker kept an eye on them.

Amanda, while panicked, was trying to look for a way out. She never thought she would ever be so close to one of the monsters the Rangers fought and she was terrified for her life, but it had occurred to her that she was likely going to die unless she tried to get herself and Emily free.

Unfortunately, she noticed there was no way out of the cage. It was locked and the only key was in the monster's possession, or Dayu, as Emily had called her. Amanda's mind raced through many different ways of getting the key, but none seemed worth the risk. She didn't want to anger Dayu, or her male, human companion Dekker.

Amanda's heart pounded as Dekker got up from his chair and walked over to the cage after Dayu whispered orders in his ear. He reached between the bars of the cage and grabbed Emily roughly by the arm.

"You don't have any more hidden weapons on you, do you?" he asked and Amanda furrowed her brow. Emily with weapons? This man must have been insane.

Emily nervously shook her head, but she was a horrible liar. Dekker yanked her into the cage, "Hand it over!"

She whimpered and pulled out Mentor's Samuraizer. She wanted to keep it on her to help the others find her and Amanda, but that wasn't an option anymore. Dekker swiped it from her hand and crushed it. Dekker then turned to Amanda.

"Phones are a wonderful thing. I don't know why I didn't get one sooner. Hand yours over. Tomorrow we're going to make a call."

"To who?" Emily asked.

"Your sister," Dayu answered. Amanda saw a fire lit up in Emily's eyes.

"Leave her out of this."

"It's her we want," Dayu said. "The child she carries belongs to Dekker, and Dekker is my husband."

"The child is also a Nighlok," Dekker explained. "My child deserves its father and deserves to be with its kind."

"Emily," Amanda whispered, "What's he talking about? What's a Nighlok?"

"Silly girl," Dayu laughed, "This is why I refuse to let a human raise my child. You are all so naïve."

"He's not your son!" Emily shouted and pounded her fists against the side of her cage.

"He belongs to Dekker," Dayu smirked. She set the keys to the cage down on a small table before approaching Emily. "Your sister stole Dekker, my husband, from me. Dekker's first born was supposed to belong to me. I'm taking back what was stolen from me."

"He's not yours! Leave my sister alone!" Emily screamed and tried to reach for Dayu. Amanda thought quickly though and grabbed the younger girl, pulling her into her arms before Emily did something she would regret.

"It'll be okay," she whispered soothingly.

Dekker took Amanda's phone and set it down next to the keys before he headed over to the bed in the other corner of the shack. Dayu stayed back with Amanda and Emily. She couldn't help but toy with them.

"Tomorrow, yellow Ranger, you're going to tell your sister exactly where you are," Dayu said, "And you're going to tell her that if she wants to save you, she's going to come here on her own."

"I'd rather die," Emily spat.

"But would you let your dear friend die as well?" Dayu pointed to Amanda. "Don't worry, yellow Ranger. By tomorrow night, this whole nightmare will be over for you."

Dayu smiled to herself as she got up and joined Dekker in bed, turning in for the night.

The girls were silent as Dayu and Dekker tried to get some rest, terrified of what would happen if they annoyed their captors. But the minute Amanda heard snoring, she knew she was safe to talk and looked down at Emily.

"Why does she keep calling you the yellow Ranger?" she whispered. "What do that monster want with Serena and the baby? How did you get involved with them?"

"Jayden's going to kill me," Emily averted her gaze away from Amanda. "That phone looking thing I gave to Dekker… was a Samuraizer. Dekker's a Nighlok, just like Dayu. We thought he was dead, but…"

"Dekker's a Nighlok?"

"Half-Nighlok. He's also the father of Serena's baby."

"What?" Amanda was now completely lost.

"I'm a Samurai. The yellow Samurai Ranger."

"You're… what?"

"I'm not making this up. Those monsters are Nighlok. The Samuraizer is what we use to morph. That one wasn't mine, it was Mentor's… Jayden's father."

"Wait; if you really are a Ranger, then they'll definitely come looking for us. They'll know you're missing and…"

"They'll know I'm missing, but they can't find me anymore. Calling Serena tomorrow would be the only way I could tell them where to find us… but if she comes here…"

"They want her baby…"

Emily threw herself into Amanda's arms, "I'm so sorry."

"We'll figure this out," Amanda whispered.


	125. The Phone Call

Going to bed was the last thought on anyone's mind as they gathered in the common room. The atmosphere was gloomy at best.

"I miss those stupid jingle bells," Kevin sighed and hugged Mia for comfort.

Jayden pounded his fist into the table. He was searching the map for any sign of not only Emily, but Amanda as well. Without any way to track either of them, he knew he wouldn't find anything, but any strange activity would at least give him a place to start looking.

A part of him hoped Amanda missing had something to do with Emily, that way, he knew Amanda was safe. But if something had happened that kept Emily from kicking ass and coming home, it was serious and Amanda would be in more danger than if some random guy had kidnapped her.

Emily's signal kept popping up on the map, but it said she was home. Jayden didn't get his hopes up because Serena was holding onto Emily's Samuraizer. But when Jayden slammed his fists into the table, the map glitched for a moment. Suddenly, a new signal appeared. A signal that showed where Emily's Samuraizer was last activated.

"The park," he gasped. The last time he had seen Emily morph was when they fought the Nighlok. If her signal was coming from anywhere else, that meant she had been forced to morph. It wasn't much, but it was a clue. No one but Emily or Serena could morph using her Samuraizer, so it meant Emily had been there for sure.

"Dude, we know, okay," Mike grumbled as he pet the dog, trying to keep calm. Jayden ignored the green Ranger and kept working. He prayed he could find Emily and that when he did, he would find Amanda as well. It was a long shot, but he had to take it. He would do anything to save Amanda and without any other leads, this was his best shot.

He figured Emily had to have a reason to morph. It could have been a very dangerous person she had run into, but it also could have meant a Nighlok. The Gap Sensor hadn't gone off, but Jayden could think of a few reasons why. Pressing a few buttons on the table, he pulled up all Nighlok activity from the last twenty-four hours. He saw Switchskill signal, but nothing else.

He then smacked his hand to his forehead and strengthen the signal to pick up on any Nighlok activity. Three new signals appeared. One, Jayden noticed, followed Serena's trail and stopped right at the Shiba House. Given what she was carrying in her stomach, Jayden wasn't surprised by that.

The Gap Sensor began to sound and everyone jumped to their feet. Jayden shook his head.

"Relax; I just had to adjust it. We're okay."

"Adjust it?" Kevin frowned as he walked over.

"It's picking up on the baby," Jayden pointed to Serena's stomach. "There's no Nighlok in the city right now. But there was."

"There was?"

"Half-Nighlok," Jayden nodded and looked up to his Rangers. It clicked instantly for Mia.

"Dayu…"

Jayden pointed to the map, "One of these two signals is Dayu. Both are right on top of Emily when she morphed in the park."

"But there's two at that same spot," Antonio frowned. "Who's the other Nighlok?"

"Other half-Nighlok," Jayden corrected. He shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know."

"Doesn't matter," Mike said. "Where is she now? I'll kill her."

Jayden shrugged his shoulders again, "I don't know. The signal disappears at about the same spot Mentor's Samuraizer dropped off as well."

"Emily must have found your Samuraizer then," Serena looked up to Mentor. "If she's got it…"

Mentor knew what Serena was hinting at and took over on the map for Jayden. He searched the entire city for his Samuraizer's signal but came up with nothing. Wherever his Samuraizer was, and wherever Emily was, she was undiscoverable.

Mike dropped his head in his hands and growled. Serena's knuckles turned white as she clutched Emily's Samuraizer tightly.

Antonio sighed sadly but then turned to Jayden, "What about Amanda?"

"It's too much of a coincidence that she goes missing at the same time as Emily," Jayden shook her head. "I want to help her parents and the police… but I have to try this lead first. If Dayu's got nothing to do with her disappearance, the cops can handle it, I'm sure."

"If they aren't together, we'll search day and night for Amanda too," Kevin promised Jayden. "Try not to worry about her too much."

-Samurai-

Over the night, Emily had gotten so frustrated and worked up that she fell asleep from exhaustion, but Amanda had been too scared to fall asleep. She now trusted that Emily was telling the truth about being a Samurai Ranger, but that was starting to mean next to nothing. Just like herself, Emily was trapped in this cage and there wasn't anything she could do to get either of them out. She was just as helpless, making Amanda worry.

The only comforting thought Amanda had was Jayden's secret. Emily had told her everything, and she couldn't believe her boyfriend was the red Ranger. She was a little angry he hadn't told her, but she understood. She knew the Rangers would be coming for Emily, but she hoped Jayden knew she was in trouble as well.

She listened to the sound of her cell phone vibrating. It had been doing that all night. She imagined her parents were trying to call, but in this situation, answering the phone was a bad idea. She couldn't even reach it anymore now that Dekker had taken it away.

As the sun peeked in through a small window, Dayu and Dekker began to rise. Amanda watched, completely disgusted, as they exchanged kisses. She curled up closer to Emily and gently nudged the Samurai.

"Em? Em, wake up…"

Dayu and Dekker finally got out of bed and Dayu heard Amanda's phone vibrating. She smirked to herself and picked it up.

"What's it doing?" she asked Amanda.

"Someone's calling me."

"Who?"

"Maybe my parents. Maybe…"

The phone stopped vibrating in Dayu's hand. She turned away from Amanda and took a seat. Dekker got his boots and jacket on and walked to the door.

"I'll get some breakfast, Dalia," he said to Dayu. "Should I bring back anything for…?"

"I don't care if they're hungry," Dayu shook her head. "I'm starving, though. If they shut up and do as they're told, they can have my leftovers."

Dekker nodded his head and walked out. In some ways, that made Amanda a lot more nervous. Dekker was in intimidating presence, but for some reason he seemed a lot gentler than Dayu.

The Nighlok decided to amuse herself with Amanda's phone. She knew what it was, but she had no idea how to use it. Because she was a Nighlok, there was no need for her to learn about human technology.

She somehow found herself in Amanda's phonebook and saw a name that peeked her interest.

"The red Ranger goes by this name," she looked to Amanda. The young woman gulped.

"W-which name?"

"Jayden," Dayu smiled, "That seems odd. You knew the yellow Ranger, and now you have the red Ranger's name in your phone."

"Coincidence?" Amanda suggested. Dayu shook her head.

"My dear, there's no such thing as coincidence. Everything happens for a reason."

"Look, Jayden's just the name of a friend of mine. None of the other Rangers have their numbers in…"

"Serena?" Dayu smirked as she scrolled down the list and came across another name she recognised. Amanda's stomach turned. When she had offered Serena a place to stay they had exchanged phone numbers. Dayu shook her head, "My, my, my, another Samurai name."

Amanda nudged Emily a little harder, stirring her from her sleep. Emily groaned, refusing to wake up.

"Let me help," Dayu offered and walked over to the cage. She kicked it with her foot, "Yellow Ranger, time to get up."

Emily sat up as straight as she could in the cage and glared at Dayu. Suddenly, Amanda's phone was dropped in her lap.

"Call your sister."

"I can't. Her phone's broken."

"Conveniently," Dayu rolled her eyes.

"It is! I broke it myself."

"Then call your red Ranger. I'm sure he'd love to know where his girlfriend spent the night."

"He'll kill you," Emily hissed and put herself between Amanda and Dayu. "When Jayden finds out you took Amanda, he'll hunt you down and kill you."

"He won't try," Dayu shook her head, "Because if anyone but your sister shows up, I'm killing both of you."

"Then no one's showing up," Emily said. She tossed the phone out of the cage and crossed her arms. "I'm not doing it. You're not hurting my sister or my nephew. I don't care what you do to me."

"I guess I only need one of you," Dayu shrugged her shoulders and walked over to the table. She picked up the key to the cage. "Move to the back, yellow Ranger."

Emily shook her head, "No."

"Move to the back," Dayu hissed. She picked up her Shamisen and pulled out her sword. "Unless you want to play stab the Ranger and her friend."

Hesitantly, Emily moved to the back of the cage. It wasn't far at all, but it put Amanda between her and Dayu. The Nighlok slipped the key into the lock and opened the door. As soon as she reached in and grabbed Amanda, Emily broke.

"Don't!"

"One phone call," Dayu said. She ripped Amanda out of the cage and locked it again before Emily could escape. She pressed her sword against Amanda's throat, "Agree, yellow Ranger, or I'll have a new trophy."

Emily held out her hand. Dayu smirked. She sat Amanda down on a chair and then picked up the phone from the floor. She put it in Emily's hand and then turned to Amanda.

"Don't even think about running free," she told her.

The thought hadn't crossed Amanda's mind. She was too scared to run, and she knew she couldn't escape the Nighlok. With her hands, she clutched the seat of her chair tightly and watched as Emily made the phone call.

-Samurai-

Everyone in the Shiba House had fallen asleep at some point during the night, and they had done so in the common room. No one wanted to be alone in their rooms. It was best to stay together, just in case something happens.

They woke up to a loud ringing noise. Antonio was the first to hear it and he nudged Jayden.

"Phone."

As soon as the word reached Jayden's ears he jumped up and grabbed his phone. In a flash he was wide awake and had answered.

"Amanda?"

"Emily, but Amanda's with me."

Jayden breathed a sigh of relief, "Are you okay?"

"For now," Emily answered. "Is my sister there? I need to talk to her."

"Where are you?"

"My sister. I can only talk to my sister."

Jayden nodded. He wanted answers, but he had to do as he was told. He passed the phone over to Serena.

"It's Emily."

Serena ripped the phone from Jayden's hand and pressed it to her ear before she had another idea. She set it to speaker, signalled for everyone to be quiet and set the phone on the table.

"Emy, are you okay?"

"Don't come."

"What?"

There was a sound on the other end. Suddenly the Rangers heard another voice, "Another mistake like that's going to cost you."

"Emily, what's going on? Where are you?"

"Serena, don't listen to her. She wants baby…"

Emily was interrupted by what the Rangers could only assume was the phone being ripped from her hand.

"Serena," the other voice said on the other end, "I'll skip the mystery. It's Dayu. I don't know what game you were trying to play at the park, but I'm pretty sure your instructions were clear. You were to come alone."

"I didn't… how do you… mystery prankster sounded nothing like you!"

"I would stop worrying about who was calling you, and I would start worrying about your sister and friend."

"Touch a hair on their heads and I swear…"

"Too late," Dayu chimed. Serena pounded her fists on the table, right next to the phone, and the others had to use all the strength they had to keep from yelling out and letting Dayu know they were listening, Mike and Jayden especially. Dayu hummed and Serena could picture the wicked smirk on her face, "I'm calling to offer a trade. Yourself, for the yellow Ranger and red Ranger's girlfriend."

"Fine," Serena nodded, "I'll do it. Just don't hurt them."

"We'll be waiting for you, and you alone, in Stonetown Forest. In a cabin by the creek. You'll want to find us in time. My patience is wearing thin with these girls."

"I'll find you and kill you," Serena hissed just before the line went dead.

"Stonetown?" Kevin frowned, "That's seven hours from here!"

"I don't care," Serena jumped up. "I'll walk if I…"

Antonio was up in a flash. He stood in front of Serena, blocking her path.

"You're staying here with Mentor," he said. He then pointed to himself and the other Rangers, "We know where Dayu's taken them. We'll go after them."

"But…"

"You heard Emily. Dayu wants the baby," Mike shook his head. "I'd love for you to come so you can kick her ass, but we're not putting the baby at risk."

"Emily and Amanda will be safe with us," Kevin promised. "We'll get there, grab them, and get them home as soon as possible. Both of them," Kevin said and flashed a smile to Jayden. The red Ranger nodded firmly and ripped out his Samuraizer.


	126. Stonetown Forest

Dekker returned to the shack with a handful of fish. It was hardly enough to feed four people, but Dayu had made her orders clear. Emily and Amanda would only eat if she was feeling generous.

Amanda had the luxury (if it could be called that) of sitting at the table with Dekker and Dayu as they ate. She couldn't eat with them, but she was relieved she wasn't still trapped in the cage. It was so small, and clearly wasn't made to fit two people. Neither she nor Emily were really big, and they still found themselves squeezed inside.

She also considered herself lucky that Dayu seemed to trust her enough to stay on her own. She wasn't tied down to the chair in any way, and could easily get up and run if she wanted to, but she didn't. She didn't think she would be able to get far, and even if she could escape she had no idea what they would do to Emily. A part of her was screaming for her to try it, though. She was likely going to die anyways, and Emily, being a Ranger, could protect herself, but Amanda cleared that thought from her mind every time. Before she found out Emily, Jayden, and the others were Rangers, they were her friends. She would never leave her friends behind.

"Stop pouting," Dayu rolled her eyes at Amanda. "If Serena does as she's told, you'll be back home with your pathetic boyfriend before the day is done. I'm sure he'll feed you."

Amanda's stomach rumbled at the thought of being fed and the sound caused Dayu to sigh. She held out a small piece of fish.

"If it'll shut you up."

Amanda shook her head. She didn't want Dayu's food. The Nighlok smirked, finished her last bite and then got up.

"I'm going for a walk. It'll be hours before Serena shows up. Dekker, would you mind watching our guests?"

Dekker nodded his head and let Dayu go off. He shot Amanda a glare and she knew to stay seated as he got up and cleared the table of the fish bones.

Emily crawled up to the side of her cage. She leaned against the bars.

"Mike killed you."

"Shut up, yellow Ranger."

"Fine, you're back, whatever. Dayu's lying to you. Serena's not the bad guy…"

"She's keeping my child from me," Dekker growled. "My son…"

"You hurt her. You'll hurt her again!"

"Dalia's my wife. I would never have done anything to any other woman."

"Dayu's a Nighlok."

"So am I! So is my son. He belongs to me. Dayu and I…"

"She's lying about everything."

"I'm supposed to believe you?" Dekker scoffed. "Dalia loves me, and I remember her…"

"Her name's Dayu!"

"I remember Dalia!" Dekker shouted. He approached the cage, knelt down and grabbed the bars. "I don't know why you insist on calling her Dayu…"

"You loved Serena," Emily said. "You loved her more than anything. When Dayu tried to hurt her you made a mistake and it cost you everything."

"Serena hurt me, and if I listen to you, you'll do the same," Dekker roared as he flipped the cage, shaking up Emily inside.

"Stop it!" Amanda shouted, tears in her eyes as she watched the argument. Dekker set the cage right and glared at Emily.

"Your sister will give in. She'll turn herself in to me and Dalia. Once my son is born, we won't have to worry about her anymore."

"You're more human than Dayu. I never want to see you with my sister, but you're too good for Dayu, Dekker."

"Shut up, yellow Ranger," Dekker huffed as he walked away. He grabbed Amanda and held her tightly. Emily didn't say another word, terrified for Amanda.

Dekker walked Amanda back to the cage and opened it up. He threw her inside, locked up the door and then draped a blanket over the cage. He tapped the top before walking out.

"You better hope your sister does as she's told, Emily," he growled. "I'd hate to have to kill you both."

-Samurai-

The car ride to Stonetown was a long one. On a regular day, the trip took seven hours. There was no traffic, and the trip was the same length as it would have been at any other time, but because they were going to hopefully save two friends, it felt much longer.

Jayden used his symbol power to summon up a car. Given the reason for this mission, his regular car and Ji motorcycle weren't what the Rangers needed. They needed something with room and something that would get the Rangers there fast and comfortably. They also needed to be able to sit seven.

The red Ranger was obviously worried for his teammate, but Emily was the least of his worries now that he knew what exactly he was facing. Amanda, his girlfriend, had somehow gotten herself wrapped up in this dangerous situation, and unless Jayden and the others made it on time, she wasn't going to make it out. He worried for Emily, but she was a Samurai Ranger. She was prepared to face challenges like these. Amanda was just a civilian. A civilian who never should have gotten caught up in all the danger.

He buried his face in his hands while Kevin sped down the highway at a speed that would get everyone in the car arrested if a cop caught them, but Kevin didn't care. He needed to make it to Stonetown. Dayu was bad news, and now she had two hostages. He cared for Amanda, and it was his duty to do anything to keep her safe, but his little sister was in danger. Aside from anyone doing harm to Mia, that was the worst thing anyone could do in Kevin's books.

"Merge into that lane," Mia instructed Kevin and without looking he swerved the car over and got onto the ramp as directed. Horns blared loudly, but Kevin ignored them.

"How much further?" he asked.

"Two more hours. At your rate, maybe one."

"I can…"

"We're good at this speed," Mia said. She then heard a sigh from the row of seats behind her and looked back. Jayden was being comforted by Antonio, but Mike was leaning against the window, all alone. Mia didn't need to be psychic to know what was going through his head. It was racing through hers as well.

She reached to the backseat and gently took Mike's hand.

"We'll get there," she turned to Jayden and gave him a soft look, "They'll be fine."

"We need a siren," Kevin muttered and the Rangers felt the car was beginning to slow down. They all looked ahead and saw they were blocked in a traffic jam. Everyone groaned except for Jayden. Nothing was going to stop him. He pushed the car door open, and right on the highway he jumped out and started running.

"Where the hell does he think he's going?" Mia asked just before she felt something hitting her in the back of the shoulder. She turned around and saw Mike was jumping out of the car, just like Jayden, and Antonio was climbing out of the sunroof. The pink Ranger looked to Kevin in shock, "They're insane."

"One word, Mia," Kevin pulled the keys from the car, "Dayu."

Mia didn't need any more convincing. She followed Kevin's lead and hurried out of the car. With all the Rangers gone, it was now abandoned in the middle of the highway. Cars were honking and angry drivers were screaming, but the Rangers didn't care to listen. They were on duty.

-Samurai-

Amanda quaked in terror as she listened to the sounds outside her cage. The blanket kept her and Emily from seeing what was going on, but judging by the sounds, both girls could tell it wasn't anything good.

"Dalia," Dekker finally said, "Can't we let one go. We just need one to get Serena. That's it."

"We don't let any of them go," Dayu responded. "None of them are going home."

"But…"

Outside the cage, Dayu moved in closer to Dekker. She took his hands gently in hers and smiled up to him.

"The Dalia you remember… she's gone forever. I can never go back to my human form. It's because of Serena and those Rangers," she lied to Dekker. She knew she had to. After getting him back into her life and having him all to herself, she was never going to risk losing him again. If he ever remembered what he had for Serena, Dayu was terrified she was going to lose him again. So she needed to make Serena sound like the monster. That way, Dekker would never be tempted to ever go back to her. "Serena stole you from me and turned me into a hideous creature so you would never recognise me. She got herself pregnant with your child, and once she no longer needed you, she had her friend, the yellow Ranger's fiancé, murder you."

Dekker shook his head, "I trust you would never lie to me, Dalia… but I… that doesn't feel like… When I hear her name, nothing terrible ever comes to mind. I feel…"

"Ignore what you think you feel for her. Serena made you suffer," Dayu roared. "That child, your child, belongs to us. It should be our baby. She's not going to steal that from me… from us."

Dayu wrapped her arms around Dekker, "We love each other. We pledged to spend eternity with each other. That monster ruined it."

"Liar!" Emily cried desperately. Dayu stormed over to the cage and kicked it.

"Shut up," she shouted. She then glanced outside and saw it was getting late. If Serena was going to honour her promise, she was going to be close.

"What if Serena doesn't come alone?" Dekker asked as Dayu began to collect her things from the small shack and threw them into a bag. "You told me the Rangers never come alone."

"We kill whoever she's with," Dayu shrugged. "It'll be her fault. We warned her."

Dayu passed the bag of tools over to Dekker and then walked to the cage. She ripped off the blanket and smiled down at Emily and Amanda.

"And you two girls believed you were going home," she laughed. She set the blanket on the table and grabbed a candle. Amanda was the first to realise what she was doing.

"No… please," she begged with tears streaming down her face.

"Begging won't work on me," Dayu shook her head and held the candle to the corner of the blanket. Almost instantly it caught fire. Amanda knew the rest of the shack was made almost entirely of wood and it too would eventually catch fire.

Dayu guided Dekker to the door, knocking more candles over and lighting more and more of the little house on fire. Amanda scooted back into the cage, getting as far away as possible, though there was nowhere to run.

Emily reached forward. The key was obviously still out of reach as it rested on the table that was slowly catching fire, but Emily had to try something. She couldn't just give up.

-Samurai-

The Rangers had finally made it into the forest. Once they ran off the highway, they summoned their horses and rode into the city. They were morphed, so while they did turn a few heads, no one made any attempt to stop them. While they were no longer in their own city, everyone had heard of the Rangers and could easily recognise them.

Mike had taken the lead as they travelled through the forest. None of the Rangers knew exactly where to go, but Mike's connection to the forest guided him, and his connection to Emily helped quite a bit.

"Anyone smell campfire?" Kevin asked as he looked around.

"There's a campground somewhere here," Antonio said. He struggled a bit on his horse, but it was his first time riding. Fortunately, Jayden was right next to him, helping him in the right direction. "Someone's probably roasting marshmallows."

Mia trailed at the back of the pack. She was determined to find Amanda and Emily, but she wanted to keep her eyes peeled for any traps. Dayu wasn't expecting the entire team of Rangers, but Mia knew better than to trust the Nighlok wouldn't do anything sneaky.

She caught something moving in the bushed and quickly dismounted her horse. It faded away as she took off running.

"Mia!" Kevin shouted and hopped down from his horse to follow her, the others were right behind him.

Mia and the boys made it to a clearing and stopped. As they looked around, they regrouped. Suddenly, just when they were about to turn away to search someone else, they heard a frustrated scream.

"All the Rangers?"

Mia finally spotted Dayu and decided she would take the lead on this one.

"What did you think we were going to do? Let Serena walk right into your trap?"

"Where is she?" Dayu asked. "It would be a shame if you travelled all this way and forgot her at home."

"Where's Amanda?" Jayden shouted, taking a dangerous step forward. He pulled out his Spin Sword, ready to fight if he had to.

"I told Serena, if she didn't come alone, I would kill your precious yellow Ranger and your girlfriend."

"Where are they?" Jayden hissed.

"Show me Serena, first," Dayu shook her head. When the Rangers hesitated, she grinned, "C'mon, you colourful super-zeroes. I doubt your friends can wait all day."

"Dalia, don't torment them," Dekker suddenly appeared from the bushes and the Rangers gasped. There was no way they were looking at Dekker. They had seen him die. Mike had killed him. There was no doubting that. Dekker grabbed Dalia's arm, "If we go now, we can make it to the Rangers' house before they can. We can catch Serena that way."

"No way," Mike shouted and stepped forward. Dekker turned to the Rangers. His eyes fell on red and suddenly he was hit by a memory. He found himself in a duel the red Ranger, with all the others standing around him, cheering the red Ranger on. Dekker could tell he was losing. Somehow, the red Ranger had turned the tables on him, had overpowered him. He was on the ground, waiting for Jayden's sword to plunge through his chest. Just when he thought all was lost, he saw someone jumping on top of him, shielding him from his fate. He couldn't see her face, but he knew it was Serena.

"She saved me…" Dekker whispered and Dayu turned to him, a curious look on her face.

"What are you talking about?"

"I… I remember Serena saving me," Dekker said. "She threw herself in harm's way… I remember that fight."

"You're not thinking clearly," Dayu shook her head. She grabbed Dekker's arm, "Come on, I liked your idea. If Serena won't come to us, we'll just have to…"

"No," Dekker shook his head. "That thought… memory… that felt more real than most of what you told me. In fact, it feels more like the truth than anything else you said about Serena."

"Dekker..."

"She saved my life once. I know that for sure now," Dekker said. "I owe her something."

"No you don't," Dayu argued.

Dekker ignored her, "Samurai, your friends are in the cabin by the stream. They aren't too far from here. The smoke should begin to rise above the trees. You'll know where to find them."

"Dekker!" Dayu screamed.

"We'll go after Serena," Dekker said to Dayu, "I want my child. But I owe her. Her sister and friend will live."

Dayu grabbed Dekker's arm roughly and started pulling him away as a Gap lit up at the base of a tree. Just before they reached, a strong wind blew, pushing them away.

"Jayden, Kevin, Mike, go find Emily and Amanda," Mia said to the boys. They didn't need to be told twice as they raced off. Dekker told them to follow the smoke, and when they looked over the trees they saw a dark cloud was starting to form. They didn't have a lot of time.

"Barracuda blades!" Antonio shouted as he jumped in front of Dekker and stood between him and the gap. Antonio wasn't going to let ANYTHING happen to Serena. Not while he was still breathing. He held the mad man off while Mia fought with Dayu.

"Every time, pink Ranger. You're always meddling in my affairs."

"Stop threatening my friends and I'll stop meddling," Mia called out her sky fan and swiped Dayu across the face, leaving a nasty gash that was sure to scar. Dayu howled in pain as she stumbled backwards and the gap closed up again. Mia smirked happily. "You're not going anywhere near my family."


	127. Near Death

While Mia and Antonio worked hard to keep the Nighlok where they were, Kevin, Jayden, and Mike raced through the forest, the smell of fire burning their noses. They knew they were getting close and they knew they needed to hurry.

Finally, they stumbled upon a small shack, or what used to be a small shack, that was now in flames. It looked as though it used to be an old cottage, maybe a lover's getaway. But no one would ever be going there again.

"Emily!" Mike shouted and without thinking he ran towards the burning cottage but Kevin quickly grabbed him and pulled him back.

"You're going to get yourself killed!" he shouted, throwing Mike into the ground. He glanced over to Jayden, "We'll get them."

"No," Mike shook his head. He's do anything to save Emily, but he didn't have any say in the matter. Kevin, the water Samurai, and Jayden, the fire Samurai, raced into the small burning building.

The smoke kept them from seeing clearly, but they didn't have far to go. Kevin cast symbol after symbol, putting out as much of the fire as he could to clear a path which he hoped would lead him right to Amanda and Emily.

"Amanda!" Jayden shouted and Kevin followed the sound of his voice. He cast his biggest and brightest symbol yet, showing the small area around himself and Jayden with water. The flames around him died almost instantly, and Kevin could see a cage. Without thinking, he reached for it, but the metal bars burned his hands.

Jayden was a little more fortunate. He was more motivated to get the cage opened and he had a higher tolerance for the heat. He grabbed the lock and looked around for the key but he found none.

His eyes continued to look around. At this point, the trees that surrounded the little cottage had now caught fire and the danger was spreading.

"Amanda," he called his girlfriend as he looked for something to break the lock open. "Amanda, wake up. Amanda!"

Through the smoke he could see Emily and Amanda were unconscious. Jayden wasn't sure how long they had been surrounded by flames, but the smoke was so thick he knew it was likely they couldn't breathe. Even Kevin was beginning to cough.

The blue Ranger knelt down beside the cage and reached in, his arm falling on Emily's shoulder.

"Em, I need you to wake up," he shouted to her. He then spotted something useful a few feet away. There, on the ground, a rock sat, just waiting to be of service. He picked it up and handed it to the red Ranger.

Jayden took it and grabbed the lock on the cage. It was a simple padlock that wouldn't open without the key unless it was forced. Determined to get his girlfriend to safety, he smashed the rock into the lock with all his strength. It took a number of tries, but finally the lock broke open.

At this point, the flames were burning through his Ranger suit, forcing him to power down, but he picked up Amanda in his arms and ran out of the shack. Kevin did the same with Emily, pulling her out of the cage. He followed Jayden back to Mike and the boys raced to the creek. It wasn't far from the shack, but far enough to offer them safety. They jumped in and walked across. Jayden and Kevin felt the cold water relieving some of the pain from their burns.

When they got to the other side, Kevin set Emily down on the ground and immediately administered CPR. Jayden followed suit with Amanda. Mike could only watch in complete panic and wait what felt like hours for any kind of a result.

-Samurai-

Antonio was finding his battle with Dekker becoming easier and easier. All he needed to do was get the deadly warrior to think of Serena, and Dekker would hesitate. Antonio wasn't sure why, but Dekker would lose himself in thought.

Mia struggled with Dayu, but she always had the upper hand. Nothing was going to turn the tables this time. She finally knocked the Nighlok to the ground and watched as Dayu tried to crawl over to the gap. Mia stepped in her way.

"I'll jump in after you and finish you off, you can count on it," she hissed. "Even if you make it to the Shiba House, in your condition, you'll never get past Mentor."

Dayu leapt to her feet and shoved Mia aside. With all the strength she had left, she ran towards the gap as it once again began to glow. Mia chased after her, ready to follow through with her threat.

Dekker knocked Antonio down and chased after Mia. Before she could jump into the Gap he caught her and slammed her into the dirt.

"Netherworld," he panted. "That went to the Netherworld."

Mia breathed heavily and looked up at Dekker. Part of her wanted to believe him, but after everything she had seen, she couldn't. Still, it was too late to do anything now, and Dayu no longer posed much of a threat. Nothing Mentor couldn't handle. She jumped back to her feet, ready to attack Dekker but he held his hands up.

"I surrender."

"You son of a bitch," Mia shouted and lunged for him. Antonio caught her and held her back.

"Stop it, Mia," he said. He held her tightly and glared at Dekker, "What's wrong with you?"

"I need answers… I thought I had them with Dalia, but…"

"Dayu," Mia corrected. "Her name is Dayu."

"Something tells me she's wrong. A feeling," Dekker said. "I surrender. I'll do anything you ask, but please… I need to see Serena."

"Over our dead bodies," Antonio shook his head and tugged on Mia's arm, "C'mon, we need to help the others…"

"If you can't trust me, you won't leave me," Dekker called. Antonio and Mia stopped. He had a point. Mia powered down out of her Ranger suit, marched over to Dekker and shoved him into the ground.

"One wrong move and we'll find out how many tries it takes to slice that head clean off your body."

Dekker nodded, pushed himself up slowly and followed the Rangers as they raced through the forest to find the rest of their team.

-Samurai-

Jayden had given up on CPR, but Kevin hadn't. Jayden knew there was almost no sense in trying. He had another idea of something that he hoped would work better.

"Symbol power! Heal!" he struck the symbol and fell to his hands and knees as the symbol hit Amanda. It didn't seem to do much, but Jayden had to try. He was going to try until it killed him, or until it worked.

"Symbol power! Heal!" the symbol hit her again and Jayden could have sworn her saw her flinch. He reached out and held her wrist, checking for a pulse. He felt one, but couldn't believe it. As hard as he had been trying to resuscitate her, he had been almost certain she was dead.

He moved away from her and lifted his Samuraizer again, "Symbol power!" he could barely breathe himself. Saving someone from death with symbol power was something Mentor never suggested he did, but he couldn't let Amanda die, "Heal!"

Aside from Kevin performing CPR on Emily, there was no noise. What was only a few seconds felt like hours before Amanda suddenly began coughing violently. A symbol emerged from her chest and was clouded in thick, dark smoke. She suddenly shot up, eyes open wide. Jayden took her in his arms as she slowly processed what had happened. He held her comfortingly and told her everything was going to be okay.

When Mike saw the symbol worked for Amanda, he didn't waste another second. He told Kevin to steer clear and tried to do as Jayden had done. When Kevin saw what Mike was attempting, he knew he needed to help. Jayden had only just managed to summon up the strength required for the symbol to work, and it had taken several tries. Mike, while strong, was nowhere near ready to try such a symbol.

"Symbol power! Heal!"

"Symbol power! Heal!"

Two symbols at once hit Emily and Kevin checked for a pulse. Still nothing.

"Symbol power! Heal!" both he and Mike shouted and hit her again before they both collapsed, completely exhausted. Kevin was already tired from his rescue, and the worry had stress had taken its toll on Mike.

All Mike could do was beat his fists into the ground, but he chose not to. Any strength he had left would go towards helping Emily. He struggled to get back up before he heard someone shouting in the distance.

"Symbol power! Live!"

"Symbol power! Heal!"

He glanced over his shoulder and saw Mia and Antonio were racing over. They had seen what Kevin and Mike had tried to do and offered their help. Antonio, though, didn't know how to heal, but he remembered texting live to bring the Clawzord back. He figured it wouldn't hurt to try it on Emily.

Kevin reached out to Emily, feeling for a pulse. His own heart stopped when he felt one. It was faint, but it was definitely there.

"Symbol… power," Mike wouldn't give up, "Heal!"

Just like with Amanda, it took a few seconds, but Emily suddenly began to cough violently. Mike found his second wind and scooped her up in his arms. He held her tight as a symbol, surrounded by black smoke, emerged from her chest. As soon as she realised she was safe, she wrapped her arms tightly around Mike.

It was then Dekker decided to step out of the shadows. Jayden saw him first and held on to Amanda.

"Get away…"

"He's with us," Antonio said. "We're not letting him out of our sight."

Kevin looked to Mia worriedly as she helped him up, but Mia gave him a quick nod. He trusted her judgement and decided to let Dekker's presence slide.

"We'll need to get home," he said.

"We ditched the car," Mia reminded him, "and we're all too tired to summon up another one."

"One more symbol might not kill me," Antonio said and began texting into his Samurai Morpher.

Dekker was amazed as a bright symbol turned into a big car, large enough to seat everyone, himself included. Antonio opened the passenger door and signalled for Dekker to step in.

"So we can all keep an eye on you," he said.

Dekker did as he was told and hopped inside. Antonio slammed the door behind him while he tried to figure himself out in the car. He remembered seeing many, but had never traveled inside of one.

The Rangers then proceeded to load Emily and Amanda in carefully. Emily took up the back seats, along with Mike and Mia, who were going to keep an eye on her on the way home.

Jayden and Amanda sat in the middle row with Antonio. Jayden wrapped Amanda in his arms and let her lean against him, taking up most of the middle bench. He looked to Antonio apologetically, knowing the gold Ranger must have felt squished, but Antonio nodded to say it was okay. He gave Amanda the room she needed to rest.

Kevin climbed into the driver's seat but he needed to take a bit of a breather before starting up the car. He was so tired, he wasn't sure he was going to be able to make the trip without stopping for the night. When he was ready to go, he started the car and searched for a path that would lead him out of the forest.

"Sorry for the bumpy ride, guys."

"If you can make it two hours, I know a good bed and breakfast where we can stop," Mia said to Kevin and he smiled in his rear-view mirror at her. "We can rest and get cleaned up, and Emily can call her sister and tell her she's fine."

"Dayu…"

"Shh," Mia gently stroked Emily's arm, "Don't worry about Dayu."

Mike squeezed Emily softly as her eyes began to close. He then leaned forward and placed his arm on Jayden's shoulder. He was worried for Emily, so he knew how the red Ranger was feeling about Amanda.

"Close call, huh?"

Jayden looked down at Amanda with a sigh, "Too close," he nodded sadly.


	128. The Bed And Breakfast

Kevin had been tired, but he had pulled it off. He pulled into the parking lot of the bed and breakfast and shut off the car. Mia had called ahead to see if they had a vacancy and fortunately they had three rooms, side by side, that were open and now reserved under the Shiba name.

"You're coming with me," he said to Dekker and never took his eyes off the mad man as the two of them got out of the car and walked inside to get the room keys.

Jayden was pulled from his sleep as Antonio gently shook him awake. He quickly understood they had stopped for the night and he needed to get out of the car. While Antonio climbed out, careful not to disturb a sleeping Amanda, Jayden looked down at his girlfriend sadly. He couldn't help but feel guilty about everything that had happened to her. He didn't care for the details because he knew that her connection to him had put her in danger, and she never would have had to suffer if he had just followed his own rules and made no outside relationships.

He gently picked her up in his arms and she began to stir. As he pulled her from the car, she looked up at him with a smile.

"Are we home?"

"Stopping for the night," he explained. "You'll be home tomorrow, though, I promise. When we're settled into the room, you can call your parents and tell them you're okay."

He set her down on her feet but kept his arm around her, terrified she was going to buckle.

Inside the bed and breakfast, Kevin and Dekker stood around the lobby waiting for their key. As they did, Kevin decided to get some answers from Dekker. If he was going to bring Dekker home, he wanted to know how he had come back.

"Now would be a really good time to start talking. You're supposed to be dead. I saw it with my own eyes."

"I think I was," Dekker nodded. "Aside from a few fuzzy memories of what feels like a lifetime ago, and memories of who I think is Serena… the last thing I remember is waking up in Dalia's arms. She told me a Nighlok, more powerful than herself, had saved me."

"How long ago? How long have you been here?"

"A few days, maybe a week. Dalia's been filling me in. I remember her… I remember marrying her a long time ago… but nothing more than that. I thought I could trust my wife."

"And you remember Serena?"

"She's a blur. Dalia reminded me of her. She told me Serena was pregnant with my child and she was keeping me from it. She was the one who set up this plan. She wanted Serena, not Emily or the other girl. But when Emily showed up, we needed to improvise."

"Yellow Ranger," Kevin growled. "Don't you dare think you're good enough to use her name."

Kevin got the room keys from the man running the bed and breakfast and stuffed them in his pocket. He then walked over to a seating area. His conversation with Dekker wasn't over. He pulled him aside and whispered.

"What were you going to do to Serena?"

Dekker lowered his head, "You don't want to know."

"I do," Kevin said. "Trust starts with honesty."

"I wanted my child. She was going to give it to me and Dalia to raise and we were going to… kill her, once we no longer needed her."

Kevin had to keep himself from punching Dekker in the face while they were in a public place.

"How did you pull it off?"

"Phone calls," Dekker said. "I remember being taught, I think by Serena, how to use a phone. The only number I remembered was hers, which worked out for Dalia and me. We called her and set up plans to meet at the park."

Kevin shook his head, "Disgusting, Dekker…"

"I know that what I did looks bad and I apologize for what I've done to the yellow Ranger and your friend, but I had no idea who I was. I was following Dalia. If what I feel is true, she's responsible for misguiding me."

"I don't care if you forgot everything. Anyone with a shred of humanity wouldn't have even considered doing what you were thinking of doing. How are we supposed to trust you around Serena? She's going to be completely vulnerable when she sees you!"

"Please," Dekker begged, "I need to see her."

"I'll think about it," Kevin turned away from Dekker as the others walked into the hotel, "but odds are, you'll never see her again."

"Do you have the rooms?" Antonio asked. Kevin nodded his head. He handed one key to Jayden and another to Mia, keeping the last for himself. Mike furrowed his brow. Without a key of his own, that meant he and Emily were going to share a room with someone else.

"Kev, c'mon…"

"Mike, Antonio, can I talk to you for a minute?" Kevin said. He gave his key to Jayden and to the red Ranger to take Dekker to his room. He then told Dekker that under no circumstance was he allowed to leave the room once he was inside.

Mia, Emily, Jayden, Amanda, and Dekker set off to find their rooms and get settled in while Mike, Antonio, and Kevin stayed behind.

Mike shot Kevin a look, "Dude, I know what happens in hotels, but can't you please trust me?"

"I trust you," Kevin nodded his head, "Believe me, Mike, I trust you."

"So then why are we staying back?" Antonio asked.

"I don't trust Dekker," Kevin answered, "and tonight, he's going nowhere near Emily or Amanda."

"That's a given," Mike rolled his eyes.

"I don't want to give him his own room either," Kevin added, "and like I said, I don't trust him. I want to keep an eye on him and I'll need someone's help."

"Emily needs me," Mike shook his head. Kevin chuckled.

"I know that. I was going to ask Antonio," he smiled to the gold Ranger. "Jayden and Amanda are going to need their space anyways, and I doubt you want to feel like the third wheel in a hotel room."

"Probably not," Antonio shook his head, "but why aren't you asking Mia?"

"I don't trust Dekker. I don't trust a bone in his body. I need to get some sleep tonight and I'm scared of what he might do when my eyes are closed."

Antonio frowned, "You know, at first I was flattered you chose me to be your partner, but now I get it. You'd prefer he kill me over Mia."

"Duh," Mike chuckled and gave Antonio a pat on the shoulder. "Isn't that obvious."

"Please, Antonio," Kevin asked. "I don't trust Dekker with anyone else, and I know Mia will be safe with Mike and Em."

"You're paying for my funeral if he kills me," Antonio smiled and with a quick nod he showed Kevin he was on board with the plan. He had to admit, he also wanted to keep a close eye on Dekker. He hoped he was telling the truth and he wouldn't try to hurt any of the Rangers, but Antonio knew better than to trust a monster.

"Thanks."

"I guess that leaves us to get settled into our rooms for the night," Mike said. "Are we leaving ASAP tomorrow?"

"Right after breakfast," Kevin nodded.

-Samurai-

At the Shiba House, Mentor was finding it difficult to keep Serena still. If she wasn't moving around the house, pacing back and forth, she would have a full blown panic attack. He understood why. Dayu had kidnapped her sister. Serena had suffered at Dayu's hands enough time to know that whenever Dayu's name was mentioned, nothing good ever happened. In fact, Dayu had already gotten her hands on Emily once and almost succeeding in killing the yellow Ranger.

"Serena, please," Mentor got up and placed his hands on her arms, "You must calm down."

"What if they don't get there in time?" Serena asked for the millionth time since the Rangers left. "Dayu wanted me to go alone. What if, when the Rangers show up, she kills Emily? Mentor, I can't…"

Ji pulled Serena into his arms and held her softly, "It's okay. Everything will be okay. I know it seems impossible, but you need to take care of yourself. It's getting late…"

"I can't sleep," Serena whispered and clutched onto Mentor Ji like her life depended on it. "It's been hours… the Rangers should be there by now… we need to call them."

"They will call us as soon as they can. With good news. You can't lose hope," Mentor could feel Serena trembling in his arms and he knew how worried she must have been. He gently squeezed her, "It will be alright."

Those words barely had the time to pass his lips before they heard something beeping. They both turned to the table, where Serena kept Emily's Samuraizer. It was flashing and beeping, which meant someone was trying to call. Within seconds, Serena raced out from Mentor's arms and picked up the Samuraizer. She didn't care to see which Ranger was calling her; she just wanted to know why.

"Where's Emily?" Mentor heard her ask and then he watched as her knees buckled and she fell into the nearest stool. Her entire body shook in panic but her words sounded relieved, "You're okay?"

Mentor took a seat next to her and gently took her hand in his as she spoke on the phone.

"What do you mean you're not coming home?" Serena suddenly sounded panicked again. "A bed and breakfast, but…"

"It's a long drive. They must be exhausted," Mentor whispered to Serena. Serena sighed. She nodded her head.

"Okay, I get it. Are the others with you? Tell them they better take care of you or I will personally… Yeah, Emy, I'll see you tomorrow. Get some rest. I love you."

Serena hung up and looked to Mentor, "She's fine. She and Amanda are okay."

"They're staying the night?"

"In a bed and breakfast," Serena nodded. "Kevin's too tired to drive the rest of the way home so they're going to come back tomorrow."

"Everything will be fine," Mentor said with a smile. "You should get some rest as well. You wouldn't want your sister to come home to a Zombie, would you?"

"She sounded scared," Serena shook her head, "I can't just…"

"There's nothing you can do from here," Mentor told her. He wrapped his arms around her and got her to her feet. Slowly, he walked her down to her room. "The others will take care of her. You need to get some rest."

-Samurai-

His symbol had taken care of the more severe injuries, but Amanda still had numerous burns on her body from being trapped in the flames, and some very painful burns from the heated metal of her cage. Jayden tended to her carefully, trying to reduce her pain and discomfort as much as possible.

There was silence between the two of them, except for the occasional hiss from Amanda. Jayden didn't know what he could say to her after putting her in so much danger. He had a thousand things he wanted to say to explain, but he couldn't get started.

Emily had answered most of Amanda's questions, but she wanted to hear from her boyfriend himself.

"I know."

Jayden looked up into her eyes, "You know what?"

"Emily's the yellow Ranger. You're red. That's why those Nighlok took her."

"They took her because she's Serena's sister."

"Jayden, Emily told me. Don't get mad at her… she had to."

"I'm not mad," Jayden set the first aid supplies down and sighed. "Look, Amanda… I hated lying to you about it, but…"

"I get it," Amanda nodded, "And if it helps, your secret's safe with me."

"It'll have to be," Jayden told her. "If you tell anyone, you're putting everyone in danger."

"My parents won't even know," Amanda smiled. She wrapped her arms around Jayden's neck, "We'll figure out what to tell them when I get back."

Jayden gave her a quick hug but then pushed her away. He felt so guilty for getting close to her. He shook his head and pulled out his cell phone from his pocket.

"You should call them. Let them know you're safe with me and we'll bring you home tomorrow. They're worried sick."

"Jay…"

"After that we'll go to bed."

Amanda looked down at the phone and then up at Jayden. Something about him felt different, like there was something wrong. He seemed worried for her, and that was understandable, but she had a feeling there was more than that.

"Jayden, are you okay?"

"Don't worry about Dekker," Jayden changed the subject completely, and made no effort to hide the change of topic. "He'll never go anywhere near you. Not in this lifetime."

"Jayden…"

"I'll be in the bathroom getting changed while you call your parents. Let them know you're safe."


	129. For Her Protection

Falling asleep hadn't been a problem for Emily. She was sharing a room with two of the people she trusted the most on this planet and she knew they wouldn't let anything hurt her. Even with Dekker in another room, within walking distance from hers, Emily still felt safe from him. She was curled up in Mike's arms in the bed, and Mia was sleeping on the couch. Just as an extra precaution, they had moved the couch in front of the door, to keep anyone from entering during the night. If they tried, they wouldn't be able to do so, not without waking Mia.

But though Emily felt safe from Dekker, she didn't feel like she was out of danger. The approaching winter season meant that most buildings had turned up the heating, and this hotel was no exception. The blankets piled onto the bed added to Emily's heat, and Mike had always been a warm body when he was sleeping, almost turning into Emily's personal furnace on cold nights at the Shiba House.

So while the room wasn't any hotter than regular room temperature, maybe a few degrees above at most, Emily felt like she was on fire. She was pulled from her sleep, drenched in sweat. Her body burned as though her temperature was in the triple digits. Had it not been for the fact that she could see the room was perfectly normal, she would have sworn the entire hotel was on fire.

As she kicked off the blankets and pulled off her sweater, she woke Mike up. He saw her moving around frantically and sat up, pulling her into his arms and holding her warmly. Emily started to squirm even more and Mike couldn't understand why.

"Shh, Em, it's okay," he told her. He was shocked when Emily pushed him away. She removed her sweater and the top layer of her pyjama top, which Mia had bought her just before bed, given the clothes she was wearing, her elf suit, had been burned. Mike slowly reached out to her. He placed his hand on her forehead when he noticed she was sweating. "Em, you're burning up. Are you sick?"

"Fire…" Emily whispered. Mike sighed. He didn't know how to help her.

"Stay here. I'll fix this," he said and got out of bed. He walked over to the couch and gently shook Mia awake. When the pink Ranger opened her eyes he whispered, "Em's burning up."

"What do you mean?" Mia frowned. She sat up on the couch and looked over at Emily. Given the number of burns on her body, and how severe some of them were, Mia was sure Mentor was going to have to check both Amanda and Emily for infections, but until then, the Rangers were doing their best to insure that didn't happen and with the symbols they had used to heal both girls, it wasn't likely, but Mia chose to be cautious. She got up and walked over to the bed, "Emy, are you okay?"

Emily shook her head, "I feel like I'm on fire."

"I… you… hmm," Mia hummed and turned to Mike. Emily's choice of words gave her the feeling that she wasn't sick. Mia reached out and touched Mike's forehead, "You're hot too."

"I'm always hot when I sleep," Mike nodded. "It doesn't mean anything."

"I'll be back," Mia said. She pulled the couch away from the door and climbed out of the room. Mike and Emily exchanged looks and hoped she would come back with a solution.

When she did come back, they saw she was carrying a bucket with her. She set the bucket down on the desk and walked over to the thermostat and set the temperature to something a little cooler than normal. She figured fifty-nine would be good. She and Mike were likely going to freeze for the rest of the night, but they could always get room service to bring up more blankets.

She then grabbed the bucket and dumped its contents in the bed. It was then Emily and Mike discovered that Mia had gone to get ice. Mike jumped back when the cold ice blocks touched him, but Emily seemed to relax.

"Feel better?" Mia asked. Emily nodded her head.

"Yeah."

Mia picked up Emily's shirt and sweater, "I know you're still hot, but put this on. We don't want you to freeze all night."

Emily did as she was told and then got herself settled in her ice-bed.

Mike glared at Mia as the pink Ranger walked back to the couch.

"Where am I supposed to sleep?"

"The floor looks comfortable," Mia chuckled.

Mike looked down at the floor, then over to Mia and the couch, and finally, his eyes settled on Emily as she drifted off slowly in her ice-cube bed. He let out a long, heavy sigh, grabbed his pillows and the blanket, and made himself comfortable on the floor.

"Sometimes, I think I love her too much."

Mia smiled at Mike and then saw Emily smiling on the bed, still awake enough to hear his comment.

"It's never too much if it's worth it," she told Mike.

-Samurai-

Sleep? Serena had no idea what sleep was. She had gotten enough to make it through the day, but couldn't bring herself to sleep for more than a few broken up hours.

She had gotten a call from Kevin in the early morning. He told her they had just finished breakfast and were on their way home. Serena had known it would be a while, and had done everything she could think of to pass the time while she waited. She had cleaned the house, pulled out the medical supplies for Ji, walked the dog, played with the dog, paced around the house, and rolled a pencil back and forth on the kitchen table.

When Scruffy suddenly began running to the door, Serena jumped up from the table, calling Mentor's name as she followed the dog. The door opened and the Rangers were finally home. Serena nearly broke down in tears when she saw her sister and wrapped Emily up tight in her arms. She was strong, though, refusing to cry as she kissed the side of her sister's head.

"I was so scared."

Emily held on tightly to her sister. As terrified as Serena had been for her safety was how scared Emily had been for Serena. Until the Rangers showed up, Emily had been nothing but worried that Dayu would get what she wanted and she would never see her sister again.

Amanda stepped nervously into the house. She had been there once before and had met everyone, but now that she knew the Power Rangers lived here, it felt like a new building entirely. Mentor gave her a curious look, but then quickly welcomed her in. He could only assume that the Ranger secret had to be shared with her, and given the circumstances, he understood it needed to be done.

"I will have a quick look at you," Mentor gently guided her into the common room, where all his medical tools were already laid out. Jayden followed, not wanting to leave Amanda alone.

Serena finally pulled away from her baby sister and had a look at her, "What the hell happened? Are you okay?"

"Dayu wanted the baby…"

"Dayu's never getting the baby, Emy," Serena promised. "It's okay. Everything's okay."

-Samurai-

Antonio and Dekker were the only two that hadn't walked into the house. Serena deserved a happy reunion with her sister and the Rangers before Dekker ruined that, so they both hung back to give everyone some space.

Dekker, though, couldn't help but peek through a window. At first he couldn't see much. With the angle, and the fact that the Rangers were all standing in a group together, it was hard to get a good look at Serena. But finally he saw her face and suddenly he was hit by hundreds of memories, all at once, as he remembered his life with her and everything that happened between him and the Rangers. Everything Dalia, or Dayu, as he now remembered she was called, had been a lie. Serena had been kind to him, and the only time she had ever given him trouble was to protect her family, the family he had threatened.

He stepped back from the window and looked to Antonio, "I remember. It's all come back now. My entire life…"

"Entire life?" Antonio frowned.

"My mortal life," Dekker nodded, "My childhood, Dalia, the wedding… our house… it caught fire and I tried to put it out but…"

"Funny how things work out, huh," Antonio said.

"I can remember waking up and not remembering anything. I was in a prison with no way out. Only Urumasa was by my side. He showed me how to escape but it cost me. I was bound to the sword, sworn to obey."

"In hindsight, you admit to being a little crazy," Antonio said, "Taking orders from a sword."

"I remember my quest for a worthy opponent. I remember, after centuries of searching I found the red Ranger. Meeting Serena came shortly after and…"

Dekker staggered back and took a seat on the bench. He held his head in his hands.

"The child… the little boy she carries, our baby, was made from love. Dayu ruined that and I… I hurt Serena. She never hurt me."

"She'll never forgive you, Dekker," Antonio said.

"I have to make things right," Dekker looked up at Antonio, "Please, I still want to see her. I must."

"You'll hurt her."

"I'll fix my mistakes."

Antonio sighed loudly and looked to the door.

-Samurai-

After Mentor checked up on Amanda and saw everything was okay, all things considered, he left her and Jayden alone while he went to check on Emily.

Jayden sat across from Amanda on his stool. He was holding his head in his hands, worrying Amanda.

"Jayden, say something," Amanda whispered. "You've barely spoken to me since this all happened."

"It's my fault, Amanda," Jayden breathed. "I got you involved. I never should have. Antonio was right; dating you was stupid and dangerous."

"Jay…"

Jayden got up and made his way over to Amanda. He knelt down in front of her.

"My friends have given up everything. Unless it was an emergency, they haven't seen their friends or families in over a year. They break all communication to keep them safe, and it's for this reason. If the Nighlok ever found out…"

"What are you doing?"

"You're in danger, Amanda. Way too much danger. Dayu knows I care about you, and I wouldn't be surprised if she goes after you again and again…"

"But…"

Jayden pulled Amanda in, kissing her deeply. When they parted, he looked into her eyes, "I care about you. I always have and a part of me always will. That's why I need to do this."

"No, Jayden, we'll figure it out. I'm not scared of the Nighlok, I promise… I love you."

Jayden winced. It took everything he had and more not to say it back. It would only break her heart more if he did.

"We should get you home."

"Jay…"

"I can't ask my team to drop everything if I don't do so myself, Amanda," Jayden snapped, rather harshly, but he felt there was no other way to get his message across. He took her hands, "I'm so sorry. I do care about you and I don't want to see you hurt. This will keep you safe and alive. If anything happened to you, because of me, I wouldn't be able to live with myself."

Amanda lowered her head as tears fell down her cheeks. Jayden gently took her arm to help her up but she pulled away from him.

"Someone else can take me home."

"Amanda…"

Amanda jumped up from the stool and stormed out of the room. She bumped into Kevin in the hallway and looked up at him with her teary eyes.

"One more drive?" she asked him, "Please."

Kevin looked to Jayden curiously but the red Ranger simply nodded his head. Kevin wrapped his arm around Amanda and led her outside to the car.

Jayden sat on the stool Amanda had been occupying. He pulled his feet up and wrapped his arms around his knees.

"I'm never falling in love again," he muttered.


	130. Daddy's Home

Serena waited nervously for Mentor to finish his check up on Emily. She now understood exactly how her parents felt when she finally admitted to them she was feeling sick. It took her a long time to admit to even herself that something was wrong because she knew that if she couldn't take up her responsibilities they would be passed onto Emily. Unfortunately, by the time her parents found out, Serena already knew the illness had spread too far.

Now she was waiting for news on her sister, worried that there would be something, even something small, that was wrong. She played with her hands nervously and watched as Mentor placed his hand on Emily's forehead. He had done this several times already and each time Serena was more and more panicked.

Finally, Ji reached into a small box. Serena had no idea what was inside, but every time a Ranger was injured he would carry that box around with him. He opened it up, rummaged through it, and then pulled out two bottles of pills. Serena's heart stopped.

Mentor noticed the look of terror on her face, "Relax, Serena. I did the same for Amanda," he handed her both bottles, "One for pain, one for antibiotics. I doubt you'd like to see your sister develop an infection."

"Last thing I want to see," Serena nodded her head. "Is she okay?"

Mentor smiled, "I'd keep her away from fire for the next little while, but aside from that, as long as she takes it easy, I don't see any problems."

Serena sighed in relief while Mentor walked out of the room, leaving the sisters alone for a minute. Serena set the bottles of pills down and hugged her sister.

"How do you feel?"

"Don't tell the others," Emily whispered and looked up at her sister, "I think I'm scared of hot."

"You told Mentor you were trapped in a burning house," Serena nodded her head. "I'd be scared of fire too, if I were you. Amanda's probably avoiding it too."

"I guess, but I didn't mean just fire," Emily shook her head and then pulled off her sweater, "I'm scared of getting hot or being hot."

"That should go away," Serena assured her. "If it starts to bother you, though, let me know. We'll take care of it."

"Promise?"

"Of course," Serena hugged her sister again and then heard a knock at the door. She turned and saw it was Mike. Assuming he wanted some time alone with Emily, Serena started to leave.

Mike's gaze followed her. She looked back at him, "What?"

"You have a visitor."

-Samurai-

In the dojo, Dekker waited with Antonio and Mia. The gold Ranger had agreed to let him see Serena. Antonio figured that if Dekker wanted to screw his chances with Serena up, he had every right to do so. He couldn't help but admit he was looking forward to Serena's reaction and hoped it would be a violent one.

Antonio and Mia had also given Dekker a fair warning. They were on Serena's side and would do nothing to interfere with her attempts to kill him, if she wanted, and they wouldn't refuse her demands for them to kill him if she was unable to do so herself. Dekker accepted the conditions and waited while Mike retrieved Serena.

When the door to the dojo slid open, Dekker looked up. He saw Mike walking in. Butterflies fluttered in his stomach. It had been months since he had last seen Serena. He was both terrified and excited.

Finally she stepped into the room. The first thing Dekker noticed was that she looked just as beautiful, maybe more, than the last time he had laid eyes on her, and that beauty only grew when he saw she was, in fact, carrying his child. He stood up and smiled at her. When her eyes met his, she froze up completely. He was delighted to see her, and to see she had been taking care of herself and their child. Serena was terrified.

Ten seconds. For ten long and painful seconds the room was silent, waiting for a reaction.

Serena's entire world came crashing down around her and she finally recognised the voice of the mystery prankster. It was Dekker's. She remembered the deal she made with the Nighlok before she destroyed him. Dayu would come back with a surprise. Dayu had come back, Dayu had kidnapped her sister, and Dekker had been there, every step of the way.

She still had Emily's Samuraizer in her pocket and whipped it out. In a swift motion she traced a symbol in the air and launched it at Dekker. It collided with him, knocking him off his feet and into the wall behind him.

"You son of a bitch!" Serena screamed and she charged towards him. As promised, Mia and Antonio did nothing to stop her, and Dekker even noticed they smiled when Serena's fist smashed into the side of his face.

"Serena, please," Dekker begged, trying to get her to calm down so he could talk. Serena wouldn't listen to him.

"I'll kill you myself!"

As Serena beat into him, Dekker grabbed her wrists, stopping her attacks. Serena struggled and began to cry out. She sunk down to her knees, crying desperately.

"You ruined everything!" she screamed.

Dekker pulled her back up and wrapped his arms around her. He hugged her close to his chest. Serena struggled. She pulled and she punched, but above all else, she cried. Dekker wasn't sure if this was a good sign or not. He wasn't sure if she was crying for him, or because of him.

"I do not wish to hurt you," he told her. Serena's mind flashed back to the dark room, where he had taken her to protect her from Dayu, and where she thought he would keep her forever. She screamed and ripped herself away from him.

"Get out!"

"Serena, please let me…"

"Out!" Serena shouted. Dekker lowered his head sadly. He noticed the other Rangers slowly approaching him and knew that if he didn't leave soon they were going to kick him out. With a heavy heart, he left the room.

Serena fell to her knees and hugged her stomach. Emily cautiously walked over to her sister and touched her arm. The eldest Earth Samurai pulled the yellow Ranger in for a hug, holding on tightly.

"I can't win."

Emily squeezed Serena lightly, "It's okay."

-Samurai-

In the common room, Jayden heard the commotion and figured it was Serena meeting Dekker. On a normal day he would have been by her side defending her, but today he couldn't. Kevin had driven off with Amanda and Jayden didn't feel like doing much. He trusted the rest of the team could take care of themselves and stayed on the stool, wrapped in his little ball.

Mentor walked in and saw Jayden looked miserable. He turned to the dojo and then to the red Ranger. He sighed and took a seat next to Jayden. He wrapped his arms around the boy he had adopted as his son.

"Aren't you taking Amanda home?"

"I put her in danger, Mentor," Jayden whispered. "It's my fault she nearly died. I can't let that happen again."

"You broke up with her, then?"

Jayden nodded his head and wiped his tears away with the back of his hand. He looked up at Mentor.

"I think I loved her."

"Your father struggled quite a bit when he fell in love with your mother," Mentor said. "He too had his heart broken."

"Please, Ji… don't…"

"All I'm saying is if it was meant to be, this is only temporary," Mentor hugged his son. "If you do truly love Amanda, you must do what is best for her. Let her go and if she was yours, she'll come back."

"It hurts," Jayden sobbed. Mentor nodded his head.

"I know," he gently rubbed Jayden's back in soothing circles and let the young man cry on his shoulder. "I know."

-Samurai-

Jayden wasn't the only one suffering from a broken heart. In the span of twenty-four hours Dekker had not only lost his wife, but his girlfriend and mother of his child. The latter seemed to hurt him most of all. He could remember having a connection with Dayu, or Dalia, but that was long ago, and back then, she was a very different person.

His feelings for Serena were much stronger. Their connection was much more recent, and she was now carrying his child. He couldn't abandon that and he couldn't abandon her. He had made mistakes in the past with her, mistakes he knew were unforgivable, but he was hoping for a second chance. He was hoping he could redeem himself.

He knew he needed to prove himself, he just wasn't sure how until he walked by a store with a big sign. Baby clothes, furniture and toys were all on sale. He stopped in front of the shop and stuffed his hands into his pockets, searching for money. He remembered Serena telling him he needed money to obtain items from stores.

Unfortunately, he found himself penniless. He let out a deep sigh as he looked into the window of the store.

Inside, he saw another man looking around at all the items that were on sale. Dekker also noticed this man had a child with him. A young boy, no older than two years old, clung onto his father's hand. He was tugging and pulling as hard as he could, desperate to look at the toys. The father ignored his son as he asked a sales rep about the item he was considering.

Wanting to get a closer look, Dekker walked into the store and pretended to browse, while keeping his eye on the father and son.

"Daddy, daddy," the little boy begged, "Toys!"

"Not now," the father said. "Please, Eric, be patient. We'll go see the toys when I'm done here."

Dekker smiled to himself as the little boy's eyes lit up. He wanted that with his son, but unless Serena ever decided to give him a chance, he never would.

He strayed over to the stuffed toys and picked up a bear. He had seen many kids in his lifetime and a large number of them had been clutching onto something similar. Dekker thought it would have been the perfect gift for his son, but he couldn't afford it. He couldn't afford anything in this store.

It was then he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. He turned and looked at the store worker who held up a pen and paper.

"We're holding a contest," he said ad handed Dekker a pen and paper.

"I don't want to play."

"If you answer the question right, you can win up to thirty dollars in store credit," the man said.

"Store credit?"

"Money you can spend in the store," the man nodded. Dekker stroked his chin.

"If I answer a question, you will give me money so I can buy something?"

"Yeah, kind of."

"How much is this bear?" Dekker held up the bear. The man checked the tag.

"$17.99."

"Will store credit cover it?"

"Yeah," the man said with a smile. Dekker took the pen and paper and red the question.

_What is the red Samurai Ranger's personal weapon called?_

Dekker had to think about this for a moment. He knew the red Ranger called it his Fire Smasher, but the true term for the sword was a Zanbato sword. He wasn't sure which answer the man was expecting, but he wanted the bear so he put both down on the paper and gave his answer into the clerk.

The man looked up at Dekker with a smile, "Do you want the bear?"

"Yes, please."

The man took the bear from Dekker and walked to the cash. He ran it through and then scanned a piece of paper. Dekker watched the price of the bear drop to zero and smiled.

"You've still got some credit," the man said, "Anything else you want to buy?"

Dekker was about to shake his head when he saw a rack of cards on display. He walked over to them and pulled one out. It had a little penguin in a Santa hat (though Dekker didn't understand the significance of the hat), looking sad as he held out a present. The front of the card read:

_I know you're not talking to me, but in the spirit of Christmas I thought I'd still get you a present._

Dekker opened up the card and saw there was more written on the inside, underneath two penguins hugging.

_Maybe by the time New Year's comes around, we can put the past behind us and fall in love all over again._

Dekker smiled. If anything, he hoped the pictures would make Serena smile. The penguins were, dare he say it, cute.

"Will store credit cover this?"

"Trouble with the missus?" the clerk said. Dekker nodded his head. The worker punched in the card and handed it back to Dekker. "Good luck."

"Thank you," Dekker smiled and took the bear with the bag as he walked out of the store. He didn't know how he had managed it, but he found something to give to his child.

He turned back in the direction of the Shiba House. He knew it wasn't wise to go back inside or see any of the Rangers, but he could drop off his presents. He stuffed his card in the envelope and realised he still had the pen the sales rep had given him. He wrote on the envelope: _To: Serena. From Dekker._

When he got back to the Shiba House he walked right up to the door. He knocked loudly and then ran into the bushes for cover. He wanted to see what Serena would do with his gifts.

She stepped out of the house. Dekker knew he was lucky it was her.

"I swear to God, Dekker, I will kill you," he heard her say as she looked around, Samuraizer at the ready. When she saw he was nowhere to be found she lowered her guard and looked to the ground.

On the doorstep, she saw a teddy bear and a card. She knelt down, cradling her stomach with her hand, to see who the gifts were from. Dekker watched with a smile as she picked up his gifts. One glance at the name on the care and Serena dismissed it entirely. She ripped the card to pieces and threw the teddy bear out into the yard before turning into the house and slamming the door shut.

Dekker felt his heart break in pieces as he watched her reject his gifts. He knew he should have expected that, but a part of him had hoped she would see he was trying to care for her and their child.

He walked out into the yard, picked up the bear and looked at it sadly. He slowly walked back into the forest, away from the house. After a few yards, he heard a chuckle.

"It turns out I was right. Serena is hurting you."

Dekker turned around and saw Dayu. She was still in a bad way, but seemed to have recovered from her fight with the pink Ranger. The only sign of a battle was the scar on her face, one Dekker was sure wouldn't heal.

"I hurt her," Dekker corrected Dayu. "She is right to keep her guard up."

"Her guard, yes," Dayu shrugged her shoulders, "I guess, given what you've done to her. But she has no right to keep a child from his father. That baby belongs to you."

"The child will be well loved by his mother," Dekker shook his head. "I have no doubt about that."

"A child needs two parents," Dayu said. "If the child were with us…"

Dayu was cut off as Dekker grabbed her by the neck and slammed her back into a tree.

"If you ever even think of harming Serena or my son, I will kill you," Dekker growled. He threw Dayu into the dirt.

Dayu pushed herself up and brushed away the dust.

"It is the pink Ranger I will focus on then," she said. "Pink always interferes. She always puts her nose where it doesn't belong."

"Whatever," Dekker said dismissively. "Go after any Samurai except the earth."

"Both earth? You have no business with the yellow Ranger! She is…"

"Stay away from my family," Dekker growled. Dayu rolled her eyes.

"I guess I can start with pink, then," Dayu took a step forward and placed her hand on Dekker's shoulder, "but the earth Samurais are not your family. I am. I am your wife."

"Then act like it," Dekker said. "When I can recognise you as the woman I fell in love with, maybe we'll have a future together. Until then, you will always be Dayu."

Without another word, Dekker stormed off, tucking the teddy bear under his arm. Serena may have given up on him, but he would never give up on his son.


	131. Midnight Chats

There was a noticeable difference in atmosphere as Antonio got ready for bed, with Jayden on the other side of the room. The red Ranger was moving slowly, completely unlike himself. His actions screamed problem. Half-heartedly, he tried to throw his pyjama shirt on, but barely made it over his head. Antonio came over to help.

"We all forget the basics sometimes," he said with a light chuckle as he pulled Jayden's shirt over his head and chest. Jayden barely reacted at all. He flopped down into his bed and didn't even bother to pull the blankets over his body. Antonio looked at the red Ranger, "Do you need to be tucked in too?"

"Please just shut up."

"Does it have anything to do with what happened to Amanda?"

Jayden sat up and leaned against the wall. He looked to Antonio sadly, "You were right; I never should have started dating Amanda. It's too risky."

"Jay…"

"I broke up with her," Jayden shook his head. "I feel like such an ass for it too. She gets kidnapped, her life is put in danger, she's nearly dies in a fire, and her superhero boyfriend dumps her. In only a couple of days, I put her through hell."

"Dayu kidnapped her because of Emily…"

"She only knew Emily because I introduced them," Jayden shook his head. "If she hadn't of been dating me, she never would have been in danger. If I had respected the code _I_ enforced…"

"You're allowed to love, Jayden," Antonio took a seat at the end of Jayden's bed and smiled at his best friend. "You're allowed to be a normal guy. You need it every once in a while."

"Not if it means breaking an innocent girl's heart."

"That's unfortunate," Antonio nodded, "but she made you happy. The experiences she gave you were way overdue. Everyone deserves to know what it's like to have someone special in their life. I'm really sorry yours had to be cut short, Jay. No one deserves to be happy more than you."

"If she had died…"

"She didn't," Antonio reached out and took Jayden's hand. "She's back home with her family safe and sound."

"But if she…"

"She was with Emily. We were all scared for her, Jay, but I doubt Emily would have let anything happen to her."

"The fire…"

"You saved her from that. It's because you loved her that you tried as hard as you did. If she had just been a random civilian, you may have called it quits when her heart stopped. If she had just been some random person, we may have lost both Emily and Amanda."

"Her heart stops, I get it beating again but I break it…"

"She'll get over it. She's alive because of you. You took care of her and you're doing the right thing by breaking up with her. And I'm not just saying that, Jay. I really mean it."

"Why is it so hard? Why does it hurt so much?"

"The right thing tends to do that sometimes," Antonio nodded his head. "If you love something, though, you're always going to do what's best for it. No matter how much it hurts you."

Antonio pulled Jayden into his arms when he saw his best friend needed a hug. He knew how badly the red Ranger was hurting, but Jayden was doing the right thing. It would just take a while before he realised it.

-Samurai-

In their bedroom, Mia and Kevin were getting ready for bed as well. They had had a couple of eventful days and were ready to put it all behind them and go back to their regular routine.

"You know, a little more focus on Christmas might be exactly what this house needs," Kevin said to Mia as he slipped on his pyjama pants. He flashed her a smile, "We're getting close."

"What else can we do to prepare, though?" Mia asked. "The house is decorated, the tree's up…"

"We still have Secret Santa," Kevin reminded her. "Maybe we can get everyone in the mood by bringing that up again. Mike and Emily seem really excited for Christmas."

"She needs another elf costume," Mia tapped her chin and then looked back at Kevin. She gave him a smile and crawled up on his lap, "Speaking of in the mood," she leaned in closer. Their lips were only centimeters apart. Kevin reached in for a kiss, but Mia pulled back, "What's going on between you and Emy?"

Kevin looked at her confused, "What? Nothing. What makes you think…?"

"Mike told me…"

"You're believing Mike?"

"Mike told me you kissed Emily," Mia had a playful smirk on her face, "So, was that just a onetime thing or should I be jealous of the elf."

"I kissed Emily? When?" Kevin started to panic until he caught on to what Mia was doing. He smirked and rolled his eyes playfully, "Oh, _that_ kiss."

"Kiss of life, I think it's called," Mia nodded her head. "Now, be honest with me Kevin, if the opportunity rose again, would you take it?"

"Wait…" Kevin said, putting the moment on pause, "opportunity as in CPR kiss of life, or real kiss?"

Mia sighed, "Moment gone," she gave Kevin a peck on the lips and lied down next to him in bed. "Don't freak out, we both know it's just a game."

"We can't get that moment back?"

"Not unless you kiss someone else?" Mia rolled away from him. Kevin leaned over her.

"I can do it right now if you want! I'll kiss Emily."

"You already kissed her."

"I can kiss Serena. I can be a cheater, c'mon Mia…"

Mia rolled over in bed with a smile, "Aw, you'd cheat for me?"

"Of course," Kevin nodded his head, "I'd do anything to…"

Mia placed her hand behind his neck and pulled him down into a deep kiss, letting herself go completely.

After several moments, Kevin started to realise what they were doing. He pulled away from her slightly, "I thought we were taking it slow? After that scare we had..."

"Yeah, slow, but we're not killing it," Mia smirked. She kissed Kevin's neck, "Besides, I'm your Secret Santa."

"Well, all I want for Christmas is you."

-Samurai-

Serena wasn't sure she was ever going to get a goodnight's sleep ever again. It was 5:00 AM and she was still wide awake. Her encounter with Dekker had left her too terrified to even think of closing her eyes and making herself vulnerable to his return.

She had been sad when she first heard he was dead, but also relieved. He could no longer cause her misery, though the consequences of her relationship with him haunted her long after they had broken up. Still, she had managed to get over that bump and finally be happy with her life. Then he had to show up.

Deciding she wouldn't get any sleep tonight, she got up from her bed and thought she would take a walk around the house. She remembered what would usually calm her down when her mind got worked up. Before she got sick, and even for a couple of years after, whenever she found herself unable to sleep, she would watch Emily. Her sister was so much younger than she was and so much more innocent. Simply imagining what the young girl could be dreaming of was enough to make Serena feel like the world wasn't such a scary place.

She hadn't done that in years, but she really needed to take her mind off her own problems. Mike would be in the room with Emily as well, but if she was caught by him, she was sure he wouldn't mind, especially after she explained.

Approaching their door, she put her ear against it first. It was way too late (or early, really) for them to be doing anything, but if they did need privacy she didn't want to disturb them. When she didn't hear a sound, she slowly began to open the door and peek in. They were both sound asleep.

"Shh," Serena whispered to her baby as she crept into the room and approached her sister's side of the bed. She noticed Emily was only covered in a thin blanket that barely reached her chest and she was dressed in her summer pyjamas. To make matters colder, she had a fan blowing right on her. Serena was freezing just looking at her sister, but then remembered what Emily had told her after her check up with Mentor. The fire gave her what was hopefully a temporary aversion to any kind of heat.

But Serena noticed her sister seemed cold and carefully pulled up the duvet and turned down the fan. She then heard movement on Mike's side of the bed. He rolled over and saw her.

"Are you okay?"

"Can't sleep," Serena shook her head. "Just checking up on her."

Mike nodded, too tired to really care. He set his head back down into the pillow and closed his eyes. Serena took a seat on the floor next to her sister's bed and tried to do what she came in to do. She tried to imagine what her little sister was dreaming of.

After about a minute, Mike lifted his head again, "By the way," he pointed to Emily's night table, "in the plastic bag there's a paper for you. It's the name of the person you're buying for in Secret Santa. Emily had it with her the entire time she was with Dekker and Dayu. She saved it for you."

"She didn't peek, did she?" Serena asked and reached for the bag. Mike shook his head.

"I doubt it really crossed her mind. She promised me she didn't though."

"She's not a liar," Serena opened up the bag and pulled out the paper. From the texture, she could tell it had gotten wet, and the edges of the paper seemed like they had been burned slightly. The ink had run as well, blurring the name, but Serena could still make out who she was supposed to buy for. She let out a little chuckle and then kissed her sister on the cheek. "Oh, Emy."

"Who is it?" Mike asked.

"Guess."

"Mentor?"

Serena shook her head.

"Me?"

"You wish," Serena laughed.

"Mia?"

"Guess again."

"Just tell me."

Serena tore up the paper into tiny pieces and put them in the plastic bag, "Emily."

"You got Emily?" Mike now seemed wide awake, "Perfect! Trade with me. Emily's asleep so no one has to know."

"No way," Serena shook her head. "I finally get the chance to buy my sister a real gift after so many years. I'm not throwing that away just so her fiancé can buy her something."

"But…"

"Besides, whoever you have can't be better than Emy. Who is it?"

"I'm buying for…" Mike suddenly paused, remembering who he was giving a present to. He pretended to yawn, "I can't remember."

"Conveniently," Serena rolled her eyes.

"It's the middle of the night. I'm tired."

"Early morning," Serena corrected him and showed him the clock, "but whatever, don't tell me and fall back asleep."

"You'll just be there staring at Emily while she sleeps?"

"Yep."

"Not creepy at all. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."


	132. Helping The Ones We Love

"P.B.C.B, post break-up cheer-up breakfast," Antonio smiled and walked a special plate over to Jayden at the breakfast table, "Just for you," he set the breakfast in front of his best friend with a smile. Jayden poked at the food.

"Thanks, Antonio."

"I know it hurts, amigo," Antonio sat next to the red Ranger, "But thinking about it isn't going to do you any good. It's hard, but smile."

"No."

"Smile," Antonio poked his finger into Jayden's side. The red Ranger pulled away, a small smile on his face. Antonio laughed, "Aha."

"A tickled smile doesn't count as me being happy."

Antonio had another idea. He grabbed Jayden's head in both hands and used his thumbs to pull on the ends of Jayden's mouth, forcing it into a smile.

"There we go," he laughed, "Wow, you look stupid."

"Antonio…"

"You don't have to punish yourself," Antonio released his best friend's face. "Look on the bright side, Amanda's safe again, and you don't have to stress out about getting her a gift for Christmas. You, me and Serena can watch as Mike, Emily, Kevin, and Mia run around frantic trying to find the perfect gifts, with less than a week left before Christmas."

"But Secret Santa…"

"I'm sure they'll get each other a present regardless," Antonio smiled. "Meanwhile, we're free of stress."

"Who are you buying for?" Jayden asked.

"Not important," Antonio shook his head. "C'mon, Jay, what do you say? Can we try moving on?"

Jayden let out a heavy sigh, "I guess I can use a distraction. Any idea what Mia wants for Christmas?"

Antonio beamed brightly and grabbed Jayden by the arm, "Stores will open soon. I'm sure if we put our heads together we can figure something out."

Antonio and Jayden raced out of the house. Antonio was excited to go out, and while he was out, he could look for a gift for Jayden. He was Jayden's Secret Santa.

-Samurai-

The two boys got to the mall as it was opening up. A crowd of people surrounded them, but Antonio and Jayden expertly weaved their way through the crowd and into their first store.

"A bookstore?" Jayden looked to Antonio, "How am I supposed to know what Mia likes to read?"

"You've been living with her for a year and it's like you still don't know her," Antonio chuckled and pulled Jayden over to the romance section, "Rule of thumb when buying for girls like Mia, the more it makes you want to vomit, the more she'll love it."

"Not a book," Jayden shook his head. "I don't want to get her a book."

"Then what do you want to get her?" Antonio asked. Jayden shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know. I have no idea what to buy a girl who's just a friend for Christmas."

"Something she likes," Antonio laughed. He grabbed Jayden's arm and pulled him into the next store over. Jayden smiled.

"Video games?"

"This would have been easier if you had picked Mike's name," Antonio tapped his chin. "I know what he wants."

"Would this be mean?" Antonio heard Jayden ask from one of the shelves and he turned to see his best friend with a huge smirk on his face. Jayden held the box and Antonio laughed when he saw it was a virtual cooking game, made for kids who wanted to learn how to cook, without the risk of them burning the house down.

"That would be so funny," Antonio laughed but he shook his head, "I'm sure she'd get the joke."

Jayden set the game back on the shelf, "We need something else."

"Another store, then?"

"We could be doing this all day," Jayden said, "I'm no good at buying Christmas gifts."

"That's fine," Antonio nodded and wrapped his arm around Jayden's shoulder, "Today's all about you."

-Samurai-

Mike walked into the common room after training and wiped the sweat from his face with a towel. It had been weird training with half the team missing, but Mike understood why three Rangers were absent. Emily, given her injuries, had been told to rest up for a few days, and when Mia called to see where Antonio and Jayden were, the boys told them they were trying to get Jayden's mind off Amanda. Mike didn't mind that they got to skip out on early morning training. Now that everyone was safe and things were starting to turn around, he was in too good of a mood.

He saw Emily was lying on her stomach on the floor with a video game controller in her hand. Mike had set up a game to keep her entertained while the rest of the house was in the dojo. He shook his head and sighed as she let her player get blown up once again. It was her favourite thing to do, for some twisted reason.

"You'll get a higher score if you blow up the other guys."

"There are other guys?" Emily frowned.

"Who do you think's been blowing you up?"

Emily shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know."

Mike took a seat on his stool and slung his towel over his shoulder. He looked down at his girlfriend. She had told him of her aversion to heat since the fire, but he was starting to wonder how she could stand to be cold all the time. It was basically the winter season, the temperate had dropped quite a bit, and Emily was walking out in her summer pyjamas, which consisted of a tank top and shorts. She had even taken the fan from her bedroom and brought it into the common room to keep her cool. He also knew she was lying on the floor, instead of sitting on the couch or stool, because the hardwood was cool.

"You're going to get hypothermia," he told her. "Are you sure you don't want a blanket or a sweater or something?"

Emily shook her head at the idea, "I'm fine, Mike."

"I can see goose bumps," Mike shook his head. "Em, you're freezing."

"I don't mind."

Mike picked up a blanket and turned off the fan. He draped the blanket over Emily and lied down beside her.

"I won't let you overheat, I promise," he said. "You're safe, Em."

Emily gulped so Mike wrapped her up in his arms and covered her again with the blanket, "You never have to worry about being caught in a fire again."

"I know, but…" Emily saw the flames all around her as Mike tried to warm her up. She shook her head, pulled away from him and ripped off the blanket, "I can't."

"It's normal, Em. It's normal to feel a little scared. I bet you Amanda's probably terrified too. But if you keep running away you're only going to make it worse. It's getting to the point where I can't even give you a hug because my body heat freaks you out."

"You are unnaturally warm," Emily pouted, "especially at night."

"Come here, Em," Mike held his arms open and Emily hesitantly leaned in. She let him wrap her up tightly. He kissed the top of her head, "Two minutes. Just sit with me for two minutes. If you feel too hot then, I'll let you go."

Emily nodded and let him warm her up slowly. He was a naturally warm body, and after training he was always really hot. The longer Emily was in his arms, the more she warmed up.

Suddenly, she saw the Shiba House catching on fire. Just like that, the entire house was up in flames and she was surrounded, with no way out.

Mike could feel her starting to struggle, but the time wasn't up yet. He knew she had to sit through the full two minutes or she was just going to set herself back further. He hugged her tightly and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"I'm right here, Em. You're doing great."

In his head, he counted up to a hundred and twenty and finally let her go. He had hoped she would settle down but Emily pulled away from him in a panic. She looked at him with worry and fear. Mike smiled back.

"You did it."

"I didn't like it."

"Would you like cookies for breakfast?"

Emily nodded her head. There was no way she would ever say no to that. Mile smiled at her and got to his feet. He held out his hand, offering to help her up. Emily took it and was pulled up to her feet.

"Don't do that again, Mike…"

"I know you're scared," he told her, "but you trust me, right?"

"Yeah."

"Do you actually enjoy freezing yourself?"

"No."

Before they reached the kitchen Mike stopped her. He took both her hands in his, "I'm going to help you, okay, and it might be a little scary but you have to do it."

Emily nodded hesitantly, "Okay…"

"If I take it too far, though, and it gets way too scary the code word is Grinch."

"Grinch?"

"Only use it if you're really starting to freak out," Mike nodded. "That way, you know I'll never let you get hurt. I'll stop when you say Grinch, every time."

"Promise?"

"Of course," Mike kissed her lips, "Now, how about we get you those cookies, huh? I think Kevin hides them on the top shelf."

"He hides all the sweets on the top shelf," Emily said as Mike walked into the kitchen to get her breakfast, "It's like he doesn't want me to get them or something."

"That's exactly why," Mike laughed.

Emily smiled as she watched him move around the kitchen to get her a plate of cookies and a glass of milk. As he handed them over to her, she gave him another kiss.

"Enjoy them," he said. "I'm going to shower, okay?"

"Yeah," Emily nodded. She set her breakfast down on the table and took a seat. She stared at her cookies and milk, "And he worries he doesn't deserve me…"

-Samurai-

With Antonio's help, Jayden had finally found a gift for Mia and now the two boys were eating an early lunch in the food court. Antonio was proud of himself. Every once in a while Amanda's name came into a conversation, and whenever Jayden saw a couple walking around the mall he seemed to sadden slightly, but he was a lot easier to cheer up. Antonio knew there was still a long way for Jayden to go, but at least he was moving forward.

"How are you so good at this?" Jayden asked as Antonio pulled the chopsticks out of his nose and ceased with his walrus impression. Antonio gave him a look.

"I used to annoy my dad with…"

"Not the walrus," Jayden shook his head. "You told me you never had a girlfriend before. You've never fallen in love with a girl. How do you know how to help me?"

"I'm just good at reading people and helping them, I guess," Antonio shrugged his shoulders. "Besides, just because I never had a girlfriend, doesn't mean I haven't had my heart broken."

"By who?" Jayden asked. "You only just realised you're gay. You couldn't have possibly…

"Shh," Antonio hushed. He was comfortable with his own identity, but he wasn't ready to tell the world just yet, "I know what it's like to not get what you want. Trust me, it's easier to just let it go and let it be happy and hope one day it'll be happy with you."

"What do you want?" Jayden asked. "We're at the mall, I'm not your Secret Santa but I've got a few bucks left over."

"Nothing," Antonio shook his head. "Don't worry about it, Jay. Like I said, I hope one day I can have it, but I'm perfectly fine letting it be happy, even if it's not with me."

"Whatever it is… or whoever it is, it sounds like you really love it."

"I guess I always have. Are you feeling better, though?"

"Much. Thanks, Antonio."

"Anytime."


	133. A Father's Plea

Jayden and Antonio returned home from shopping with a few bags. They didn't buy much; only a gift for Mia and a few extra Christmas decorations for their room. The house was covered from top to bottom in everything Christmas related and the bedrooms had been touched (Mike's and Emily's most of all), but Jayden and Antonio had agreed that if they were going to be happy this Christmas season, they needed a little more holiday cheer in their bedroom.

"More decorations?" Mia frowned when she saw Jayden set down his bags. The red Ranger quickly snatched up the bag hiding her gift and kept it out of sight.

"Mine and Antonio's room was kind of bear compared to the rest of the house," he said.

"We're going to spruce it up," Antonio smiled proudly.

"Those decorations better stay in your room, then. Anymore out here, and we'll be hanging mistletoe from mistletoe."

"I don't give a damn about mistletoe, I'm not kissing anyone," Serena said as she walked by. She looked at all the decorations at Jayden and Antonio's feet. "You're kidding, right?"

"It's for our room," Jayden assured her.

"And if you don't want to kiss anyone, don't get caught under the mistletoe," Antonio pointed over Serena's head. She looked up, noticed where she was standing, and took a step to the side.

"Thanks."

Emily bounced down the hallway and grabbed Serena by the arm, "I need your help!" she cried.

Serena examined her little sister carefully, "You smell like cookies. Who thought…?"

"I need to get a Christmas gift for Mike. A really special one."

"You're his Secret Santa?" Antonio asked.

Emily shook her head, "No, I pulled Mentor's name. I know what to get him, but I need to get Mike something."

"Do you need a ride to the mall?" Jayden asked. "We were just there and it's packed. You'll be bumped and pushed and stepped on."

"Maybe you should skip the mall," Serena suggested to her sister. "Mentor did tell you you needed to take it easy, and the painkillers won't work if…"

"I need to get Mike something," Emily said desperately. She looked to Jayden, Antonio, and Mia, "You guys have all seen it. He's amazing to me, all the time, even when he doesn't have to be."

"He better be," Serena crossed her arms, "You deserve it, Emy…"

"You have to say that because you're my sister. But Mike always feels like he has to work hard so he deserves me…"

"He should…"

"But I'm not easy. He's done everything for me. He's gone the extra mile so many times he's probably got a full marathon of extra miles. What did I do to deserve that?"

"You're an amazing person, Emy…"

"So is Mike," Emily stomped her foot. "And it takes someone really special and amazing to put up with me and my whacky family."

"Hey," Serena frowned. "Do you know who you're talking to?"

"I guess Emily's right," Mia nodded her head. "Mike had gone above and beyond what anyone would expect, and not just for Emily, for all of us."

"He slapped you in the face, remember?" Antonio pointed out.

Mia shook her head, "He's done so much more good than bad. Emy, how much money do you have saved up? The least we can do for him is help you pick out his special gift."

Emily smiled and pulled out a paper from her pocket, "Since Mike and I started dating I haven't had to pay for much. All the money mom and dad kept sending me just starting piling up."

"Mom and dad sent you money?" Serena frowned. "Whoa, favouritism. I'm the one who's broke."

"They stopped when mom ran off. Mom for obvious reason and dad was probably too busy to remember. You know how he is."

Mia looked at the number on the paper and gasped, "Seriously, Emy?"

"I counted it twice," she nodded. Serena took the paper from Mia's hand. Her eyes popped out of her head.

"Favourite child! You know, your nephew's probably going to want to go to college, right? If you keep saving up he could go _anywhere _by the time he's eighteen."

"How much… wow, Em, you want to spend all that on Mike?" Antonio asked as he peeked over Serena's shoulder. "Just show him that number and he'll know you love him."

"I agree with Antonio," Jayden nodded his head. "I mean, Mike knows you love him. Tell him to multiply it by that and you'll have him in your pocket forever."

"I already do," Emily touched her ring. "Will you guys help me?"

"Alright," Mia smiled. "I'm sure we'll come up with something. I mean, it's not like we really have a budget."

"Great, I let this doofus touch my sister, love my sister, marry my sister, _and_ I have to help get him an amazing present because he's so good at it?" Serena rubbed her forehead and groaned, "In what world does that make sense?"

"In a world where you love me," Emily smiled, "And you want to make me happy."

"I better get something amazing for my birthday from you," Serena poked her sister on the nose. "Once you get Mike his gift, I expect you to start saving up again."

"Deal," Emily giggled.

-Samurai-

The malls were way too crowded for any of the Samurai Rangers' liking and there was no way they were going to be able to look around. This was the time of year were browsing through stores was no longer an option. If you wanted something, you had to know what it was and you had to want it bad.

After being bumped, shoved, pushed, and rudely cut in front of in line, the Rangers decided they would take a break and brainstorm while stopping for coffee in a café. The little shop was packed with people, but the Samurai found a table and had a seat.

"Won't Mike find it odd that we're all out of the house?" Antonio asked as he set a coffee down in front of Mia and handed Serena a juice. Mia shook her head.

"Kevin's distracting him," Mia said. "Apparently they're wrapping gifts they already bought and they're browsing online for the gifts they still need to get."

Emily held her head in her hands and pouted, "I still don't know what to get him. Nothing in there seemed good enough."

"You can't go wrong with getting him something he likes," Jayden suggested. "Do you know what kind of video games he wants?"

"Yeah," Emily nodded, "He's got a full list, and I thought about that… but…"

"He deserves more than just video games," Mia finished for Emily. "Besides, Kevin's Mike's Secret Santa, so Mike will get one game from his list for sure."

"And with our hectic schedule, one video game will last him until his birthday. He doesn't need anymore," Emily huffed. "I want to get him something better."

"We'll keep looking," Serena promised her sister. Emily nodded her head and reached for her hot chocolate, but as soon as she touched the cup she realised it was still warm. Mike was helping her get over her aversion to heat, but she was still only in the starting phase, and would avoid it at all costs.

"Are you okay?" Jayden asked when he saw Emily flinch. "It should be cool enough to drink by now."

Emily shook her head, "I'm fine. I just don't want to burn my tongue."

"Better safe than sorry," Antonio chuckled, "Everywhere else on your body is burned, and I doubt you want to add another to your collection."

Serena took the lid off her sister's hot chocolate so it would cool faster. As she set the lid down on the table she caught a glance at the window and saw someone sitting on a bus bench across the street. She excused herself from the table and walked out.

Without taking a glance, she crossed the street and grabbed the man from the bus bench, "What part of go away do you not understand?"

Dekker looked at her, "Serena, please…"

"I get it, okay, you were worried. You were scared and you cared about me," Serena pushed Dekker, "but it's over. You screwed me up too much Dekker. More than you'll know."

"If it's about the baby…"

"The baby's all I have," Serena shook her head.

"Please, Serena. I want to help I want another chance," he reached into the bag he had acquired while roaming around the city and pulled out the teddy bear, "I want our son…"

Serena snatched the bear from Dekker and threw it to the ground, "He's got enough stuffed toys."

"Serena, please…"

"He doesn't need you, Dekker. Please just move on!"

Dekker picked up the bear, "Every child needs their father, a real father to love them," Dekker held out the bear to Serena, hoping she wouldn't swat it away again, "At least let my son know his father loves him."

"The only thing you're giving _my_ son is genetics," Serena shook her head. "He's already got a father in his life. Two would confuse him."

"Serena," Emily called as she, Mia, Antonio, Jayden finally joined, ready to help if they needed it. Serena turned when she heard her sister's voice and caught Emily in her arms. She held her tight, "Besides, if I can't trust you around my baby sister, what the hell makes you think I could trust you around my baby boy?"

"Dayu…"

"Go back to her," Serena growled. "We're over, Dekker! I don't want anything to do with you or that stupid bear, and you're never going anywhere near my son!"

"C'mon, Serena," Antonio gently pulled Serena away, "He's not worth it. He's gotta know when to cut his losses."

Serena scoffed at Dekker before being led away by Antonio, Jayden, and Emily. Mia hung back for a moment, not because she felt badly for Dekker, but because she wanted to make sure he wouldn't try to follow Serena.

When she was sure he felt too defeated to go after her, Mia turned away. That was when she heard a loud sigh from Dekker.

"Dayu's coming after you, pink Ranger. She hates you."

"I hate her," Mia shrugged. "There's no news there."

"She promised me she would leave Serena and Emily alone. Your family, as you called them, is safe."

"For now," Mia turned back to Dekker, "Look, you screwed up with Serena and by coming back you're only hurting her. She's got a family that'll take care of her, and her baby's going to be fine. She'll be a great mom."

"I know that. I just wish… I never meant to hurt her," Dekker held out the bear to Mia, "Please. I bought this honestly. I'm living an honest life now. No more duels, no stealing, no violence. I'm trying to change."

"It's too late, Dekker. She's moved on, and she was happy. Please just let her go."

"I'll always protect her," Dekker said to Mia. "No matter what, I'll always keep her safe."

"I don't doubt that. I don't trust you, but I don't doubt you're honest."

"Please, pink Ranger… I'll leave her alone, but I have conditions."

"Dekker…"

"I want to keep an eye on her. She's my family now and that child, no matter how much you deny it or ignore it, he is mine. Please let me protect her."

"Fine," Mia shook her head, "but you stay away from her. Never, ever, get involved with her regular life."

"My final condition," Dekker looked Mia right in the eyes, "if my son ever asks… tell him I do love him and his mother. Forever and always."

Dekker held out the bear and the bag for Mia to take. She looked at it sadly and then back up to Dekker. Reluctantly, she took the bear, stuffed it in the bag, and threw it over her shoulder.

"You better hope Dayu doesn't kill me, then," she said as she turned around, "because if she does, your son will never know how you feel about him. Control your wife, Dekker, and maybe you'll have a family of your own."


	134. A Surprise Gift

Dekker's return was messing Serena up all over again.

Just when she was finally getting her life on the right track, she had to deal with him. She hated and loved him so much that she had no idea what to do. She wanted him so badly, but was terrified of getting hurt again. She couldn't picture herself with anyone but Dekker, and hadn't had feelings for any other man since his death, but would choose to be with anyone over him.

And she didn't know how to talk to her friends about it. She didn't even know what to say to her sister. The last thing she wanted to do was lean on Emily, especially when her sister was still so fragile. It had only been a few days since Emily had been saved from death. Serena didn't want to put more pressure on her sister.

She also didn't want to dull the holidays for the Rangers. They had been through so much during the year, and she had put them through so much as well, that they deserved some time to be happy.

Jayden had noticed her saddened behaviour. He too was suffering from his break up with Amanda. While Antonio was doing an excellent job at distracting him, sometimes Jayden just needed to grieve. He figured he and Serena could be miserable together and they could offer each other comfort. He hadn't expected Serena to ask him this favour, though.

He had driven her down to the hospital. Normally when she went to visit her mother, she went with Emily, but this time, Serena had decided to go without Emily. The red Ranger wasn't even sure Emily knew Serena was visiting their mom.

The fire Samurai and the earth Samurai sat in Ellie's room in almost complete silence. They had been there for an hour and vented to Serena's mother about their problems. They needed to get it out, and because Ellie was out cold and they weren't sure just how much she could hear, they figured she was the best person to talk to. After all, compared to what she as going through, a break up didn't sound like such a disaster.

"I think it's time to go," Jayden said, "Didn't you say you wanted to try and go to the mall to get Emily's Christmas present?"

"I have no idea what to get her," Serena sighed and leaned back in her chair. "For years, when I was sick, mom would always buy a gift for Emy and stick my name on the box."

"You didn't even think of something?"

"I would usually wake up one morning to an excited Emily bouncing around with gifts," Serena shrugged. "You saw just how bad I was when you came by to pick up Emily's letter, remember?"

"You were pretty out of it," Jayden nodded his head. "Still, I'm sure we'll find something for Em if we look hard enough."

Serena sighed, "I guess you're right. Would you mind waiting for me in the hall? I just… I'm mad at her but…"

"She's your mom," Jayden walked to the door, "You don't have to explain."

When Jayden left the room Serena took her mother's hand gently. The more she came to the hospital to visit, the harder it was for her to say goodbye to her mother. She knew Ellie was making a huge sacrifice for her, and while it would never erase the pain she had caused, Serena knew her mother loved her. After all, there were very few people on earth who would spend their last few moments lying comatose in a hospital bed, waiting for what was likely to be a painful death, just so their daughter who had hurt and disappointed them so badly could enjoy her life with her family and son.

Serena always found she could be honest about her feelings to her mother when she was alone in the hospital room. There was no one around to hear, and sometimes it helped to tell her mother how angry she was with her, or how hurt her mother had made her. And sometimes, it was easier to admit that Serena wanted her mommy when there was no one around to tease her about it afterwards, not that anyone would if they knew her story. This time was no exception.

"In the spirit of Christmas, mom… I guess I do forgive you. You weren't right to run away and hurt us all, but what I did, I'll admit, it was pretty bad. If I had had the chance to bring my boyfriend home, I'm sure you and dad would have probably tried to convince me to break up with Dekker, and if you had succeeded you would have saved me a lot of heartache."

Serena leaned forward and kissed her mother's forehead.

"I don't know if you'll ever wake up, and I'm so sorry I put you through this. Just promise me that if you do wake up, you'll never run away from me, dad, and Emily and I promise I'll give you a second chance. Your grandson needs his grandmother."

Serena brushed her mother's hair gently, squeezed her hand, and then turned to leave. Just before she reached the door, she felt something settle in her stomach. It was almost like a pressure she hadn't felt had been released and for a moment she worried about her son.

Then, she heard something moving, like sheets shifting on the bed. Thinking it was just her imagination, she didn't make much of it until she heard a whisper.

"It's a boy?"

Serena whipped around and faced the bed. Her heart stopped beating for a second when she saw her mother trying to sit up in bed on her own. Suddenly, quick as lightning, Serena raced over to the bed, pressed the button to call the nurse, and tried to get her mother settled.

"You're awake?" Serena asked her. Ellie nodded her head.

"Seems so. Were you serious about forgiving me?"

A nurse rushed into the room, with Jayden only a few steps behind her.

"Serena?" he called to her, "What's going on?"

"Mom's awake," Serena smiled.

"I'll get a doctor," the nurse said. "No one's going to believe me when they hear this."

As the nurse rushed out, Ellie reached for her daughter. Serena saw this and walked back to her mother's bed. She took a seat and pulled her mother in for a hug.

"I was serious, mom. If you promise to never leave us behind again, I'll forgive you and give you another chance."

Ellie had tears in her eyes, "I love you, Serena."

-Samurai-

Mia was writing up a list of things that needed to be done before Christmas. Though Secret Santa was going to be the main gift exchange between the Rangers, there was something about presents under the tree on Christmas morning that Mia seemed to love. Her family was in no way religious, choosing to dedicate their lives to Samurai training and defending the world instead of following a religion, but holidays where the family got together to have fun had never been ignored, especially after she moved away from her parents and they divorced. For her, the holidays were a time when her family felt like a regular family. They were special.

She took it upon herself to surprise all her friends with extra little Christmas gifts. If all went according to plan, they would never know the gifts were from her, and the magic of Christmas would be alive once again. Like Emily, she had quite a bit of money saved up. Kevin was a little old fashioned when it came to dates and outings, choosing to pay for Mia and not have her spend a dime, meaning the money her grandmother sent her just piled up. Unlike, Emily, though, she had more opportunities to spend her money and didn't have the fortune Emily had.

Still, there was quite a bit saved up. Enough to fill the base of the tree with gifts for everyone.

Suddenly, two hands covered her eyes and lips kissed her neck. She giggled, covered her paper with her hands and titled her head up.

"I know it's you, Kevin."

"What gave me away?" Kevin asked with a grin as he uncovered her eyes and kissed her. "What are you working on?"

"Just a Christmas list," Mia shrugged her shoulders. She didn't even want to tell Kevin about her own Secret Santa mission. It was a surprise she hoped to keep from everyone. "It's just last minute prep before the big day."

"Did you leave yourself any time for dinner?" Kevin asked. "It's been ages since it's just been the two of us."

"Do you not remember I gave you your Christmas gift a little early?" Mia reminded him playfully. Kevin smirked and nodded his head.

"Of course I remember, but I do want more than just your body," he said. "Think we can go to dinner tonight, just the two of us, and go on a very overdue date?"

"How could I say no to that," Mia smiled and gestured to the paper on her desk, "Just let me finish this up and get changed and we can head out."

"Great," Kevin kissed her on the lips, "I'll see you soon, then."

-Samurai-

Serena and Jayden waited several hours at the hospital while doctors ran tests and double, even triple checked Ellie's health. While the Samurai Rangers knew why she had been in a coma for nearly two months, the doctors had still been completely clueless. Now that she had woken up on her own, after showing no signs of recovery, they were seriously beginning to consider her to be a medical miracle.

Kevin's parents had been called to the hospital as well once Ellie had woken up. They were the only contact the hospital had, and their investment in the matter had gotten them to care a great deal for Ellie. On top of all that, Patrick and Ellie had been friends for years. Even if the hospital hadn't gotten in touch with him, the minute he heard his yellow Ranger was awake from a coma, he would have come running.

"Stop pacing, Serena," Jayden said and took her arm.

"If it were your mother in there, I would let you pace," Serena said. "I just wish they'd let me see her."

"She may not be able to go home for a few days," Kevin's mother Elisa told her. "They have no clue what's wrong with her, and they might want to keep a close eye on her."

"When they do let her go home, we'd be more than happy to take her if you're father doesn't want to," Patrick offered. "We know things are a little rocky between them still, and given he's working the farm alone, it might be too much to take care of everything and your mother."

"You can talk about it with him," Serena said. "As long as she gets out of here and stays in contact with me and Emy, I don't care where she stays."

Jayden stood up and gave Serena his cell phone, "I know you're supposed to be Em's Secret Santa, but I just had a good idea for a gift you could get her. A gift only you can get her."

"I'm listening…"

Jayden placed his phone in Serena's hand, "Mentor was always a little more relaxed around the holidays. I think you know what to do with this if I told you you had one phone call."

"Either I'm going to jail or…" Serena looked up at Jayden with a smile and threw her arms around him, "I don't care what anyone says. You're officially the best red Ranger in the universe."

She dialled a number on Jayden's phone, pressed the phone to her ear and started walking away to have a chat in private.

Jayden turned to Kevin's parents, "What do people say about me?"

"Good things… we hope," Patrick smiled and then pointed to the doors as the doctor responsible for Ellie walked over with a small smile on his face. The doctor walked over to Patrick, Elisa, and Jayden.

"You're here for Eleanor?"

"Yes," Patrick nodded and gave the doctor his name. The man nodded and smiled brightly.

"Definitely a medical miracle. We'd like to keep her for a few days, but she should be home for Christmas. You can go see her if you'd like."

"Thanks, doctor," Patrick shook the doctor's hand before he left.

Jayden had a bright smile on his face and Serena skipped back to the trio happily. She placed the phone back in Jayden's hand and then asked what the doctor said. Elisa simply told her everything would work out and told her to go to her mother's room.


	135. Replacing the Good With The Bad

Like a lot of people in a relationship, Antonio was having a really hard time finding a gift for his special other. However, unlike everyone in a relation, Antonio didn't actually have a relationship with his special other. Sure, they were best friends, but if Jayden knew how Antonio really felt about him, things would be very awkward between the two, especially considering they shared a bedroom and a bathroom. Antonio would never do anything to Jayden to make him feel uncomfortable, but if the truth came out, he would understand if Jayden became a little distant.

He was Jayden's Secret Santa and he wanted to buy his best friend something that would tell Jayden just how much he meant to him without revealing exactly how much Jayden meant to Antonio. It wasn't an easy thing to do, and the twenty dollar limit was not helping at all.

The mall was still very crowded. There were only a few days left until Christmas, and just like always, everyone left their shopping to the last minute. Antonio had to push, shove, and wiggle his way through the crowd just to see if there was something left on the shelves.

"What in the world can I get him," Antonio tapped his chin.

His job was made a little harder by the fact that Jayden had recently suffered a break-up and wasn't in much of a mood for Christmas. He and Mentor never actually celebrated it, so it wasn't like the day or the time of year could work its magic to heal Jayden's broken heart. As sad as Antonio was to see his best friend hurting so much, a part of him felt like destiny was working out. With Amanda out of the picture, Jayden was a single man and technically, he was fair game to all, Antonio included. Though the gold Ranger would never pressure his best friend, it felt good to know he had a shot again.

Antonio walked by a sport's store and saw fishing rods on display. Somehow, the city had picked up on the gold Ranger's love of fish and seafood and the sport had risen in popularity. Fortunately, no one had noticed the gold Ranger's arrival matched exactly with Antonio's fish business coming into town.

The gold Ranger thought he could give Jayden his own fishing rod for Christmas which basically told Jayden he had a free invite to share in Antonio's favourite pastime whenever he wanted, but the good fishing rods costs more than twenty dollars, and if Antonio simply gave Jayden one of his rods, he ran the risk of the others thinking he was too cheap for Christmas.

"Twenty dollars… that's a stupid limit," Antonio kicked a rumpled up flyer that had fallen on the floor in the rush. "What the hell can you buy for twenty dollars?

He then walked by an arts and craft store and sighed thoughtfully. Mike had said they could only spend twenty dollars, he never said it had to be on the gift itself. Nothing said _"you're special to me"_ like a homemade gift, and Antonio had no other idea for what he could get Jayden. He figured he would let his imagination run wild. It had never failed him before.

"Excelente," he smiled and raced into the store to get as much as he could for less than twenty dollars.

-Samurai-

Fortunately for Mia, her date with Kevin the night before had run a little long, and by the time they got home, they were both exhausted. Given that it was Christmas week and the Rangers would be running around anyways, training, for the most part was cancelled and everyone had the chance to sleep in. This was the one time a year where Kevin choose to take advantage of the holidays and he was going to spend as much time as possible catching up on missed sleep and Justin unwinding.

Mia, though, had gotten up early and snuck out of the house to get a few little gizmos and gadgets to stuff in the Rangers' stockings. She decided there was no point hiding the little cheap gifts and that full stockings would add to the décor around the house and help everyone get even more excited for Christmas.

Serena was out of the house, no one really knew where. She said she had a special gift planned for Secret Santa and needed to work on it with only Jayden, which meant he was out of the house as well. Antonio was shopping for gifts. Mike was doing like Kevin (or Kevin like Mike) and was sleeping in. Even Mentor was using the holidays to rest up and be merry.

Mia stuffed the top of the stockings with tissue paper so no one accidentally got a peek at what was inside and then looked around for a place to hang them. The Shiba House didn't have a chimney so Mia was going to have to come up with some place else to put them.

"Hey, Emy," she called when she saw Emily walking by the common room with a bowl of cereal. Emily was one of the few people who had all her gifts (except for her one, big and special gift for Mike) and she couldn't sleep in. She was the only person up in the house who could help. "Want to help with the stockings?"

"You filled them up?" Emily asked. Mia nodded her head.

"You know, just a few extra little stuff for Christmas," she said. "Something everyone can open Christmas morning."

She left out her idea of getting everyone special gifts from Santa. No one would know about that until the morning off, when they woke up and saw the tree was filled with gifts.

"Mentor bought a lot of hooks," Emily suggested. She set her cereal down on the table and made her way to the box of decorations. "We could put them up on the wall and hang the stockings that way."

"Great," Mia smiled and took the hooks from Emily's hands. They were strong, easy to stick, and easy to remove. There was no need to make holes in the walls, making them the perfect hooks for the holidays. Mia began to place them up while Emily took a seat on her stool and picked up a holiday magazine from the table. While she ate her breakfast, she flipped through the book, hoping an idea for Mike would spark.

Just as Emily reached a page in the catalogue that showed a family sitting by a warm fire while watching the snow fall, Mia starting hanging up the stockings and the tissue paper rustled as she did so. Too Emily, it sounded too much like the crackling of a fireplace, and the image of fire did nothing to prevent her imagination from running wild. She tried to shut her eyes for a moment and put her mind on something else, but when she opened her eyes again, the entire room was on fire. The bowl in her hands dropped to the ground, shattering and catching Mia's attention.

"Emy…?"

Emily suddenly took off to her bedroom with Mia right behind her. Emily raced into her room, and then into the bathroom. She closed the door and locked it before Mia could get inside and hurried to the shower. She turned on the water and jumped right in. She kept the water freezing cold because not only would the cold cool her down, but the water would put out the fire and keep her from being burned alive.

Outside the bathroom, Mia knocked on the door. She didn't care if she woke Mike up; she wanted to know what had happened with Emily.

"Mia?" Mike opened his eyes and looked at the pink Ranger, "You all promised you'd let me sleep in."

"Something's wrong," Mia pointed to the bathroom door and Mike heard the shower was going. He rolled his eyes.

"You know, she does get stinky and needs to get washed up sometimes," Mike put his head back down on his pillow, "Not everyone can smell like flowers all the time."

"Just help me get the door unlocked. Am I ever wrong?"

"I don't know how to answer that," Mike frowned. He wanted to go back to bed, but he knew there would be no rest while Mia was in his room so he got up and walked over to the door. He knocked and Mia gave him a look. Mike tried ignoring her as he called into the bathroom, "Hey, Em, it's just me. I'm coming in. I won't peek, I swear."

After saying so, he tried to open the door. It was locked. Mia shot him another look and crossed her arms.

"Don't you think I tried that?"

"And it didn't work?" Mike gasped teasingly, "But everything you do is always so perfect and…"

Mia smacked him over the head, "Stop trying to kiss my ass and open the door."

"Ow," Mike rubbed the back of his head. He walked to his night table and opened up a drawer, "boy, you're complicated. I feel really bad for Kevin now."

He picked up a few of his tools and started to work on the lock on the door. Emily had locked herself in the bathroom once before and he had to get her out, so he knew what he was doing. In no time, the lock clicked and Mike pushed the door open.

"Would you like to take credit for that?" he looked to Mia. She gestured to the bathroom.

"Doesn't the shower steam up the bathroom when it's running?" Mia said. "By now it should feel humid, right?"

"Not since the fire," Mike shook his head. "Emily's showers are a little on the colder side."

Mia didn't respond to that. Instead she just pointed over Mike's shoulder to the shower with a knowing look on her face. As Mike turned around, Mia started for the door.

"I'll get a change of clothes for her."

Mike looked at the shower and saw the curtain was open but the water was running. When he glanced down he saw why. Sitting in the tub, curled up in a little ball, was Emily letting herself get soaked. She was shivering and covered in goose bumps and when Mike reached in to turn off the water, he felt it was freezing cold.

"Safest place in the house if you don't want to get burned, I guess," Mike sighed. He reached for the towel and wrapped it around Emily before lifting her out of the tub. He then took a seat on the floor and held her in his arms as the towel dried her up.

"I d-d-don't w-want-t t-to be w-warm," Emily said to Mike.

"I know," he nodded, "but I'm not letting you get hypothermia either."

"Here you go," Mia said as she dropped dry, warm clothes for Emily on the floor. "What happened out there, Emy?"

"Can I tell her?" Mike asked. He knew Emily didn't want the entire house to figure out she was scared of getting warm and terrified of fire. Emily nodded her head slowly. Mike looked up to Mia, "After the fire she doesn't like the heat. You've seen her fan. She's rather be freezing cold than warm."

"Understandable," Mia nodded. She got back to her feet, "I'll just leave you two alone, then."

"Thanks, Mia," Mike smiled to her and then looked down at Emily. He kissed her forehead, "I'm going to warm you up, okay? It's not going to hurt you."

"B-b-but…"

"It's okay to be scared of fire," Mike told her as he gently rubbed her with the towel to dry her off, "but being warm is a good thing. Remember all our dates in the park in the summer? Remember how warm it was back then?"

"You weren't in the burning house though, Mike," Emily whispered softly, "If it weren't for Kevin and Jayden…"

"I know," Mike nodded his head, "They got you out of there. Kevin put out some of the flames and Jayden told me he got the cage open," Mike felt his muscles tense up as he said this. He couldn't imagine anyone locking Emily up in a cage like she was some kind of animal. It hurt him to think about it. But he smiled at her, "It's understandable that you're scared. We just don't want it getting out of hand, okay? If you keep this up, you're going to get sick. Really sick. We don't want that."

Emily shook her head and wrapped her arms around Mike's neck. She buried her face in his shoulder, "I can't stop it. I get really hot and I feel like I'm on fire."

"Because you think about the fire," Mike told her. "You have to work on thinking about something else. When I was little, mom dad used to take me camping. We had nothing except a tent, a few cans of food, and a rope. Every night, we'd start a fire and sit around and sing campfire songs until we were too tired to remember the words."

"Mom, dad, and Serena kept me away from fire," Emily said. "For obvious reasons."

"You must have gotten hot, though, working around the farm."

Emily nodded her head, "Back at the farm, the summer's warmer than it is up here. The winters were colder too."

"What did you do on warm days?" Mike asked. "When you got really, really hot?"

"When Serena and I were really little, dad would spray us with the hose," Emily smiled. "The water was usually so cold Serena couldn't stand it. She'd pick me up and use me as a shield. Mom would bring out water guns and it would be the three of us against dad. When the water fight was over, mom and dad always went inside to dry off, but Serena and I would lie in the grass and let the sun warm us up again."

Mike smiled, "We'll work on fire later," he told her, "but next time you feel yourself getting warm, instead of running away, try to think of that."

Emily looked up at Mike with a bright smile on her face before she nestled into his arms.

"You're the best, Mike."

-Samurai-

Antonio spread out all his craft supplies on the table. Jayden said he would be out until dinner time with Serena, so Antonio had a few hours to come up with something.

He tapped hit finger to his forehead, "Think, think, think… what the hell would Jayden like?"

He glanced over to Jayden's side of the room, hoping for some inspiration. It was then he noticed there was a picture of Jayden and Amanda that still sat on the red Ranger's desk and suddenly Antonio got an idea.

"Why didn't I think of it before?" he said as he got to work.


	136. Serena's Threat

Mike gently tugged on Emily's arm, pulling her along with him as they approached Jayden in the dojo. Even with the week off for holidays, Jayden still spent more time than necessary training. He felt he had to, though, given he was the leader of the Samurai Rangers, and it was a good distraction from Amanda.

"C'mon, Em, he won't hurt you and I won't let him hurt you. You need to face your fears and you know I won't let anything happen to you."

"You're going to ask him to light me on fire," Emily shook her head; "I can't do it."

"Yes you can," Mike said before tapping Jayden on the shoulder and ducking quickly as the red Ranger came around, spinning his katana just over Mike's head. When Jayden relaxed, Mike popped back up with a smile. "I need you to do us a favour."

"Sure," Jayden nodded.

Mike felt Emily was starting to take a few steps back and reached out to grab her. He pulled her into his arms and held her warmly as he spoke with Jayden, "You remember that one time in training you made that sweet ring of fire that trapped us all?"

Mike's choice of words made Emily shutter but she knew she couldn't run anymore.

Jayden nodded his head and looked over at Emily. He didn't need to be told to know she was having a hard time after the fire. The night he had rescued Amanda he had spent more time comforting her than sleeping, especially when the room was too hot. He had only assumed Emily was the same way. It was for that reason that, without telling anyone, he had lowered the temperature in the house by a few degrees.

"We can't do it inside the house," Jayden said, "Even with control, I run the risk of lighting something on fire."

"As long as it's not Emily, I don't really care," Mike said and hugged Emily gently, "I'd like you to set my fiancée on fire please."

Jayden stared at Mike for a moment, looked down at Emily, and then back up at Mike before he burst out laughing.

"This is a test, isn't it?" he asked. He gave Mike a pat on the shoulder, "A test or a joke. Good one, Mike. Em, you're free to run."

"Thank you!" Emily smiled and tried to take off. Mike grabbed her arm and pulled her back in. He gave Jayden a serious look.

"You're really going to help her out."

"Help her out?" Jayden pointed to Emily, "I've seen marshmallows less burnt than her after being dropped in a bonfire! If there were snow on the ground, I'd tell you to dump her in there."

"That's a good idea!"

"Emy, you said you trusted me," Mike glanced down at her.

"I trusted you wouldn't try to light me on fire. Serena's not going to be happy when I tell her what you're planning on doing."

"Do you remember our code word, Em?"

"Good idea," Emily smiled. She pulled herself out of Mike's arms, "I'm going to go ask the others if they want to watch how the _Grinch_ stole Christmas."

Mike shook his head and sighed. He knew he was asking a lot from Emily so soon after the fire, but the faster she faced her fear, the faster it would go away. He knew if he could just get her to sit near a fire once without running away she would make huge progress. Unfortunately the hardest part of the entire process was getting her started.

He thought about ignoring her code word because she wasn't using it properly, but quickly realised he needed her to trust him. If he dropped the code word the first time she used it, she would never trust him again.

"We will be back," he told Jayden, "And when we do come back, please light her on fire for me."

"Light her on fire, or ring of fire?"

"Whatever works best. Just don't kill her."

-Samurai-

While Mia, Kevin, Serena, Mentor, and Emily got comfortable on their pillows on or the couch, Antonio was quickly stacking all his gifts for Jayden under the Christmas tree. Everyone was wondering how twenty dollars managed to pay for all the presents, but no one was really sure how to ask.

If Kevin counted right, Antonio had stacked twenty-one gifts. Given the limit, that meant that either Antonio had found a way around the limit, or inside each box was a gift worth less than a dollar. Kevin then remembered he knew the identity of his Secret Santa and no longer needed to worry about getting twenty-one dollar-store gifts. He wrapped his arms around Mia and snuggled in closer to her while Antonio took a seat on the couch next to Mentor.

"Shall we get started?" he asked.

"Hold on," Serena grabbed the remote and turned the volume up so they could hear the movie over Emily's fan, "Seriously, kid, it's the middle of winter. I doubt you're going to overheat."

"Are you seriously afraid of being hot?" Antonio looked down at Emily, "Have you looked in the mirror, Em?"

"Uh… thanks… I think," Emily turned to the TV, "Start the movie, start the movie!"

"Would you believe this is her least favourite movie?" Serena said to the others as she hit the play button and the movie started.

As they watched the movie and saw all the Whos planning for Christmas, Emily was reminded of her need to get a gift for Mike. Even though he wanted to set her on fire, she still wanted to get him something special. Her thoughts strayed away from the movie and onto ideas for a perfect gift.

"The Grinch kinda freaks me out," Kevin stated halfway through the movie.

Emily jumped up, "I've got it! I've got it! I've got it!"

She raced out of the room and she was gone. Serena put the movie on pause and exchanged curious looks with the other Rangers.

"What does she got?" Antonio asked.

Mia shook her head, "I'm ignoring her. If she needs help, she knows where to find us. Until then, I'd rather not deal with hyper her."

"Good rule of thumb," Kevin chuckled. He kissed the side of Mia's head, "I think I'm turning in early tonight. I know how the movie ends and all this relaxing is making me exhausted."

"I'll be right there," Mia nodded.

"I think I'm going to do like Kevin," Serena said and passed the remote over to Mentor Ji. "I've seen every Christmas movie hundreds of times, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out these ones all have happy endings. I'm going to bed."

She got up from the couch and started making her way to her bedroom, happy that she had a room to herself. She was tired, but knew she wouldn't be able to fall asleep right away.

When she got into her room and closed the door and grabbed her pyjamas from the foot of her bed and started to get changed. She didn't notice a shadow moving just outside her window until she dumped her clothes in her laundry basket and had a look outside at the sky. It was getting closer and closer to Christmas and she was hoping there would be snow on the ground for that magical morning.

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a figure stepped up to her window making her jump back. The figure opened the window and crawled into her room uninvited. As the light hit the figure, Serena saw it was Dayu. She shook her head.

"No, no, no," she started walking to the door, "We are not doing this again. If you think you're getting anywhere near my sister or my baby…"

"Sit down, Serena. This time I won't hurt you," Dayu pointed to a chair and gave Serena a look that told the earth Samurai that Dayu was either being genuine or very deceptive. Serena wasn't going to make a mistake. She wasn't going to let Dayu take the upper hand on her this time. She stood in front of the door and crossed her arms.

"I'm comfortable here."

Dayu pointed to Serena's stomach, "That baby belongs to Dekker, and I am his wife. You can deny it all you want, the best place for a Nighlok child is among the Nighlok."

"Try and take the baby right now, I dare you," Serena growled. "All the Rangers are within screaming distance. You won't get far before one of them plunges a sword through your heart… if you have one, that is."

"I'd love to see them try," Dayu smirked and leaned against the wall.

Serena crossed her arms and smirked as well. Dayu wasn't making a single move or a threat against her. She didn't know why, but she liked this.

"You can't hurt me," Serena said, her smile growing. "You want my baby and you know the only way you're getting him is if I'm alive."

Dayu glared at Serena. The Samurai was right. As much as Dayu wanted to kill Serena where she stood, there was no way she could do that. Not if she wanted to give Dekker his child and not if she wanted to ever get back on Dekker's good side. Her husband was in love with Serena and loathed whoever tried to hurt her or his child.

"I want to make a deal, then," Serena smirked and looked Dayu straight in the eyes, "A deal you're not going to like but you're going to have to accept."

"What's that?"

"If you touch a hair on any of my friends and family's head, no one's getting this baby."

Dayu scoffed, "You would never do that."

"You'd be surprised what a human would do when they get desperate," Serena shrugged her shoulders. "Before your house caught fire, you probably would have never considered making a deal to turn yourself into a Nighlok."

Dayu glared angrily at Serena, "Shut up…"

"There's no way I'm giving you my son. There's no way in hell you're ever going to have a relationship with this child. I'd hate to lose him, but I'd rather he be dead than live a life of hell with you."

Dayu looked to Serena for a moment, studying her to see just how serious she was.

"You would never kill your own child."

"Test me, then," Serena stepped away from the door, "My sister's off on her own in some room, the others are likely in bed. Kidnap her now."

"Just like that?" Dayu frowned, "You'll let me take your sister? Do you know what I'll do to her if you don't do as I say?"

"Do you know what I'll do if you don't do as _I_ say?" Serena smirked. "Do you know what Dekker will do to you if you're the reason his son is dead? I may not want anything to do with him, but I know he cares. I know, all I have to do is call his name, and no matter where he is, he'll come running. He's got no problem standing against you, am I right?"

Dayu clenched her fists. Serena gestured to the door, "So go on. Kidnap my sister. If you try to force me to hand my son over to you, and really make me desperate, I'll kill him. You kill my sister in return, I'll kill myself."

Serena and Dayu stood in complete silence for a moment. There was a look of anger on Dayu's face, but a proud smirk on Serena's. Dayu was really going to have to force her hand in order to get her to consider killing her own child, but the fact that Serena had that control meant that Dayu had a little less power.

Dayu turned away, "It's a good thing I no longer have my sights set on your sister, then."

"Dekker's doing, huh?" Serena said as she walked Dayu back to the window. "He's protecting me from you, isn't he? My sister's included in that deal."

Dayu jumped out the window and turned around, "You have a close bond with your sister. Everyone knows that. This time it seems to work in your favour. The other Rangers are all fair game. Dekker does not care for them."

"But I do," Serena said.

"But would they be worth losing your own son?"

Serena shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know, shall we try?"

Dayu gave Serena a final glare before running off. Serena closed the window, then the blinds, and sunk down to the floor. She breathed out heavily and hugged her stomach.

"No worries, junior. Mommy's not going to let anything happen to you and now, meanie Dayu's going to leave you, me, and all your aunties and uncles alone… at least for Christmas."

She rubbed her stomach for a moment before her head shot up. She gently hit the back of her head against the wall.

"Great. I'm already talking like a mom and you have no idea what I'm saying," she picked herself up and walked to bed, "You're already changing me, little man, and you're not even born yet."


	137. Amanda's Break Up

Getting a present for Mike involved leaving the house. As hesitant as Emily was to leave on her own, she didn't want anyone knowing what her idea for him was. She was going to keep it a secret right up until Christmas morning when he opened his gift.

There were now only three days until Christmas and Emily was sure she would have the present ready in time. She had bought everything she was going to need and the set up could be done at home.

She walked to the bus stop, clutching her morpher tightly just in case, and noticed a familiar face sitting on the bus bench. She approached her carefully and took a seat.

"I thought you'd be at home resting."

Amanda jumped slightly, too lost in thought to notice someone had taken the spot next to her. She looked up and saw Emily.

"I could say the same for you," she said. "I don't know how you guys do it all the time. My body's killing me."

"Have you been taking the painkillers Mentor gave you?"

Amanda nodded her head, "They help. They wear off before I can take another one, though. The burns are all still sore."

"Yeah, I've kind of gotten used to pain," Emily said, "Even before I… you know."

"How's Jayden?" Amanda asked, looking to Emily with a pained look in her eye, "Is he okay?"

Emily nodded her head with a smile, "He's doing fine. He told us about the break-up. You don't sound like you're mad at him, though."

"I get what he's trying to do," Amanda sighed, "I just… it's hard. I guess you probably know what it's like."

Emily shook her head. She couldn't relate. The first boy she had ever fallen for was the man she was going to marry. She didn't know what it was like to break up with someone she still had feelings for, especially when the break-up wasn't something she wanted.

"You'd probably want to talk to Serena about that," she said. "She's the sister who always seems to fall for the wrong guys… or guy."

"What did she ever see in Dekker?" Amanda asked. "He was the lesser of two evils, but it's not like he tried to stop that house from burning down. I still can't think of fire without…"

"I know," Emily nodded. "Look, if it helps, Jayden does really like you, but if Xandred finds out you're connected to him…"

"Won't Dayu tell him? Aren't I screwed either way?" Amanda looked up at Emily. "Isn't Xandred like the king of all monsters? Dayu's probably pissed, she'll tell him and…"

"I guess," Emily shrugged. "I don't know what Jayden's doing, but he's trying his best to protect you because he does care. He's not the best, though. One time, he thought we would all be safer if he ran away. I don't know what went through his head because at the time, I was hurt, Kevin and Mike were bedridden, and there was no Antonio. If Mia got hurt and Jayden didn't come home, we would have been screwed."

"Why does he do this, then?" Amanda asked. "Shouldn't he know…?"

"He doesn't learn quickly. We had to convince him to come home. It was all a mess."

"If you're telling me I have to convince him to take me back, you can think again," Amanda shook her head, "I'm not begging for some guy to take me back. If he thinks the relationship can be saved, he's begging me for a second chance."

"It's hard for all of us," Emily said, "Him especially. But I get your point. I made a friend once. A friend outside of the Shiba House. He was kind of just a run-in friend. We'd see each other at the park, or in a store or something like that. One day, he figured out who we were."

"Wait, someone else knows about you?" Amanda asked. "Who?"

"Not important. The less you know, the better," Emily said. "But when he found out, we had to stop seeing each other. I don't think I've seen him since. When we defeat the Nighlok, I'll go find him and maybe we can be real friends, but until then, if I want to keep him safe, I can't let him get too close. If Xandred finds out…"

"Does Dayu know about your friend?"

"Not as far as I know," Emily answered. "I wouldn't worry about Dayu. She doesn't care for Jayden like Xandred does. She might tell him, yeah, but only if it'll help her kill me, Mike, Serena, and Mia."

"You four really pissed her off, huh?"

"I didn't do anything," Emily chuckled. "I'm like you. I'm only in danger because I'm so close to the others. After Mike killed Dekker, Dayu was pissed."

"Understandably."

"Instead of going after Mike, she went after me. Mike killed her husband; she was going to kill his fiancée."

"Eye for an eye. Make him suffer as much as she was."

"She also chose me because I'm Serena's sister. Serena dated Dekker and he fell in love with her. He refused to let himself remember his past because he only wanted to be with Serena. Serena stole Dekker from Dayu, so Dayu was going to do the same to Serena after he died. She was going to take the person Serena cared for most."

"You?"

"Yeah. And then, she went after Mia because Mia kept getting on her nerves. Mia and I are best friends. Mia did something that pissed Dayu off, so Dayu was going to do something that pissed her off."

"Attack you?"

Emily nodded her head, "Yep. She could have gone after Kevin… but I was already on her hit list for the other two, so I was easiest. Dayu didn't count on the rest of the team coming after her. I don't know if you've ever seen Mia fighting on TV, but when she's angry, she's like a hurricane."

Amanda chuckled, "I'm not surprised, given what Jayden's told me."

Emily smiled, "Now you see why Jayden's scared? The Nighlok are smart. As soon as they figure out our weakness, they'll use it against us. You'll probably always be a target for them, but as long as Xandred doesn't find out, and Dayu's not constantly reminded she's got a secret weapon to control Jayden, you're safe… well, safer than if you and Jayden were to keep dating and kissing in public."

"I guess."

"Besides, you've already got a thousand burns. You don't want one of these too," Emily lifted her shirt slightly, showing Amanda her side where the scar was. It had healed up nicely, but left its mark on Emily's skin. "When Dayu went after me she stabbed me. If I hadn't gotten to the hospital when I did, or if Mike had taken me home instead of the hospital, I would have died. There would have been no saving my life."

"You'll have a whole collection of those by the time you're done fighting Nighlok."

Emily nodded and laughed, "We all have our battle scars. You'll have some too."

"Not looking forward to explaining these to my co-workers," Amanda sighed. She turned to Emily, "Thanks, kid."

"No problem. And if you want, when it is safe for Jayden to date again, I could get him to call you… if you haven't moved on. I'd hate to get his hopes up."

"Do you have a phone with you?" Amanda asked. Emily gave her her cell phone and Amanda programmed her number, "Give me a call when the coast is clear and I'll tell you whether or not you're good to go."

"And you have my number," Emily smiled as she sent her number to Amanda via text. "If Dayu ever does come for you, or if Xandred comes or if you need help, you've got another Samurai's number to call for help."

"Thanks, Em. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas."

-Samurai-

"Let me get this straight?" Kevin asked and paced back and forth, "When Emily gets home we're going to what?"

"I believe the man is trying to convince us to set her on fire," Antonio said, his voice just as surprised as Kevin's.

"Mike," Jayden said with a shake of his head, "You tried this yesterday and Emily couldn't run away fast enough. What makes you think she's ready to try this now?"

"Wait a minute," Serena glared at Mike, "You tried to set my baby sister on fire?"

"Will you guys let me explain…?"

"You do realise our spare yellow is pregnant, right? If we set Emily on fire and kill her…"

"We're not going to kill her, Antonio," Mike sighed. He traced a circle around the room with his finger, "Jayden's going to surround her with fire and she's going to live through it."

"Singed," Mia said.

"No, she'll be perfectly fine. We'll help her through it," Mike rubbed his temples, "Look, two minutes tops, and if she screams Grinch before that we stop, but she's got to face her fears."

"So we're throwing her into the deep end?" Kevin asked, "And hoping she figures out how to swim?"

"She agreed to this, she's just scared to do it. I would be too…"

"Then why are you doing it?"

"She fell into the lake on our farm once. Avoided water for weeks," Serena said. "We couldn't get her to take a bath without her throwing a fit. Eventually she got over it."

"Because you got her in the bath and showed her she was safe," Mike said. "You put her right back in before her fears could grow."

"Alright, point," Serena nodded her head. "But fire can actually kill her."

"But warmth can't," Mike said. "C'mon, guys, you know we'll never do anything to hurt her. She's agreed to two minutes in the heat but she's going to keep refusing until we force her to do it. And she won't do it alone. I'll be right in there with her."

"Oh," the room nodded their heads, "So we'll be lighting you on fire, then?"

"Technically, I guess…"

"Why didn't you just say that in the first place?" Kevin asked. "I would have agreed to that."

"Really? I… hey, wait a minute!"

"Do we really have to wait for Emily to come home to set him on fire?" Serena asked with a whine, "I'm excited now."

Mike crossed his arms over his chest, "You guys suck!"

"But now we're on board with the plan," Antonio laughed.

"You better hope it works," Serena said to Mike as she got up to check the door, assigning herself as lookout for when Emily got home, "because if it doesn't and you set her back twelve steps, you're literally going to burn in a ring of fire and no Grinch is going to save you."

Mike gulped and looked at Serena, "You're not fire. You can't burn me."

"Would you rather be buried alive instead by a ton of rocks? Emily doesn't need her Samuraizer to make symbols, I'm sure I can figure out how to do that too."

"It'll work," Mike said, "I'm sure it will…"


	138. Old Scars Heal

Jayden tapped his foot nervously as the house waited for Emily to come home. On some level he agreed with Mike. The faster she faced her fears and overcame them, the easier it was going to be to overcome what was fast becoming a phobia of anything warm. However, putting her in a ring of fire was extremely risky and if Mike's plan failed (Jayden knew the fail rate was rather high), Emily would be pissed at him for lighting her on fire.

"She's home," Serena whispered as she spotted Emily through the window. She turned to the Rangers, "Is everything set up?"

"We're just waiting for her," Mike nodded. With a heavy sigh, Serena got up and followed Kevin, Mia and Antonio out of the room. She knew Mike was only trying to help and she hoped this work, but she hated anytime she had to do anything to scare her sister.

The door opened and Jayden pulled out his Samuraizer. Emily skipped into the room with a package in her hand. She saw Mike first, and then Jayden. Part of her wanted to tell Jayden she had run into Amanda, but Jayden was trying to move past the break-up and she was worried it would set him back so she ignored it and smiled.

"There was a package on the doorstep," she said and set it on the table, "It's from Japan and it's for Serena. I think it's her Samuraizer."

"That's great, Em," Mike smiled and took her hands, "Can we talk?"

"Uh…" Emily's face fell, "About what?"

Mike looked down at Emily's hands. They were freezing cold. She had gone out into town with nothing but jeans and a sweater. He lifted her hands slightly.

"This."

"Mike…"

"You're gonna get sick, Em," Mike told her. "You know it's not healthy to freeze all the time."

"I got you a present," Emily smiled, trying to change the topic, "You're going to like it, but I have to set it up…"

"Emily, you promised you would let me help you," Mike wasn't so easily fooled or distracted. He knew it would be hard trying to convince her to face her fears. He had a number of silly fears he refused to get help for, but the difference between his and hers was that avoiding his fears wasn't going to hurt him.

"I'm not ready, Mike… Can't we at least wait until the scars are gone, first?"

Mike shook his head, "We're doing this now," he wrapped his arms around her and gave Jayden the signal. Emily screwed her eyes shut as Jayden traced his fire symbol and suddenly the space around her and Mike heated up. Fearfully, Emily opened her eyes, for only a second, and saw the room was on fire. But, unlike every other time this had happened, she knew the fire was real. Jayden had really lit the room on fire.

She clung on desperately to Mike, unsure of what else she could do. She was surrounded by the flames with no way out. If she tried to run, she would only get burned. She closed her eyes again.

"Stop it," she cried to him. He kissed the top of her head.

"The fire's scary, I know it is," he acknowledged, "but you have to stay calm. That's what we're going for. Just breathe…"

"I can't…" Emily coughed and clung on tightly to Mike.

"It's in your head, Em. I can breathe fine. It's only Jayden, remember. He won't hurt you."

"But…"

"Remember how your dad used to cool you and Serena off in the summer?" Mike asked her and nodded again to Jayden. The flamed died in an instant and the room was back to normal. Emily still held onto Mike, her eyes shut and her face buried in his chest. "Remember how much fun you would have with the water fights?"

"The water was cold…"

"Remember how you used to dry off?" Mike reminded her. "The warm sun heating you back up again? Remember that? You said you and Serena would lie in the grass and dry off. What else would you do?"

"We'd look at the clouds. They all looked like cotton balls to Serena, but I saw shapes."

"What shape did you see most often?"

"A dog," Emily whispered.

Mike smiled down at her and gently cupped her cheeks with his hands. He lifted her head so she was looking up at him, "Can you breathe?" Emily nodded her head slowly, "Are you calm?" Again, Emily nodded her head. Mike wrapped his arms around her again, "Can you tell me you're okay?"

"Don't let go."

"Emily…"

"I'm okay, but don't let go."

"Just for one second," Mike told her and Emily started to feel his arms falling away. She tried to blink back the tears and looked up at Mike fearfully. He smiled back at her and gestured around the room, "Emily, look."

Emily did as she was told and saw the fire was gone. She wasn't in danger anymore. She wiped away the tears and threw herself back into Mike's arms.

"You're mean."

"You did it, and you didn't say Grinch," Mike smiled. "You thought there was a fire and you managed to stay calm. I'm proud of you, Em."

"Don't do that again…" Emily whined.

"There's a stash of sugar cookies and the others should be finishing up the hot chocolate by now," Mike said to Emily as he held her warmly. "Would you like some?"

"Mini marshmallows?"

"Yep."

"Yellow ones?"

"All you can eat."

Emily nodded her head and pulled away from Mike slightly. But just before he could lead her to the kitchen, he wanted to try something. He wanted to see if his idea had actually worked. He pointed to the fan sitting in the corner. The fan they had only pulled out for Emily.

"Trust me?" he asked as Emily shot him a curious look. She nodded her head and walked over to the fan. She picked it up and carried it down to the closet in the hallway. She stashed it away on the highest shelf she could reach, where it would sit there until summer. When she closed the door, Mike came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "One step at a time, huh, Em? If you ever feel yourself getting too hot, just think of the water fight and cloud watching."

"That works," Emily nodded her head, "but that memory's so far back now, I don't think I can remember it properly for long."

"What other memory could you use? How many good warm memories do you have?"

"Remember that time in the park right after you proposed. The other all left but we stayed behind and fell asleep?"

Mike furrowed his brow, "You mean the night right before Dayu attacked?"

Emily nodded her head, "It was a warm night, and sleeping next to you made it extra warm, but it was the best night of my life."

Mike looked down curiously, "Wait… so to stop yourself from thinking about the time you nearly died in a fire, you're going to think of the night before you were nearly assaulted to death?"

"I felt safe with you," Emily shrugged, "I knew you'd protect me."

"I'll always…" Mike was interrupted as Emily pulled him into a deep kiss. He held her close, grinning happily as he kissed her until he heard someone clearing their throat. Emily pulled away from him and he could see she was turning red. When he saw who caught them, he turned red as well.

"Hey, Serena."

"Cookies and hot chocolate are ready," Serena said with a slight shake of her head, "You two enjoy them… I'm going to burn my eyes…"

Serena shivered as she walked away from the couple. She knew her baby sister was a grown woman, but that didn't stop her from seeing the little infant learning how to take her few steps. Watching Mike kissing that was a mental image she never wanted to imagine again.

She got to her bedroom and shook the thought from her head before grabbing a card Mia and Kevin had picked up for her earlier. Her gift to Emily for the Secret Santa wasn't something she was going to be able to wrap and was worth a lot more than twenty dollars, so she had to find something to put into the Christmas pile when the presents came out so she asked her friends to pick out a card.

She scribbled down a message on the inside of the card and placed it in the envelope. She then got up and started making her way to her door. Just as she was about to open it, she heard a knock. She slid the door open and laughed, "Amazing timing, Mia. I was just on my way over to ask you if I could borrow your phone. I need to make a call."

"Can I ask you something first?" Mia asked and stepped into Serena's room. She closed the door and then reached into her sweater pocket. She pulled out a box, "What do you think of this?"

"It could use some wrapping paper, if you want me to be honest."

"I meant inside the box," Mia said and pulled off the lid. Serena looked at the contents inside.

"Is this for Secret Santa?" she asked. "That's worth a lot more than twenty bucks."

"I already gave my… it's for Christmas, for Kevin."

"He already…"

"It's personalised. Think he'll like it?"

"Maybe with some wrapping paper," Serena smirked. "I think he'll love it."

"Do you have some in here?"

Serena nodded and pointed to the closet, "It's got little reindeer on it. While you do that, can I borrow your phone? I need to make a call."

"To who?"

Serena bit her lip. She was dying to tell someone. Up until now, only Kevin's parents and Jayden knew, and they had all been sworn to secrecy.

"I've forgiven mom."

"That's great," Mia smiled. "I'm sure when she wakes up, she'll be happy to hear that. What made you…?"

Mia trailed off when she caught the smirk Serena was giving her. She had no idea what it was for, but it was something special.

"Are you going to tell Emy?"

"I won't have to say a word," Serena said. "By the way, I know we have a twenty dollar max limit, but do you think there's a minimum price?"

"Why?"

Serena held up the card, "This only cost me what?"

"A buck Mia shrugged, "We went to the dollar store. We figured you didn't have much money to spend."

"That's all I'm spending on Secret Santa."

"That's cheap, even for you, and that's coming from me. I already gave my gift and didn't spend a dime."

"My gift is worth more than yours," Serena stuck her tongue out.

Mia rolled her eyes and handed Serena her phone, "I doubt it, but whatever."

Serena dialled the number while Mia started pulling out the wrapping paper for her present. The pink Ranger tried not to eavesdrop, but they were both in the same room so she couldn't help but overhear when Serena asked for her call to be transferred to her mother's room.

"Uh, Serena," Mia called, "No one's going to pick up…"

"Mom? It's Serena."

Now Mia was deeply confused, "Serena?"

"Did the doctors say anything?"

"Serena…?"

"Tonight? And dad's going to… Great. Please make sure you talk to him before you come here, though."

Mia got up and walked over to Serena. She placed her hand on Serena's forehead.

"No fever…"

"I haven't said a word to her," Serena smiled as she continued her conversation on the phone while swatting Mia's hand away. "Just call Mia or Jayden's phone before you show up so I know to distract Emily and we'll get a room set up… I guess if you come Christmas Eve after she falls asleep that would be easiest… Great, just remember to call first just in case. I love you. Take care."

Serena hung up and handed Mia her phone back with a bright smile, "Can you guess now?"

"Serena, if you mom lives through this, she won't wake up until after you've given birth."

"Miracles happen," Serena shrugged. "Remember that Nighlok?"

"Which one?"

"The one that wanted my son."

Mia nodded her head, "_That_ Nighlok."

"I made a new deal with him, one that would protect my son and Emily… and there was something else I made him promise… something I had forgotten about."

"You forgot?"

"I kind of got distracted by Emily hating me," Serena nodded. "He kept his original promise. Mom was going to wake up. He couldn't promise she and dad were going to stay together, but she was going to live."

"And now…"

"She's awake," Serena smiled. "It's finally kicked in. Just like everything else our deal promised, good or bad… this one's finally coming true."

"She's awake?" Mia asked. Serena nodded her head. Suddenly, Mia threw herself into Serena's arms, feeling so happy for her friend. "You were really talking to her, then?"

"I'm not crazy yet, Mia," Serena chuckled. "The hospital's going to let her go tonight and dad's going to come here with her on Christmas Eve. If all goes well, they'll sneak in once Emily's in bed and in the morning, when she gets up to unwrap her gift from Secret Santa, they'll be there."

If Mia's reaction was anything to go by, Serena was sure Emily was going to love her present. There were still a lot of uncertainties about the future of her family, but there was one thing Serena knew for sure. Emily wanted them all together.

Mia had tears in her eyes as she pulled Serena in for another hug, "That's one of the best Secret Santa gifts ever."

"Still think it's not worth more than yours?"

"It's definitely up there," Mia chuckled. "Merry Christmas, Serena."

"I think it will be."


	139. Christmas Eve Part I

It was finally the big day.

Or the day before the big day, but Christmas Eve was part of the Christmas magic package. It was the day where the celebrating truly began.

Everyone woke up in a good mood. Everyone was smiling at the breakfast table and trading stories of their Christmases and holidays as children. Everyone got along; the only bickering was playful teases, and even the Nighlok seemed to be taking a break (that, or the season was too merry for Xandred to even try to cause misery).

Mentor had announced that the dojo was not to be used for training purposes for the next two days and everyone agreed. Even Kevin and Jayden suppressed the urge to train at some point during the day, which was easy to do as it was the last thing on their mind. Spending time with their friends was a top priority.

"You shot me!"

"That's how you play the game," Mike laughed as he challenged Kevin to his new video game. Somehow, Secret Santa wasn't working out like everyone planned, but was coming out nicely. A few gifts had already been exchanged. Everyone was so excited to get Christmas started, they couldn't wait.

Kevin was Mike's Secret Santa and had bought him a video game for close to twenty dollars, which the boys were now playing together now. Kevin thought that because the game was new, he would stand a fair chance against Mike and it would raise the odds of him winning, but the virtual world was one where no one would ever be better than Mike.

Jayden had given Mia her present: a blanket with the words: _Sleeping. Do NOT Disturb_. He and Antonio had found it rather fitting when they walked by it in the mall. Mia was the one Samurai in the house no one ever wanted to wake up. She needed her eight hours of sleep if not she was deadly. When she opened the present, she laughed and she kept the blanket with her around the house to stay warm. When Jayden saw her making use of his gift, he felt good. He never had to buy anyone a Christmas present before, but now he knew why people went through all that trouble every year.

Emily had given Mentor a book on caring for bonsai. When she gave it to him, she reminded him how many of his bonsai has been killed or damaged while the Rangers trained, and she hoped he would find advice on how to keep his precious plants safe. Mentor chuckled and thanked Emily for the gift and then gave Antonio his present. A fishing shirt. So far, Antonio didn't have any clothes that were used specifically for fishing, so every time he went out, he had to put his clothes in the laundry so he didn't smell like fish for the rest of the day. Mentor figured he could save Antonio some time by getting him a shirt for that purpose and one that made him look good as well (and he managed to find one in a gold-ish colour).

Antonio wanted to wait for Christmas morning to give out his present and Serena insisted she needed to wait. Mike, just for the hell of it, chose to wait until Christmas morning to give out his present. It was already wrapped and ready to hand out, but he thought it would be fun to have his receiver wait an extra day.

That left Serena, Emily, and Jayden waiting on gifts, though none of them minded. Serena was too preoccupied thinking of her gift to Emily to notice she hadn't gotten anything from her Secret Santa yet, Jayden was still trying to get used to Christmas and all the celebrating, and Emily had her mind set on giving her Christmas gift to Mike.

She walked into the common room with a bag almost as big as she was. She couldn't carry it, so she had to push it over to Mike.

"This gift can't wait," she told him. "Open it now, open it now!"

She seemed more excited than Mike did. He had assumed they were doing a trade and was dying to know what she had gotten him.

The others were excited as well. They knew Emily was planning something big for Mike and had offered their help in getting him a gift. Nothing they had pointed out seemed good enough in Emily's eyes. When she finally did come up with a gift, she had left them out, choosing to do all the preparation herself.

"Where did you find a bag that big, Em?" Mike laughed and gave her a kiss before opening his gift. The first thing, he pulled out was a green and black winter coat for himself.

"There's more."

"More?" Mike asked and looked at the coat. It had to be expensive and he was more than happy with it. He knew the snow was coming and he was going to need something to keep warm. He couldn't imagine getting anything else.

He reached inside and pulled out another coat, this time slightly smaller and yellow. Emily snatched it from his hands with a smile.

"That's for me. There's more for you."

Nodding his head, he reached inside again. This time he pulled out dark green tuque with his forest symbol on the front.

"More," Emily smiled. Mike reached into the bag and pulled out black gloves. "More," Emily said again.

"Was there a sale?" Mike reached in and pulled out a yellow tuque with Emily's earth symbol. He tossed it over to her. "Yours I assume."

Emily nodded her head, "There's more."

Mike was now diving into the big bag and he pulled out a present that was wrapped. He looked at Emily and shook his head, "Open it, I guess."

Emily chuckled and took his new coat, his hat, and his gloves from him so he could open up his present. He smiled brightly when he tore off the wrapping paper and saw it was a heated blanket.

"That doesn't need to be plugged in," Emily specified and showed him the box. "It's designed to keep body heat trapped better than regular blankets."

"Is this you telling me your fear of warm magically disappeared?" Mike asked. "Isn't our bed hot enough?"

"Keep going," Emily chuckled.

Mike reached inside the bag and pulled out another wrapped present. He opened it and pulled out two sets of pyjamas. One for himself, and one, obviously, for Emily.

"Em…"

"And this," Emily pulled out an envelope from her pocket and handed it to Mike, "is why we're going to need all this stuff. This is your real Christmas present."

Mike took the envelope from Emily and ripped it open. He pulled out the contents and saw a picture of a tent in the middle of the forest.

"If we leave now, we'll be back in time for Christmas morning," Emily smiled. "You told me you and your parents used to go camping. I know it's getting cold out, but will all this stuff we should be warm."

"A camping trip?"

"Just us," Emily nodded her head, "A little time away from the house and everything just for a night. You can even bring your battery powered video games with you if you want."

Mike smiled brightly at Emily. It was the perfect gift. As excited as he had been to wake up on Christmas morning to a tree full of presents, the only thing he wanted was to have Christmas with his fiancée. The Rangers never got much of a chance to leave the house and have fun, especially overnight, and the privacy they would get while out camping was privacy they couldn't get in the Shiba House, even in their bedroom.

"The tent's set up not too far from the Shiba House," Emily said to Mentor, "If there's an emergency, we can be home in ten minutes," she turned back to Mike, "but it's far enough out where no one will bug us."

Mike took his jacket from Emily and pulled it on. He slipped on his tuque and his gloves and smiled at her.

"You said we were leaving now?" he asked excitedly.

"Everything's set up," Emily nodded. Mike held out her winter jacket.

"So, what are we waiting for? Tent, jackets, blankets, what more do we need."

"Bye, I guess," Serena chuckled while Emily got dressed up for the cold weather. "Be back for Christmas morning."

"We will," Emily promised and gave her sister a hug while Mike grabbed the blanket. He double checked his pockets to make sure he had his Samuraizer with him and Emily did the same before they headed out, Emily leading the way.

When they were outside the gate, Mike gently took her arm. He set the blanket on the ground and pulled Emily in for a kiss.

"You're amazing."

Emily shook her head, "No. I did this because you're amazing. All year you've done everything for me, more than I would ever ask anyone to do. Even when you don't like it, you're always trying to make me happy."

"I always like doing it, Em," Mike assured her. "There's nothing that…"

"I wasn't asleep in the hotel room, at least, not until after you found a new place to sleep after Mia filled our bed with ice. I know you slept on the floor, I know you didn't like it, but you did it for me. I know you've done that for me a lot. It's time I returned the favour. I love you just as much as you love me. All those crazy things you've done for me, all the times you've made yourself miserable because you wanted to make me happy, I'd do it all for you in a heartbeat."

Mike already knew everything she was saying. Deep down, he had known she returned his feelings, but it felt so good to hear it and be appreciated for it. He's do anything for her without getting anything in return, but hearing that she had noticed his sacrifices and she appreciated them made them all the more worthwhile.

Emily pulled Mike in for a kiss. He wrapped his arms around her tightly in a loving hug.

"I love you, Em."

-Samurai-

"Okay," Antonio smiled and turned back to the house. They had all spied on Mike and Emily. Even though the youngest Rangers had gone on the other side of the gate, the door was left open and the Samurai inside the house could see, if only just, what was happening between them, "That's ridiculously cute."

"Someone's going to have a Merry Christmas," Jayden smirked and nudged Serena playfully, "You know, when she comes home tomorrow, you won't be able to call her your baby sister anymore."

"I'm not thinking about that," Serena shook her head. "I'm going to focus on the fact that there's a huge chance my Secret Santa just walked out the door…"

"Fifty-fifty," Antonio smirked. "Based on who already handed out their gifts, you have to wonder if it's me or Mike who's buying for you."

"Will you tell me?" Serena asked.

Antonio shook his head, "I'm not telling anyone who I bought for. Not until they receive my gift."

"Gifts," Mia corrected Antonio and pointed to the tree, "How many did you get again?"

"Twenty-one," Antonio smirked.

"For under twenty dollars, right?" Jayden asked. "That was the price limit."

"For under twenty-dollars," Antonio nodded. "You're all just going to have to wait and see what I got."

"Speaking of Secret Santas…" Jayden turned to Serena, "If Emily's going to be out of the house tonight, you don't have to worry about sneaking your present past her."

Mia's eyes lit up. Like Jayden, she knew what Serena had gotten Emily for Secret Santa.

Serena smirked, "That's convenient. Maybe I should give them a call. We can get them settled in."

"You have to call your gift?" Kevin asked. "You're not getting her another dog are you?"

"You're her Secret Santa?" Antonio asked.

Serena nodded her head and then looked to Kevin, "No way. She's got her hands full with Scruffy already," she turned to Kevin, "My parents are probably with yours for the day. Mind if I…?"

"Go ahead," Kevin handed Serena his phone before the words fully processed in his brain. As Serena dialled the number for Kevin's house, he and Antonio finally clued in.

"Wait," Antonio pulled the phone from Serena's hands, "Parents? Parent_s_? Your mom's…"

"Awake," Serena smiled. "She woke up a few days ago. Doctors are still clueless and wanted to keep her in the hospital. They let her go last night, though, dad picked her up."

"Dad… yours, right?" Kevin asked.

Serena shrugged, "I don't see why I would call your dad, dad."

"But weren't they… I mean… your mom…"

"Walked out on him, yeah," Serena nodded, "but you would be amazed at what parents would do for their children, especially around Christmas time."

"My parents were actually divorced," Mia smiled to Kevin, "They still spent every Christmas together for me."

Serena finished dialling the number and put the phone to her ear with a big smile. She asked Patrick to pass the phone one of her parents and her smile, if possible, grew when she heard the sound of her father's voice.

"Emily's out of the house for the night. Whenever you're ready you can come over."

As Serena finished up the call, Mia leaned into Kevin and hugged him, "And just think," she smiled up at him before giving him a kiss, "Technically it's not even Christmas yet."


	140. Christmas Eve Part II

_Author's Note: Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all my readers and their families!_

* * *

><p>No one had planned on Emily and Mike not attending Christmas, or Serena's parents turning up, but the main Christmas dinner was going to happen the day itself, so slight modifications to the Christmas Eve feast weren't unwelcomed.<p>

Especially for Antonio. A change in schedule meant he got to spend a little extra time organizing the meals to make sure there was enough food for everyone and his helper for the night was Jayden. Serena and Mentor were busy setting up a room for Serena's parents once they arrived, and Kevin and Mia were off in their room doing something (Antonio didn't want to know what).

"Mike and Emily are going to miss out on the cake," Jayden said as he finished with the icing and reached for the decorations. He thought it was a little silly to decorate a cake that was only going to be cut up and eaten in a few hours but Antonio insisted they go all out; especially considering it was Jayden's first Christmas. It needed to be memorable.

Antonio pulled the ham out of the oven. They were saving the turkey for Christmas dinner when everyone was home.

"Is that really a bad thing?" Antonio laughed. "Just make sure you make it nice. No one wants to eat sloppy cake."

"It'll turn into mush anyways," Jayden shrugged, "but I'll try. What do you want to put on it?"

"Merry… actually, Happy Holidays," Antonio turned and smiled to Jayden, "We've all agreed to celebrate Christmas… but we don't know who actually celebrates it and who's just going along with it."

"Happy Holidays then," Jayden chuckled and got started with the wording on the cake. He suddenly stopped and turned to Antonio, "Happy takes two "_P_"s right?"

Antonio shot Jayden a surprised look, "Yes. Are you suddenly a dumbass now?"

"No. It's just so much pressure," Jayden laughed. "I want to make sure it get it right."

"H-A-P-P-Y H-O-L-Y-D-A-Y-S," Antonio purposely misspelled for Jayden and watched as the red Ranger followed his best friend letter for letter. When Jayden got to the "_Y_" Antonio cried out for him to stop.

"Dumbass," Antonio laughed. He dipped his finger into the icing and scooped up the letter. He licked it off his fingers.

"What?"

"Take a minute to think."

"I… uh…" Jayden looked down at the cake just before it dawned on him. He turned to Antonio and slapped him on the shoulder, "You're doing it on purpose now."

"Are we sure you're the red Ranger for the job?" Antonio teased. "How are we supposed to trust you to get the sealing symbol right if you can't even master English?"

"Shut up," Jayden iced over his mistake and started again with the decoration, "Go finish up the ham, you ham."

"Make me, turkey. Or are you chicken?"

Jayden knew how to wipe the smirk off Antonio's face. As he finished up with the words on the cake, he lifted the icing up and squirted some on the tip of Antonio's nose. The gold Ranger's eyes widened just before he went cross eyes and stared at the icing.

"What's your beef?" Antonio asked and then tried to lick the icing from his nose with his tongue. Jayden rolled his eyes.

"I think that's enough with the meat jokes."

"Aw, c'mon," Antonio whined, giving up with his tongue and using his fingers, "I was going to use duck next."

"Here, let me help you with that," Jayden held up the icing again. "You might want to duck."

Antonio yelped and lowered his head as Jayden squirted the icing out and it went over his head. Unfortunately, it wasn't a long range shot and the icing that would have hit Antonio in the forehead landed on the back of his neck.

"You didn't," Antonio rubbed his neck and glared up at Jayden. The red Ranger shrugged his shoulders.

"Maybe I did… maybe I didn't."

Antonio reached for the bowl of cooked peas. This meant war.

"Antonio…" Jayden said and took a cautious step back, "That's the vegetable for tonight's dinner… you can't just…"

Jayden was interrupted as Antonio threw a handful of peas at him and the food fight had begun.

-Samurai-

Mia's original plan to be Santa by herself could have still worked out, but she was starting to fall behind. There was more excitement to a Ranger Christmas than she ever thought and she was getting far too distracted. In order to keep her up to schedule, she had called in Kevin's help.

She pulled the door to their closet open and revealed the pile of gifts that tumbled out. Many were wrapped, but there were some that still needed a little Christmas touch. Kevin's jaw dropped.

"You weren't kidding when you said you were going to be Santa."

"I thought it would be fun for the others," Mia said with a smile as she started collected the presents from the floor and dumped them onto the bed where she would then sort them.

"You did this for them?"

"You included," Mia said and pointed to a pile of gifts wrapped and bagged in blue. Kevin looked at the assortment of colours of paper with a knowing smirk as he noticed there was something missing.

Mia continued to explain her plan, "They're mostly just little inexpensive gifts I thought the others might find fun for the day, but I did get everyone a present I thought they would really like."

"Red snowflakes for Jayden," Kevin pointed to the red wrapping paper, "Blue snowflakes for me. Christmas tree paper for Mike, stars for Antonio, reindeer for Mentor, green paper with yellow presents for Emily, and plain yellow wrapping paper with yellow ribbon for Serena."

"And one present for Junior," Mia pulled out small box from the closet and tossed it onto the bed.

Kevin tapped his chin, "There's something missing."

"What do you mean?"

"Did Santa forget you?"

Mia turned to Kevin curiously as she finished sorting through the gifts into two piles: one for presents that were already wrapped and another for presents that still needed to be wrapped.

"Kevin, I'm buying the gifts. I can't buy for myself."

Kevin shook his head, "They're going to know it was you if you don't get anything."

"I guess I didn't think that through," Mia smirked. "Look, it doesn't matter."

"Now everyone's going to have presents under the tree tomorrow morning except you."

"Kevin…"

"You're going to miss out."

"It's fine," Mia chuckled. "Kevin, I wanted to do this for you guys. If they do find out it was me, all I need is a thank you. Even then, I'll be happy if you all like your gifts."

"You deserve more than that."

"I don't want more than that."

"You went through all that trouble…," Kevin pointed to the gifts on the bed, "You spent a fortune, didn't you."

"Money's no object."

"You've been looking after everyone all year."

"I like doing that."

Kevin shook his head, "You deserve more. You deserve better," he pulled his phone out of his pocket, "Don't tell Jayden or Mentor," he told her as he handed his phone to her. Mia furrowed her brow.

"What's this for?"

"It's a new piece of technology," Kevin chuckled, "You dial a number and you can hear voices on the other end. They talk back to you. Isn't that neat?"

Mia swatted Kevin on the shoulder, "I know that. I just meant…"

"I've seen my father recently. Emily's parents are going to be here in a couple of hours and she's got her sister with her all the time," Kevin said, "Antonio's father came for a visit for a few days and Jayden's always with Mentor. After everything you've been through, you deserve a little treat. No one's looking, Xandred's been quiet and it's just one phone call. Why don't you wish your grandmother a happy holiday?"

"I can't," Mia handed the phone back to Kevin, "Communication is against the rules. It could put her in danger…"

"One phone call from my phone won't do anything," Kevin assured her. "As long as you don't make it a habit, that's fine. I'll get started on the presents. They're all colour coordinated, right?"

Mia nodded her head and looked down at the phone in her hands. Kevin kissed her forehead and got to work.

With shaky fingers, Mia dialled the number to her house. She hadn't thought about it in over a year, but her phone number came right back to her in an instant. As the phone began to ring, she pressed it to her ear and waited for her grandmother to pick up.

"Hello?"

Tears suddenly streamed down Mia's face. Kevin looked over with a smile.

"Sobo?" Mia asked, her voice filled with happiness, "It's me. It's Mia."

-Samurai-

"What in the world…?" Serena asked as she and Mentor walked into the kitchen. Her parents were due to arrive any minute and she wanted to see if there was anything she could do to help with the dinner preparations. She hadn't expected to walk into a kitchen covered in food and Antonio and Jayden working frantically to cook a meal for a second time.

"We got into a bit of a fight," Jayden said with a smile as he looked to Mentor and Serena.

"A food fight?" Serena asked, scooping up mashed potatoes from the table top with her finger.

"Exactly," Jayden nodded.

"We'll have dinner ready in half an hour," Antonio promised, "No one will know the difference."

"We're just going to have to eat in the common room instead of all together in the kitchen," Jayden added.

"And you boys will have to clean this mess up," Mentor said, "before the food goes bad."

"Right after dinner, Ji, we promise," Jayden smiled.

Mentor nodded his head just as the doorbell rang and a smile spread across his lips. Serena jumped slightly, knowing who it was.

Scruffy was barking and racing for the door. She knew she had to go after the dog before he licked her parents to death.

"They're here!" she cried happily and ran almost as fast as her dog. It was much faster than anyone had seen her run before.

She got to the door and grabbed Scruffy's collar. He always calmed down when he was near her; as if he knew he needed to be careful around her. He sat down like a well behaved dog while Serena opened the door. She saw her mother's face and smiled.

"You made it."

"Did you really think I would skip out on this?" Ellie asked and slowly moved to hug her daughter. The two months she had spent in a coma had taken a toll on her body and Serena could tell almost right away, but she was just thankful her mother was around.

When they pulled apart, Ellie looked down at her daughter. She had seen Serena in the hospital, but this was her first chance at getting a good look at Serena and the growing baby, "You look amazing…"

"Thanks, mom," Serena smiled. She saw Ellie wiping the tears from her eyes and hugged her mother again, "Please forget about it…"

"I'm so sorry."

"Mom, for Emily, please. We'll talk later and figure it all out. For now, can we just enjoy Christmas like we used to?"

Ellie nodded her head and then saw some of the other Rangers had gathered in the front hallway. She gave her daughter a warm smile as she walked over to the Samurai and gave them each a hug or handshake (whichever they preferred).

Serena looked out the doorway and saw a huge shadow walking up to the front of the house. Her face brightened up and she raced outside and jumped into the shadow's arms. He caught her and spun her around gently; dropping the bags he was carrying.

"Merry Christmas, sweetheart," Jack said to her as he set her down and kissed the top of her head. He picked up his and Ellie's bags as Serena walked him inside. Once he was in the light, he had a good look at his daughter. He hadn't seen her at all since the early stages of pregnancy. Aside from the ultrasound pictures Serena sent, as well as the occasional update email, this was the first time he got to see just how far along she had come. Tears formed in his eyes. He never thought he would see this day, not only as a protective father, but also because less than a year ago, Serena had been on her death bed.

Serena had tears in her own eyes but pushed them back and hugged her father, "Only a few more months to go."

"Don't remind me," Jack chuckled, "Then there will be someone in this world who'll call me gramps. I don't think I'm ready for that."

"Do you think I'm ready for mommy?" Serena smiled.

Kevin and Mia arrived after they finished with the phone call and wrapping presents. Kevin offered to take the bags from Jack into the dojo, where he and Ellie would be sleeping, while Serena and the rest of the Rangers walked her parents to the common room.

"So where is Emily?" Ellie asked, knowing the only reason she was here was because Emily wasn't.

"She's out with Mike," Serena explained, "She's giving him his Christmas gift tonight."

"What's she giving him?" Jack asked. "What did he get her?"

"I'm not sure yet," Serena shrugged, "But Emily's giving Mike a… camping trip, I guess."

"Time alone together," Mia clarified.

"Bow chikka wow… wow…" Antonio sung but trailed off when he saw Jack's face fall and he morphed into protective father mode. "I, uh… not for sure… We're just… because you know…"

"Dad," Serena called to her father with a smile, "If that's what they do decide to do its okay."

"Okay?" Jack pointed to Serena's stomach, "Have you not…?"

"I trust them," Serena smiled. "He's good for her, dad. Really good. All the crap he's put up with for Emily… he deserves this."

"He deserves?" Jack shook his head, "He doesn't deserve…"

"Jack," Ellie looked her husband in the eye, "No one's going to deserve Emily, not to us. I think Serena's telling you Mike's as close as anyone can get."

Jack looked over to his daughter. Serena nodded with a grin.

"Let it go, dad. We're both grown up. We can make our own decisions."

Jack relaxed slightly, "I guess…"

"If it helps, we'd love to see you scare the living daylights out of him," Antonio smirked. "So you can torture him when he gets home."

"I like that plan."

"I think we all like that plan," Serena laughed.

Jayden walked into the room from the kitchen with a tray full of plates in his hand, "Dinner's ready."

"Aren't we eating in the kitchen?" Mia asked as Jayden passed the plates around the group.

"Change of plans," Jayden chuckled and then he turned to Antonio and gave the gold Ranger a wink, "We thought it would be better to eat in here. It's more relaxed."

"The kitchen's a disaster," Mentor said, causing a few chuckles. "It'll be clean and ready to dine in by tomorrow, though."

"Tomorrow," Kevin said with a smile as he walked into the room just in time to grab his plate, "Tomorrow's going to be a good day."


	141. Christmas Day

Mike rolled over in his sleeping bag but found his arms to be unusually empty. Given what had happened the night before to make this Christmas the most memorable holiday of his life, he expected to wake up to his beautiful fiancée snuggled up in his arms.

Emily's gift to him had been the best thing he could ever receive. The afternoon started off completely innocent. The tent and campground had already been set up, so there wasn't much to do except set up the inside of the tent with the pillows, sleeping bags, and blankets the way they both liked it. Once that had been done, they lit up a campfire, roasted hot-dogs, and as the sun set and the temperature dropped, they snuggled up in each other's arms for warmth and safety (Emily still feeling a little unease around fire unless she was with Mike).

But as darkness set, she found the fire to be a comfort. Even though the light of the flames made the shadows dance, the warmth it was offering was no longer threatening, and she knew Mike would keep her safe. She remembered all the other times he protected her and looked up at him again to thank him. He had done more than what any boyfriend or fiancé was expected to do, and he had done it all for her. She leaned in to kiss him, and the night progressed from there. She was already wearing the ring he bought her, and she had already promised him she would be his forever, but on that night she wanted to make it official. She wanted to give him a gift she could only give once and to only one person. There was no one more deserving.

But in the morning, as Mike lifted his head, he spotted her sleeping on her side of the tent, with only her sleeping bag to keep her warm in the cold winter weather. She had kicked off the heated blanket and rolled away from him in the night, though he was sure she had done so on purpose.

He checked the heat of the blanket and was rather surprised to see it was still warm. He laid it across her body. He then lied down next to her and watched her sleep for a moment.

Everything he had done for her, no matter how difficult or uncomfortable it had been for him was suddenly all worth it, and it wasn't just because she had given him something special. She meant the world to him. He'd travel to hell and back just to see her smile. He'd die for her. He had plenty of reasons to fight the Nighlok: his friends, his family, and the innocent and defenseless people of the world. And while all those were great motivators, the toughest battles were always worth fighting because he fought for her. Even if he wasn't the one with the sealing symbol, he would destroy the Nighlok and Xandred and give her a safe, happy place to live, no matter the cost.

He sat up and leaned over her, watching her with a smile before reaching down for a kiss. Her eyes fluttered open and she kissed him back.

When they sat up, he looked at her with a laugh, "You moved away from me last night."

"I tried thinking of good warm thoughts, but after a little while I just couldn't handle it anymore. It got kinda hot in here," Emily nodded her head and then looked to Mike apologetically, "Sorry."

"You didn't run away or freak out," Mike shrugged his shoulders, "You managed it. That's progress."

Emily smiled at him as she grabbed her sweater from the corner of the tent and slipped it on. Mike did the same with his pants. While the night had been cold, he had been perfectly comfortable in only his boxers once he and Emily finally decided it was time for bed. He had a warm body and most nights inside the Shiba House he was usually overheating. Given how cold it had been during the night, he had been right at the perfect temperature.

"What do we tell your sister when she asks how our night went?" Mike asked Emily. He started rolling up the sleeping bags. He never wanted to leave this tent but they had promised the others they would be back in the morning to open the rest of the presents and he was excited to do so. He still had a couple to hand out.

"Let me handle that," Emily chuckled.

"Just make sure I'm far away when you do," Mike nodded his head. "I know she's fine with us… but she's still your sister. Your older sister. Your very protective older sister."

"I get it," Emily smirked. "I'll make sure to break it to her gently."

Mike smiled to her as he packed the sleeping bag away in the backpack and then he turned to Emily. He saw she was smiling back at him and just watching him. He started to blush, "What?"

Emily leaned in to give him another kiss, "I just love you."

"We can go for round two," Mike suggested playfully. "We said we'd be home for morning. Technically it's…" he pulled out his cell phone and gasped, "Shit!"

"What?"

"It's ten o'clock. The others are waiting!"

Emily sighed and got to work packing up the tent, "Merry Christmas."

Mike chuckled as he gave her another quick peck, "Best Christmas ever."

-Samurai-

Back at home, the Samurai Rangers were sitting around the tree. They had eaten breakfast already and were waiting for Mike and Emily to get home so they could finish with the gifts.

Jayden, Antonio, and Serena had been surprised to see the tree was filled with more presents than when they had left it the night before. Mentor promised they hadn't come from him, and that his gifts to the Rangers were still hiding in his room. Jack and Ellie had a few presents in the car, but none under the tree.

"It's Santa," Antonio whispered to Jayden. The red Ranger rolled his eyes.

"Santa doesn't exist."

Kevin glanced over at Mia. He was the only one who knew the true origin of the presents. She had a bright smile on her face and it warmed his heart. She had done this for the others, just to give them a little Christmas magic for their holidays, and she wasn't expecting any praise or recognition for it. With his help, she had covered her trail. A few of the presents under the tree were wrapped in pink paper. The presents were things she already owned that the others wouldn't recognise. If she had been the only Samurai not to get a gift, the others would have figured it out.

"I love you," he mouthed to her when she glanced over. She smiled and whispered it back.

Antonio was tapping his foot impatiently. He knew it would be a while before Mike and Emily got home, but he was excited to give out his gifts to Jayden. He finally decided the green and yellow Rangers didn't need to be home for him to do so. He reached under the tree and grabbed his first gift.

"I'm your secret Santa Jay," he smiled to the fire Samurai, "Merry Christmas part one."

"Part one?" Jayden asked as he grabbed the present and opened it.

Antonio nodded, "It's the first time you celebrate Christmas. I figured this would make up for the twenty-one you missed."

Jayden pulled out a little ornament from the box. He could easily tell it had been handmade and smiled to Antonio before reading what was written on the ornament.

_Jayden's First Christmas_

"That took me the longest to make," Antonio said. "A little symbol power helped, I won't lie, but I bought all the materials for your gifts for under twenty dollars."

"Thanks, Antonio," Jayden said as he hung up the ornament. No sooner did he finish with his first present was the second one placed on his lap. He smiled and opened it up. The gifts continued as such. Jayden would open them up one by one, revealing a gift specific to the age he would have been had he celebrated Christmas every year. For his fifth Christmas, Antonio had sculpted a superman action figure from a block of wood. For his eighth Christmas, he had received a handmade police badge, declaring him to be an honorary junior spy. For his thirteenth Christmas, Antonio had made him a short graphic novel.

"This must have taken you forever," Kevin said as Jayden unwrapped his final gift. "And all for twenty bucks?"

Antonio nodded, "And a little symbol power. I admit to cheating."

"It was worth it," Jayden smiled. He set all his gifts down and wrapped his best friend in a hug, "Twenty-one Christmases is the best Christmas gift anyone could give me."

"We all had a somewhat normal childhood except for you," Antonio shrugged. He quickly glanced at Mentor, "No offense to you or anything. I just figured it was time someone take the pressure of saving the world off his shoulders for a couple of hours."

"While we play with all my new toys?" Jayden chuckled. Antonio nodded.

"You deserve a normal life, Jayden. I figure it's about time you got it."

It was then the Samurai all heard the lock on the door click. Serena's eyes widened as she turned to her parents.

"You need to hide!"

Her parents nodded and without another word, they snuck into the dojo before Mike and Emily had seen them, all trace of their presence was gone.

"It's Christmas!" Mike cried as he bounded into the room happily, dumping all his stuff on the floor by the door. He jumped into the arms of each of his friends, hugging them tightly. "Merry Christmas!"

"We know this is someone's favourite holiday," Kevin smiled as he tapped Mike on the shoulder, "How was the night out."

"Awesome," Mike smirked. "I'll tell you the details later. Shall we start our Christmas morning… what the hell happened to the tree?" he asked excitedly as he spotted all the presents that hadn't been there the night before.

"Santa," Antonio smiled. "Santa came last night."

"No, seriously," Mike walked up to the tree and tried to look at the tags on the presents for a clue of who delivered them, "Who are these from?"

"We're not sure," Kevin shrugged his shoulders and smirked to Mia, "We just found them here this morning."

"They won't blow up when we open them, will they?" Emily asked as she walked into the room.

"They won't blow up," Mia promised.

Serena wrapped her arms around her little sister's shoulders, "but before we get started on those, we still have a few more Secret Santas to open. I still have to give and receive."

"Shall we start with give?" Mike offered.

Serena shook her head, "No way, tree-boy, I'm receiving first. I know you're my Secret Santa. Gimme."

Mike chuckled and shook his head as he reached under his tree to grab his gift to Serena. He handed it over to her with a smile.

"I guess it's only fair. Here. Merry Christmas."

Serena tore through the wrapping paper with a smile. She quickly realised Mike had gotten her a book of some sort, but she wasn't sure what. When she got the wrapping paper off and flipped it around, she smiled brightly and looked up at Mike.

"This is…"

"Everyone's been getting you stuff for baby," Mike shrugged his shoulders, "I figured I'd get something for you."

"What is it? What is it?" Emily was bouncing next to her sister, trying to get a peek over her shoulder.

"Baby's first year," Serena smiled and handed the book over to Emily.

"You can keep track of milestones, hold pictures, journal… and maybe when junior's older and annoying, use it as blackmail."

Serena walked over to Mike and wrapped him in a hug, "Thank you."

"Before we do the last Secret Santa," Mia said, turning to Kevin. She picked up a small box and handed it to him, "I got you something."

Kevin smiled. He hadn't expected another special gift from Mia, but he couldn't say he wasn't happy she had thought to get him something. He unwrapped the box and opened the lid. A smile lit up his face as he pulled out a watch. The face of the watch had a picture of himself and Mia which had been taken way back when they first started dating, and right at the bottom, just above the numbers five, six, and seven, was the date of their first date.

"This is amazing, Mia, thank you."

"A watch?" Antonio frowned. "Kevin already has one."

"His is three seconds slow," Mia smirked. "It was about time he got a new one."

"Three seconds," Mike twirled his finger in the air and shot Kevin a playful smirk, "Only you."

"I love my watch," Kevin immediately strapped it on and gave his fiancée a kiss.

"Alright, alright, break it up," Jayden laughed when the kiss didn't end after a moment, but continued long enough to make the others uncomfortable. "Seriously?"

"We had to," Mia smiled. She then looked over to Serena, "I think you've still got one more gift to give."

"My Secret Santa," Serena nodded her head and reached under the tree, over the mountain of gifts that would be opened later. First she wanted to give her gift. She handed the card to Emily, "I picked you."

"I picked me, technically," Emily smiled and opened up the envelope while Serena took a seat next to her.

Emily opened the card and then turned to her sister and frowned when she saw lines and lines of writing, "What happened to short, simple, and sweet?"

"Just read it," Serena chuckled.

Emily pouted and looked at the first line, "Get up. I have to move?"

"Get up," Serena poked her sister in the side and Emily jumped to her feet. She looked at the next line.

"This is a stupid Christmas gift."

"Read it, Emy," Serena laughed.

Emily focused on the second line, "Find the place where earth and forest meet?"

"Yep," Serena nodded her head, "Where could that be?"

Emily glared at her sister, "You know I… plants," she smirked suddenly as it dawned on her. "Plants grow in the dirt…"

She got up and raced around the house. Mentor had a ton of plants sitting around in nearly every room. It was going to take her ages to search them all. Fortunately, she found a piece of paper hidden in the bonsai sitting in the hallway. She pulled it out and handed it to her sister, "What's this?"

"Another clue."

Emily glanced down at the card in her hand, "What's the rest of the stuff on my card then?"

"Trick words," Serena smirked. Emily smacked her in the arm.

"Not funny."

Serena rubbed her arm and then read the clue out loud for Emily, "First home away from home."

"First… hmm," Emily looked around the house. The entire Shiba Home was her home away from home, so this clue wasn't as easy to decipher. She tried to look to her friends to see if maybe they could help her out somehow.

Her eyes fell on Mia and a light bulb went off in her head. The entire Shiba House was her home, but her bedroom was the place that truly felt homey and her first bedroom was the room she shared with Mia.

She raced down to Mia and Kevin's bedroom, asked for permission, and then searched inside. Under Kevin's pillow she found another clue. She bounced over to her sister and gave Serena the paper.

"Last clue, ready?" Serena asked. Emily had a bright smile on her face already, excited for her gift.

"Ready."

"Practice makes perfect."

Emily didn't need to think long or hard for this one. Practice was training and training was done in the dojo. In a flash, she disappeared from the room and raced down the hall to the dojo. The others took off after her, running as quickly as they could. No one wanted to miss this moment.

Emily burst into the dojo and looked around. There was nothing to see. Everything was just as it was. She spun around a few times as the others walked in.

"Where is it?" she asked. "Where's my present. Where's…?"

The last thing she saw before something gently covered her eyes was smiles on her friend's faces and a momentary look of surprise and glee on Mike's face. She felt the hands cover her eyes and reached up to touch them.

"What's…?"

"Merry Christmas."

Emily recognised that voice. It was a voice she never thought she'd hear again. A smile lit up her face. She pulled the hands away from her face and the first thing she saw was her mother. Her eyes filled with tears, her knees buckled, and she fell into her mother's arms.

"You're alive?"

"You didn't think I'd miss this, would you?" Ellie kissed her daughter's cheek and lifted her back onto her feet. She held her steady and smiled, "If you'll let me, Emily, I promise I'll never, ever hurt you again."

"You don't need to give her your answer now," Emily heard another voice over her shoulder and remembered there was someone behind her. She spun around and saw her father smiling down at her. She jumped up, wrapped her arms around his neck, and hugged him tightly.

"Daddy!"

"Your sister brought us here," Jack said after kissing the top of his youngest daughter's head and setting her back down onto her feet. "I wanted to tell you myself that I'm giving your mother a second chance."

"You are?" Emily gasped and smiled happily.

"You are?" Serena asked. This was news to her as well. She knew her parents had spoken before arriving at the house, but figured at most the conversation between them would set boundaries so they wouldn't fight in front of Emily. She was shocked to hear things were going to return back to normal.

"She'll be coming home with me after Christmas," Jack nodded. "It wouldn't be right of us to let our family fall apart because of one mistake."

Jack looked to Serena and then down to her stomach. Serena rubbed her stomach gently and smiled to her father.

"Accident. Not a mistake."

"One accident," Jack corrected himself. He looked down at Emily, "It will take some time, but while you and your sister are living here and fighting Nighlok, your mother and I will try to repair our relationship. We will do all we can."

Emily gave her parents one final squeeze before turning to Serena. She didn't care what the others had gotten. Fancy watches, twenty-one presents, blankets, video games and fishing gear meant nothing to Emily if she didn't have her family together. She ran over to her sister and jumped into Serena's arms. She hugged her sister tightly, buried her face in Serena's shoulder and started to cry.

Serena hugged her sister and rubbed her back gently, "We're all here for Christmas, Emy, and none of us are going anywhere."


	142. Bringing Families Together

Christmas Day went off without a hitch. Presents were opened, meals were eaten, games were played, fights were started and resolved, and everyone was getting along.

The holidays meant a lot to the Rangers. There weren't many times where they got to sit back and relax as a family. Usually, moments like this were interrupted by the Gap Sensor. If Master Xandred had any smarts, he would send a Nighlok out now. Spirits were high and happiness and joy were being spread around, but it wouldn't take much to ruin Christmas, and the pain and sorrow from one small action could flood the river.

But it seemed he wasn't smart enough. Another reason the Rangers loved the holidays. Even Xandred took a break.

Jayden loved feeling like a kid again. His upbringing had been very unusual, and holidays weren't celebrated much, nor did he get a lot of downtime; enough for him to enjoy a few of the luxuries of childhood, but not enough to experience the full joys. He was finally getting it now, mostly thanks to Antonio's silliness.

Kevin wasn't usually one to take days off, much like Jayden, but the holidays had always been an exception. He was winding down and enjoying time with his Ranger family and his fiancée. Both he and Mia had snuck away from the group a few times to get some privacy. They were never gone long enough for anyone to notice and if someone did catch them coming into the room together they certainly didn't think much of it. This was the time of year where moments with loved ones were more than welcomed.

Everyone was having a good time. But as the night wore on, the Samurai began to feel tired and slowly they went off to bed. Kevin and Mia were first, claiming to be exhausted from all the fun. Jayden was next, followed closely by Mentor. Serena hadn't wanted to go to bed, too happy to have her family back together like when she was younger, but finally had to give in.

Antonio was the last person to head off, leaving Mike alone with Emily and her parents.

Jack finished up his beer and set the bottle on the coffee table. All night he couldn't help but notice the rock on his baby daughter's left hand. The other Rangers and Serena had told him of Emily's gift to Mike and their assumptions about what had happened in the tent, but no one had mentioned anything about an engagement.

"Emily, sweetheart, it's getting late," he said to his daughter. He didn't want her in the room for this talk. This was a private exchange between him and his apparent son-in-law.

"I guess it is," Emily nodded, picking up on her father's tone. She looked to Mike, hoping she could rescue him, "Are you…?"

"He'll be right in. I think there's something your mother wants to discuss with you in private."

Ellie didn't need to be told twice. She knew of the engagement and figured her husband was just finding out on his own. When she and Jack and figured out, way back when she was still pregnant with Emily, that they were only having girls, they had had this conversation about when their girls grew up and found a man. They knew how lucky they had been that their relationship worked out and they didn't want the same thing to happen to their daughters for fear of an unplanned pregnancy ending in complete heartbreak or a marriage falling to pieces and their baby girls' hearts being broken by unworthy men. It was hard enough to watch Serena struggle with pregnancy alone, as well as her break up with Dekker. They couldn't stand the thought of the same thing happening to Emily, especially at such a young age.

So Ellie guided her daughter out of the room. Jack glared at Mike. The green Ranger shifted nervously in his seat.

"So… um… Emily's really happy you and Ellie are going to…"

"Is this a joke?" Jack asked. Mike quickly shook his head.

"No, sir."

"Do you know how old I was when I got married?"

"You don't look a day over thirty… so I'm going to say…"

"Twenty-seven. I was twenty-seven when I was married. I was twenty-six when Serena was born and I had no damn clue what I was in for. Tell me, Michael, how long do you plan on this engagement lasting? I doubt you're willing to wait ten years."

"I…"

"Count to twenty for me, Michael."

Mike did as he was told and counted up to twenty. When he stopped he saw Jack was still giving him a hard glare. He gulped, "Sir…"

"Do you know how long that took you?"

"A few seconds."

"A few seconds. Try ten seconds. It only took you ten seconds to count to twenty. It would take less to count to seventeen. By that math, by daughter's not that far from zero."

"Sir…"

"She's just a baby. You're making her promise you things, but she had no idea what she's in for. She's got her entire life ahead of her. You're the first boy who's ever shown an interest in her. Of course, when you ask her to marry you, she's going to say yes. You're her fairy tale Prince Charming."

"Actually, Kevin's…"

"I don't give a damn about Kevin and Mia. They're adults. We're talking about my baby girl."

"Sir," Mike decided he would stand up. He wasn't sure if it was a smart move, but at least if he did or said something to anger Jack, he was already on his feet to run away, "I love your daughter. I've told you that, and I'll tell you until the day I die, but personally, I'd rather spend all that time telling her how I feel."

Jack crossed his arms over his chest and gave Mike a look that both threatened him and encouraged him to continue.

Mike's hands trembled in fear, "I know I'm Emily's first boyfriend and I know she's young and before she came here she was even younger, but any guy who didn't try to snatch her up was a moron. She's amazing. They should have asked her out. They all should have dated her."

Jack's look was now more threatening than encouraging, "I don't like the thought of you near my daughter. What makes you think I'd like the thought of all the boys in our town near my daughter?"

"I'm just saying, sir," Mike said. "I don't have any kids so I can't pretend I know what it's like to be a dad, but I can put myself in your shoes any day. We both want one thing: Emily to be happy. You've worked your entire life to make that happen. You played with her when she was a baby. You loved it when she smiled or laughed because you knew that meant she was happy. When she had a nightmare, she crawled into your bed and when your wife told you to assure her everything was okay and send her back to her room, you didn't want to. You'd cuddle up with her, hold her close, and you'd let her know she was safe with you because you'd never let anything happen to her."

A small smile appeared in the corner of Jack's mouth. It was barely visible; Jack himself could hardly feel it, but it was there.

Mike continued; "When she got hurt, you took care of her. You'd buy her special princess Band-Aids and told her they had magic powers that made the pain go away and she'd believe you. When she was sick, you'd nurse her back to health. You did everything, no matter how ridiculous. She told me how you used to dance around her bedroom when she was sick because it made her laugh and you told her laughter was the best medicine. Sir, I would and have done all of that for her. I want to see her smile and I want to hear her laugh. I'd protect her with my life. I don't want her to get hurt, but if she does, I'll take care of it. If she's sick, I'll take care of her. I'll do it all and I'll do more."

Down the hallway, Serena was pacing back and forth. As usual, Junior started acting up as she tried to fall asleep. Walking around would get him to calm down, so she would walk the halls. She heard her father and Mike having a talk and decided to eavesdrop, just in case one of them needed rescuing. She stood in the doorway, just out of both of their sights and smiled to herself as she listened.

Mike walked right up to Jack and stared his father-in-law in the eye, "The only difference between us is that you do that because you have to. You're her father. Sure, now you do it because you want to, but it's your responsibility and nothing will ever change that. If you don't take care of her, you're a bad father. A dead-beat. But with me, I do it because I want to. Nothing made it necessary for me to take care of Emily. When I met her, all I had to do was work with her. If I had ignored her this entire time, maybe, at worse, I would have been an ass, but nothing makes me responsible for her happiness."

"That rock…"

"I bought her that ring because every day I want to make it my job to see her happy. I want to pick up where you leave off. You are going to walk her down the aisle, you're going to give her away, and it's going to be up to me to look after her. I swear, Jack, if I don't do as well as you do, it's because I did better. It's because I made her happier than anyone could ever make her."

Jack finally stood up, towering over Mike and a silence fell over the room. If Mike wasn't scared before, he was now. He was terrified now. His hands were still shaking, and the rest of his body had joined along, making him dance the dance of the future son-in-law.

Jack set a hand on Mike's shoulder and the boy flinched. He closed his eyes and waited for death. He was then pulled in by two strong arms.

_He's strangling me!_ Mike thought. _Help, I can't breathe! Help! Help! … wait…_

Mike took a moment to relax then opened his eyes. Jack wasn't strangling him. He was hugging him.

When the two pulled apart, Mike looked up in shock, "I don't…"

"I didn't even say those words to my father-in-law. I mean, I love Ellie, but I don't think I could have ever put it into words like that. You're a good man, Michael, and if you're not worth my daughter's love, then you're the closest to worthy there is."

"Is this a welcome to the family?" Mike asked. Jack nodded and shook his hand.

"Welcome to the family."

"Thanks, sir…"

"Jack. We're family now, there's no more sir."

"Thanks, Jack," Mike smiled and then flicked his thumb over his shoulder, "I'm going to go. I need a change of pants. These are ruined."

Jack chuckled and let Mike leave the room. He collected his empty bottle of beer and a few napkins from the table. Just as he was about to walk to the kitchen to put them away, he saw Serena smiling at him.

"What?"

"That was cute," Serena laughed.

"He was mortified," Jack smirked, "If it was anything it was hilarious."

"I told you he was a good guy, dad."

"I had to see for myself," Jack said. He set down his garbage and walked over to his daughter, wrapping his arm around her, "To be honest, your judgement with men has a horrible reputation."

"Any guy ready and willing to take care of his not-yet-sister-in-law's baby is a good guy. Some won't even care for their own children."

"Here's a lesson in parenting for you, Serena," Jack smiled down, "You know all the road's you've taken and the choices you made. You know how there are dozens you regret and things you would change?"

"Yeah."

"You never want your kids to regret anything. You want them to make the right choices. You want them to take the good roads, not the bad. No matter how old they get, you always feel the need to make sure they're still on the road you left them on and that they didn't stray."

Serena looked up at her father, "Emily and I are fine, dad."

"I know you are," Jack hugged her, "but you also worry your kids are going to fall into the same traps you fell into, and you're worried they won't be strong enough to make it out, or you're scared they won't be able to control what happens to them. This family I was given, you, your sister, and your mother… one decision in my life could have stopped it all. You would have never known me and your sister would have never been born. Your mother would have had to raise you by yourself, or, if she found someone else, you would have been calling him daddy, not me."

Serena furrowed her brown, "I don't get it."

"Your mother and I haven't been married for twenty-seven years. She wasn't the first girl I fell in love with."

"A second marriage?"

"She's my one and only wife, Serena," Jack chuckled, "but I fell in love with you long before I fell in love with your mother. I don't want that to happen to you or your sister. Now, Mike's assured me it will never happen to Emily. She'll never have to test her luck like your mother had to. She was lucky I had a change of heart. Your mother and I fell in love thanks to you. It's thanks to you we got married and started this amazing family. And now, thanks to you and your sister, we're still a family."

Jack kissed Serena's forehead and walked her back to her room, "I think it's time you heard the real story of how your mother and I met."

"The real story?"

"Uncensored," Jack chuckled and nodded.


	143. Piss Off Mia

When Serena walked into the kitchen in the morning for breakfast and saw her mother, she blushed. Her father had told her how they met, what exactly had happened, and how they fell in love. She found it sweet that they had decided to work together for her, and eventually fell in love and got married, but the details still freaked her out.

"Good morning, sweetheart," Ellie smiled. She was by the stove, making everyone waffles for breakfast. She wasn't cooking to earn back their respect (because the others were still cautious around her), but she was definitely earning a few points with the boys. Serena knew why. Her mother's waffles were amazing.

Serena looked to her mother and a chill traveled up and down her spine. She took a seat, stealing Emily's chair because it was the furthest seat from her mother. Mike cast her a puzzled look.

"Do you mind?"

"I'm scarred, shh," Serena whispered as her mother dropped a waffle onto her plate. She grabbed the syrup and carefully started to pour it in each hole.

"Scarred? I'm the one who faced the beast yesterday," Mike muttered back. "I love Emily, but do you think there's any way we can switch her out and replace her with your father. Tights and skirt or not, he'll have Xandred running for the hills."

"Or we can tell him the story of how his parents met," Serena shivered. Mike chuckled and smirked.

"You finally heard it, huh?"

"You knew before me?"

"Your father told us back when you first announced to him you were pregnant," Mike nodded. "We tried to get him to stop, but I think the therapy of it was more for him than us."

"We? Who else knew before me?"

"Jay and Antonio."

"What?" Jayden asked, hearing his name being whispered. "What are you two talking about?"

"Nothing," Serena shook her head.

Jayden shot her a curious stare but then let the matter go. He finished up his breakfast and as he carried his plate over to the sink he looked to the Rangers in the kitchen, "We should start training again."

"Dude, seriously?" Mike whined, "It's only the day after Christmas."

"Which is exactly why we should fall back into a regular routine now," Jayden nodded his head, "Go find the others. Training will start in half an hour."

Mike and Antonio stuffed the last of their waffles into their mouths as they got up from the table to search for the rest of the Rangers. Jayden couldn't help but chuckle as he cleared their plates. Even on normal days, training was always met with some resistance, especially from those two.

He walked out of the room to get changed and Serena was alone with her mother. Ellie put her pan in the sink to be washed and then took a seat at the table, in front of her daughter.

"I take it you don't train with the others?"

"Occasionally I help out Mentor Ji," Serena nodded, "Usually I take a nap, though. How else would I be able to keep up with a pumped Emily all day?"

"You were always good with her," Ellie said with a sad smile. "Serena, I…"

"You're so sorry, I know, mom," Serena sighed. "You've been saying it since you got here. Now's not the time to talk about it. Emily's…"

"Occupied for the moment," Ellie interrupted, "Besides, I want to talk with you."

"Mom…"

"I ran away. It was the most selfish, stupid, and heartless thing I could ever do."

"I know, mom. We don't have to…"

"I never stopped loving you. You disappointed me and I hated what you did. For a while I hated you, but I always loved you."

"I know, mom."

"You're a brave young woman; do you know that, Serena? Those stories the Rangers told me, about Dekker…"

"They were all true," Serena sighed.

"You put your family first. All the time. When you hated him and when you loved him, you made your family your priority."

"Of course I did," Serena furrowed her brow and then glared at her mother, "My family's my fall back. I loved Dekker, sure, but it didn't work out and thankfully I still had a family to go back to. There was no way I was ever going to let him…"

"That takes a lot of strength, Serena," Ellie smiled. "It's not easy making choices like that."

"You don't have to tell me," Serena rolled her eyes, "Imagine if your boyfriend and your family wanted each other dead. How do you balance that?"

"Not many people can," Ellie shook her head, "Most who try usually make the wrong decision about it too. Emily also told me why you broke up with Dekker. When you're that vulnerable, it takes a lot of courage to stand your ground and hold onto your rights."

Ellie took her daughter's hand in hers. A tear dripped down her cheek, "I'm so proud of you. I'm proud of who you've become and the choices you made to get to this point. All the choices you made."

"Thanks, mom."

"It's no wonder Emily looks up to you," Ellie gently squeezed Serena's hand, "I'm sorry I can't be the person you look up to."

"You were, mom. Before you ran away you were an amazing mom. You can go back to that."

"Eleanor," Jack called into the kitchen. Both girls turned and saw down the hallway, Jack had all his and Ellie's things packed up and ready to leave.

"I'll just say goodbye to your sister," Ellie said as she got up. No sooner was she up from her chair did the Gap Sensor go off and the Rangers, Serena, Mentor, Jack, and Ellie raced into the common room. Mentor pulled up the map.

"In the quarry," Mentor looked up at the Rangers and saw they all had a suspicious look on their faces. Nighlok usually turned up in populated areas. The more fear and panic they caused, the more the river rose.

"Be careful, guys," Serena said, "If he's isolated, he might be coming after you."

"We're always careful," Antonio smirked and raced out the door with all the Rangers excepted Emily. She stopped when she saw her parents' bags were packed.

"You're leaving?"

"We need to head back home," Jack nodded. He pulled his daughter into a hug, "You stay safe out there, got it? No unnecessary hits."

"I'll be fine, dad," Emily smiled and kissed her father's cheek. She then turned to her mother, swallowing her in as big a hug as she could muster up. In Ellie's ear she whispered: "Thanks for coming home."

"Take care of your sister for me," Ellie whispered back and then watched as Emily raced off after her friends.

-Samurai-

By the time Emily got to the quarry, her friends were already in the middle of an intense battle. There were Moogers spread around everywhere, outnumbering the Rangers' strength easily and Gap were appearing from the cracked in the rocks and in the ground.

The Nighlok who was causing all this mess didn't hesitate to jump right into the middle of the fight. Emily had no clue what this Nighlok was capable of doing and she didn't want to stick around long enough to find out.

Seeing that the numbers of the Moogers were keeping the Rangers distracted and leaving an opening for the Nighlok to attack whomever he please, Emily cast a symbol and struck the side of the rocky cliff. As another army of Moogers appeared from the Gaps, they were instantly crushed by the fallen rocks.

"Great work, Emily!" Jayden praised her. Emily smiled behind her helmet and jumped right into battle with Mike.

The Nighlok saw the yellow Ranger arriving and smirked to himself, "A late arrival? And yellow? Dayu told me a lot about you."

"Forest Spear!" Mike shouted and swung the spear around with all the strength and symbol power he had, wiping out the Nighlok around himself and Emily, and a few of the Nighlok around Kevin and Mia. The four of them stopped what they were doing and turned to the Nighlok.

"Dayu sent you?" Mia asked.

"She asked a favour from Master Xandred," the Nighlok nodded his head. "Normally he wouldn't take suggestions from such a wild card, but when has Master Xandred ever argued with a plan to defeat you?"

"Probably never," Mike shrugged and looked down at Emily.

"Stay on your toes," Kevin said to Mike, "He's got a plan."

"What do you want with me?" Emily asked. "What's Dayu been saying?"

"Not to touch you," the Nighlok replied. The four Rangers turned to each other.

"Is Dayu backing off?" Mike frowned. "What's her deal?"

"I like it," Emily shrugged. "I like this new Dayu."

"Of course you would," Kevin rolled his eyes.

The Nighlok took this opportunity to butt in while the Rangers were distracted, but just as he was about to jump in, a blur swiped at him with a sword, slashing a dozen times before he was able to hit the ground. When the Nighlok looked up, he saw the gold Ranger and the red Ranger standing over him, in front of their team.

"Forgot about us?" Jayden asked.

Mike smacked Kevin's arm, "Now who needs to stay on his toes?"

"Still you, Rangers," the Nighlok cried and jumped up to his feet. Spikes emerged from his body and claws from his hands. He swiped at Jayden and Antonio. Jayden managed to duck out of the way, but Antonio was hit across the chest. He screamed in agony and powered down before falling to his knees. He clutched his chest tightly and rolled around in pain.

"Antonio!" Jayden cried and he fell to Antonio's side.

The Nighlok wasn't done his rampage and charged to the remaining four Rangers. Mia's sky fan blocked his first attack, and Mike stuck out his Forest Spear, protecting Emily from his second. The Nighlok turned to Mike with a third strike but was suddenly struck in the back by an arrow. Angered, he turned around and saw the blue Ranger was facing him, Hydro Bow at the ready.

"Big mistake," the Nighlok growled and held his breath as Kevin prepared to fire another arrow. Simultaneously, the blue Ranger fired and a spike shot out from the Nighlok's shoulder and flew straight to Kevin. Neither had time to jump out of the way and they were both hit. Like Antonio, Kevin felt an intense pain coursing through his body and he powered down.

The Nighlok felt himself beginning to dry up. He searched for a crack and disappeared into the Netherworld while the Rangers tended to their fallen.

"Kevin," Mia shouted and powered down as she fell beside him. She placed his head in her lap and tried to do what she could to make him comfortable until the pain passed.

Antonio was beginning to feel a little better. He looked up to Jayden, who had been tending to him since he fell.

"You're cute when you're worried."

Jayden shot his best friend a strange look, but took that as a sign that Antonio was feeling better. He smiled and slowly helped the gold Ranger to his feet.

"Are you okay?"

"The pain's going away, but I feel a little funny. My neck's a little stiff though and I'd love it if you could give me a massage when we got home."

"Antonio's fine," Jayden called to the Rangers and playfully shoved his friend. Antonio was usually a bit of a clown so he made nothing of Antonio's comment.

Kevin's pain was starting to clear at this point and he looked up into Mia's eyes with a strange look on his face, "Is that a zit coming through?"

Mia growled, "If you're awake and breathing, I don't care how hurt you are," she said right before smacking him, "You deserved that one."

"C'mon, dude," Mike chuckled and pulled his best friend up to his feet, "I think someone hit his head on the way down."

"I didn't hit my head," Kevin replied. "The Nighlok hit me with a spike and I fell to my knees, then I fell forward."

"Dude, take the excuse before Mia really gets angry," Mike whispered. "Trust me; you do not want to piss her off."

"When she gets angry, there's a vein in her neck that comes bulging out," Antonio said. "I've seen it before. It's not flattering."

"I've seen it too," Kevin nodded his head and looked at Mia, "Not a turn on."

"Was that a pick on Mia Nighlok?" the pink Ranger crossed her arms over her chest, "Seriously, guys. Cut it out!"

"We're just being honest," Kevin and Antonio answered.

Mia glared at the two Rangers angrily.

"Hey," Emily giggled, "I see that vein now!"

Mia turned to the pink Ranger and raised her hand. Emily jumped and took a step back.

"It's not as bad as they make it sound…"

"It's worse now," Kevin whispered to Mia. She turned to him and redirected her slap to him. He groaned and rubbed his chest as she stormed off.

"We should get you both looked at," Jayden said. He gave Antonio a quick pat on the back, "Maybe we can find out what exactly that Nighlok's attack did."

"I think it was a piss off Mia Nighlok," Mike whispered to Emily, "And if I'm right, that was not a smart move on his part. Mia's a maniac when she's pissed."


	144. Brutal Honesty

"Hey, Serena," Antonio called with a giggle as he and the other Rangers, minus Kevin and Mia, waited for Mentor and Serena to figure out more on the Nighlok they had just faced. Antonio and Kevin had obviously been hit with something, and given the attack left them with very few physical injuries, the Rangers were sure the Nighlok had done something bad to them.

Serena looked up from the laptop. Mentor Ji was searching through the box and she was watching a rerun of the news, showing the fight from the Rangers. They never managed to catch the Rangers powering down because the energy from the morpher always messed up the cameras, but Serena could see the hit they had taken.

She turned to Antonio, who couldn't stop giggling, "Yes?"

"I never told you this before, but your boo…"

"Not a smart thing to say," Mike quickly covered Antonio's mouth before he had the chance to say anything that would give Serena the right to bury him six feet under. Mike looked to Serena and Mentor, "Have you found anything yet?"

"Antonio and Kevin were definitely the only two who were hit," Serena nodded, "So whatever that Nighlok did is what's affecting…"

"But Mia, it's true!" Kevin whined as he followed a very angry Mia into the room. "When you wake up in the morning you look like a goblin! It's not every morning. Just sometimes!"

Mike and Jayden exchanged looks and tried to muffle their laughs.

Antonio couldn't help but confirm his friend's statement.

"It's true. And most other mornings your dragon breath…"

"Pick on someone else! Please!" Mia begged as she picked up two pillows from the couch and threw them to Kevin and Antonio, "Pick on someone else or shut up!"

"Emily, back us up," Kevin and Antonio turned to their yellow Ranger, "You shared a room with her. You know what we're talking about."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Emily shook her head and shifted closer to Mike.

"Yes you do," Kevin nodded. "Last week, you and I went grocery shopping, and you made that joke when we passed the mouthwash…"

"That's a lie," Emily was red as Jayden's shirt.

Mentor began to laugh, "Actually, the Nighlok forces his victims to tell the truth."

"Like truth serum?" Jayden asked.

Mentor nodded, "Until we defeat that Nighlok, Kevin and Antonio can't help but say anything but the truth."

"That's not good," Antonio said, "I don't want to always tell the truth. I have secrets I don't want to share with anyone."

His eyes widened and he gasped as he covered his mouth with his hands and bolted from the room. Serena got up and took off after him.

Kevin, the moment he heard he would speak nothing but the truth, did the same as Antonio, trying to resist the urge to speak while he slowly snuck out of the room. But he was caught when Mia turned around.

"Aside from a few unflattering truths, it can't be that bad, right? We always try to be honest with each other."

Kevin's hands moved away from his mouth, "I've always been honest with you, but I do keep a few things to myself and I would rather not share them…"

"Like what?" Mia asked. Kevin quickly covered his mouth again and ran from the room. Mia sighed and shook her head. She turned to Mentor, "Let us know the minute that Nighlok comes back."

"Don't," Mike said, "This could be fun. Let me find him!"

"Mike," Emily pulled him back onto his stool, "Maybe we should leave him alone."

"But I can get him to admit embarrassing…" Mike trailed off as Emily gave him a look. He pouted, "Alright, fine…"

"We should protect Kevin and Antonio," Jayden said. "We all have a right to a few secrets. We'll try to keep questions to them to a minimum. The less they are encouraged to speak, the less they'll feel they have to reveal."

"Unless they just blurt it out," Mia pouted.

"Until we defeat that Nighlok, we'll keep conversations with them to a minimum," Jayden got up and headed to the dojo to train. He wanted to be able to defeat the Nighlok the next time he turned up.

-Samurai-

Antonio had run into Serena's room, his hands still pressed firmly against his mouth. Only seconds after he walked in, Serena did as well. She closed the door and locked it, making a click sound. As soon as Antonio heard the click, he spun around and faced her.

"I love Jayden!"

"I know," Serena nodded her head, "Keep your voice down."

"He's going to find out," Antonio paced the room back and forth, "Whenever I see him I just want to blurt it out. I've wanted to tell him ever since we found out I was gay."

"You wanted to tell him?"

"He's going to find out and he's going to hate me," Antonio said nervously. "He'll kick me out of our room, we'll stop training together. He won't be my best friend…"

"You really believe that?" Serena asked. Antonio grabbed her by the arms.

"You have to help me!"

"Can you not say anything?"

Antonio shook his head, "It comes out. I can't stop it. I have to tell the truth."

"We'll avoid Jayden for now," Serena sighed.

"I don't want anyone to know!"

"Then you can stay in here. I'll tell the others you're not feeling well."

"But I feel fine," Antonio shook his head.

"Thankfully I can still lie," Serena groaned.

"I can't stay in here. What if he knocks on the door? What if someone comes to check up on me? That's the first thing I'm going to say when I see someone. I have to tell them the truth. It's dying to come out."

Serena saw Antonio was headed for her window. He opened it up and started crawling out, "Where the hell are you going?"

Antonio landed with both feet on the ground and looked to Serena, "I'm going to destroy that Nighlok myself."

"Yourself?" Serena asked.

"I don't want you to follow me," Antonio told her. "You're fat enough to slow me down, and when I find the Nighlok, I don't want you getting hit. You know my secret."

"I'm pregnant," Serena growled.

"You could lose a few pounds."

"It's baby weight!"

"It's not flattering."

"Shut up," Serena hissed. She knew he couldn't help himself, but finally understood exactly why he was so desperate to stop that Nighlok. Jayden didn't need to find out how Antonio felt about him, not like this. She walked up to the window, then realised it wasn't possible to get out anymore.

She turned to her door and decided to leave the house that way.

"Honestly," she muttered to herself as she ran out the front door and after Antonio, "you Rangers are all a huge pain in my ass."

-Samurai-

Mia decided to do as Jayden suggested and leave Kevin alone. She could only hope that he was being honest with her already in their relationships and that the few secrets he did have were just little embarrassing facts about himself that he didn't share with anyone. She didn't mind that. There were a few secrets she kept to herself. She didn't need to share _everything_ with her future husband.

But she needed to go into their bedroom to pick up her book. Kevin was hiding out in there, but if she was in and out quickly, hopefully he wouldn't get the chance to say too much. However, the second he saw she was walking in, he buried his face in a pillow.

"Relax, Kev," Mia said, "It's just me."

Kevin shook his head and pointed to the door.

"In a second," Mia said, "I'm looking for my book. If you're worried about saying something stupid then you don't have to be. I won't punch you… as hard as I did before we found out the truth."

She chuckled to herself but then noticed Kevin was still trying to hide from her and he was using all the strength he had to keep himself from talking. She rolled her eyes.

"Sometimes it's not as embarrassing as you'd think. I won't think any less of you for it," Mia lifted up her pillow, "Where the hell is my book."

"There's something I don't want to tell you!" Kevin blurted out as he raced over to the desk and searched through it for tape. He found some leftover from Christmas and placed it over his mouth, letting out a sigh of relief. Mia gave him a funny look.

"There's something you don't want to tell me?" she asked.

"There's a…" he said through the tape and realised it wasn't strong enough to stop him from speaking. He covered his hand with his mouth and raced out of the room.

Mia watched him leave and spotted the book on a shelf by the door. She picked it up and walked out, giving Kevin the privacy he needed. But she couldn't help but wonder what it was he didn't want to say.

-Samurai-

Serena and Antonio were back at the quarry. Antonio was searching for the gap where the Nighlok disappeared, hoping he could call it back. Serena stood back a few paces, tapping her foot impatiently.

"You're going to get us both killed."

"I told you not to follow me," Antonio said. "If that Nighlok comes back again…"

"I'm too fat to defend myself?" Serena finished for Antonio.

"Well, you aren't getting any smaller."

"Remind me to read the books to you again when we get home," Serena rolled her eyes and then saw some light coming from underneath a rock. She called Antonio over and kneeled down to inspect it. "Netherworld."

"The Nighlok must be coming back," Antonio pulled out his Samuraizer and morphed. Serena clutched her tightly and took a few steps back. She didn't want to be right next to the gap when the Nighlok popped out.

"We should call the others. We… ARG!" Serena cried. All Antonio could see from where he was standing was a spike shooting out from the rock and imbed itself into Serena's shoulder. Like when he was hit, she fell to her knees, crying out in pain.

"It'll pass," he told her as he knelt down next to her. "It's going to hurt a lot and then it'll pass. It'll…"

A thought occurred to Antonio suddenly. He glanced at the spike while Serena pulled it out and knew for sure it belonged to the Nighlok that struck him, which only meant one thing. Serena was going to be forced to tell the truth. Now, not only did he have to worry about him spilling his own secret, but there was a chance Serena would share his secret with Jayden. He couldn't afford that.

"This isn't good."

"No shit," Serena muttered as the pain began to fade. "What the hell was that?"

"The Nighlok," Antonio answered her and tugged her arm. "We need to hide. I don't want to go home. I don't want you telling Jayden my secret."

"That's your biggest worry? You should just tell him how you feel. You can't keep living like this."

Antonio glared at Serena, "Just tell him? He's not gay!"

"How do you know?"

"He had a girlfriend."

"So?"

"There's no way I'm telling him," Antonio shook his head. "There's no way you're telling him either. Let's get out of here and find somewhere else to go until the Nighlok comes back."

"That's a stupid idea," Serena replied with a roll of her eyes, "So, while we're roaming around the streets, being brutally honest with everyone we run into, the others are going to wonder where we are."

"It beats ruining my friendship with Jayden," Antonio shrugged. He glanced one more time at the portal. It seemed the Nighlok wasn't quite ready to come out just yet, and Antonio wasn't going to wait any longer. The Nighlok had already attacked from the Netherworld once, he could do so again.

As the two of them walked out of the quarry, Serena's Samuraizer went off. She glanced at Antonio apologetically.

"I have to answer it. I didn't tell Emily I was leaving the house. She still gets nervous when she has no idea where Mike and I are. It's really annoying."

"Just don't tell her…"

"Where are you guys?" Emily asked as Serena picked up.

"Antonio's in love with Jayden so we tried to track down the Nighlok and destroy him before the secret came out," Serena covered her mouth with her hand and shot Antonio another apologetic look. "I'm so sorry."

"Wait, what?" Emily asked. "Are you serious?"

"Of course I'm being serious," Serena answered. "The Nighlok got me with a spike from the Netherworld and now I can only tell the truth."

Antonio snatched the Samuraizer from Serena, "Emily, you can't tell a soul. If you do, I'll…"

"Um… Jayden's here with me," Emily said.

Antonio turned white as a sheet and nearly dropped the Samuraizer. Serena caught it and hung up. She tried to give Antonio a hug but he pulled away.

"My friendship is ruined," he said.

Serena knew Antonio could only tell the truth, so if he said it, he believed it.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered. She tried to take his hand, but Antonio ripped it away and stormed off.

"Just get lost," he told her. "I'm not going home."


	145. Truthfully

Serena got home feeling extremely guilty. She couldn't stop herself, but she still felt like she had betrayed Antonio's trust. He had confided in her and trusted she would never reveal his secret. It was something only he could share. And because of the Nighlok, the secret was out. Jayden knew about Antonio's crush. While she doubted the relationship was going to be completely ruined, it was never going to be the same again.

When she walked in the door she heard something tapping repeatedly against the ground. She hung up her jacket and saw Emily standing in the hallway, taping her foot.

"I'm very disappointed in you."

"Emily…"

"You and Antonio go out alone after a Nighlok?" Emily growled. "You don't tell anyone you're leaving? You're pregnant, Serena! What if the Nighlok had come out? What if it was more than just a spike? What if the spike had actually hurt you? What were you thinking?"

Serena shook her head and sighed, "I was thinking of Antonio. He ran off and I went after him. If he had gone alone…"

"_You_ could have gotten hurt," Emily hissed. "You're not a Ranger, you can't morph. You're not protected."

"I'm not defenseless, Emily," Serena said. Emily gave her a hard look before she turned and walked off. Serena could see she was angry, but it would pass. Aside from getting hit by a single spike, nothing had happened.

She turned into the common room and saw Jayden. The red Ranger was sitting alone on his stool. The lion Zord was on the table in front of him. Jayden was playing mindlessly with the little creature when he heard Serena walking in. The Zord jumped up in his hand and folded up as Jayden got to his feet.

"It's true?" he asked. He had heard every part of the conversation between Serena and Emily. He knew she had gotten hit by the spike and that Serena couldn't help but tell the truth. He had told the others not to take advantage of them, but now he needed answers. Honest answers.

"It's true," Serena nodded her head and cursed herself for being so honest. "He likes you a lot, Jayden."

"You said loves," Jayden shook his head. "On the Samuraizer you told Emily he loved me."

"It makes sense," Serena shrugged her shoulders, "He's like you for a while. At first he didn't even know it. Then you asked Amanda out and he started feeling jealous. That's when he found out he was gay. Ever since then, he's only had eyes for you. After all that time, it's only natural he's in love with you. Besides, what's not to like? You're strong, you're cute, you're smart, you're brave…"

"I get it," Jayden held up a hand, interrupting her before she said too much.

Serena approached him. She placed her hands on his shoulders and looked him in the eye, "Jayden, please don't do anything stupid with this. Antonio's terrified he's going to lose you. You're his best friend and he's happy with that."

"He lied to me," Jayden whispered, "When I asked him about it, why he seemed jealous of Amanda, he lied to me."

"It's a big deal," Serena said, "For Antonio, I mean. This isn't easy. Imagine falling in love with your best friend, but you're too afraid to ruin what you have with them already."

"I need to think about this," Jayden shook his head and turned away. Just as he was about to leave, though, he looked back at Serena, "Hold on…"

"Please don't screw this up, Jayden…"

"Not that," Jayden said. He approached Serena, "You know my secret."

"Maybe it's time you told them," Serena said. Jayden shot her a look and then shook his head.

"I'll decide when it's time…"

"Alright, so you're allowed to lie to the Rangers, but Antonio's not allowed to lie about who he has a crush on? You're such a hypocrite, Jayden!"

"Serena, that's different," Jayden growled.

"No it's not. It's the same thing. It's a lie. It's the same in every way. If the team's going to be ruined, it's going to be because of you and how you handled things. Let's see if you're really suited to be a leader now, huh, Jay?"

Jayden clenched his fists, "Take that back…"

"Brutal honesty, remember?" Serena smirked. "I say what I mean. If you don't put your team first, you're a shitty leader. I'm sorry for telling Antonio's secret, but if yours _slips_ out, I'm not sorry."

Serena turned to leave and Jayden worried she was going to tell. He pulled his Samuraizer out of his pocket and pointed it at the older woman.

"Don't you dare tell them. It's not time, Serena. If you tell them now, they won't be able to trust me. We have to wait."

"Wait for what?" Emily asked as she walked into the room. Jayden's heart pounded.

"Nothing."

Serena looked at her little sister, "Jayden thinks he has to wait for…" she was interrupted as a ball of flames dropped between her and her sister and then proceeded to erupt into flames, building a wall between them. Emily backed away in terror, screwing her eyes shut to think of a good memory.

-Samurai-

Mia was starting to become more and more intrigued by the honesty Nighlok. She had hoped, when the Rangers were first hit, that it wouldn't cause much damage to the team or the people hit. A few embarrassing secrets spilled, a few unflattering truths, sure, but with the way Kevin was hiding from her, she was starting to think the Shiba House was still so full of secrets.

Every time she walked into a room, Kevin covered his mouth and made a beeline for the exit. At first she thought he was just worried about letting out an embarrassing secret. Now that he had done it several times, and seemed ready to do it a thousand more, she had to wonder what he was hiding from her.

But all the rooms had two exits. She couldn't catch him or corner him anywhere except the laundry room which only had one door and no windows, and getting him to run in there was next to impossible. He had the entire layout of the Shiba House memorized in his head. He knew where the best place to run was, and knew where not to hide.

So Mia needed to one up him. She pulled out their laundry basket and stuffed it with as many clothes as she could find, even if they weren't dirty. Kevin wouldn't know the difference. She then placed a note on top of the basket and snuck out. Moments later, when Kevin walked in, careful not to run into Mia, he noticed the note. Mia was asking him to do the laundry while she ran out to the store to pick up food for dinner.

Kevin saw the basket was full and couldn't resist washing the clothes. He picked up the basket and made his way down the hall to the laundry room. He walked right in and started the machine. He dumped the clothes in, closed the lid, and turned to leave.

Then, he ran into Mia. She was standing in the doorway, blocking his path out. He wanted to get angry with her for lying, but he placed his hands over his mouth instead, afraid his secret would slip out.

"Seriously, Kevin?" Mia crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him, "We're getting married. You can tell me anything, you know that, right?"

Kevin muttered something behind his hand, but it was muffled to Mia. She let out a sigh.

"Either it's not that bad and there's no harm in saying it, or it's something I should know," she said. "That's the only reason you'd be running away from me."

"I don't want you to know," Kevin said as his hand fell away from his mouth. "You'll hate me."

Mia shook her head, "How bad can it be?"

"I love you."

Mia smiled, "I love you too, and no matter what you tell me…"

"Don't say that," Kevin said, "I don't want you to lie to me."

"What? Why?"

"Because I…" he covered his mouth again and tried to run out of the room. Mia grabbed him, holding him back.

"Kevin…"

"I have a girlfriend back home," Kevin accidentally blurted out. Mia's hold around him fell. She looked up at her fiancée, her eyes filled with hurt.

"You have a what?"

"I broke up with her before coming here, but I only broke up with her because my dad told me he had a feeling I would be called soon. I didn't want to put her in danger so I told her I'd be leaving for a long time to train for the Olympics and I wouldn't have time for a long distance relationship. I didn't ask her to wait for me, but she promised she would."

Mia's eyes filled with tears. Her lower lip quivered. She knew Kevin had had girlfriends before her. Likewise, she had had boyfriends before him. But that wasn't what hurt her most. He hadn't told her he had an ex-girlfriend. He said he had a girlfriend waiting. Someone else he obviously cared for in the same way he cared for her; an ongoing relationship that should have either ended completely, or kept him from pursuing one with her.

Kevin noticed the hurt, "Mia, I…"

"Do you love her?" Mia asked and then shook her head, "No, never mind. I don't think I want to know the answer to that."

"Mia," Kevin grabbed her arm as she turned away, "I love you."

"Not enough," Mia pulled her arm free and ran off. Kevin heard a door slamming shut and knew she was furious.

-Samurai-

The fire spread but it wouldn't burn. Jayden wouldn't let it. He was angry with Serena and angry at Emily's timing, but he would never put his friends in danger. He just needed to distract the sisters long enough to come up with a way to keep his secret a secret. Now wasn't the time for anyone to find out. He would know when the time was right. Any other time would put everyone else in danger.

The truth wanted to come out of Serena, but she wouldn't let it. Right now it wasn't her top concern. She wasn't even thinking about it.

"Emily, just breathe," Serena encouraged her sister as she held out her hand to the flames, trying to see if they would burn her. She stuck her hand through the wall of fire without feeling any pain or unbearable heat. Satisfied she was safe, just jumped through the wall and held her sister protectively. She then turned to Jayden.

"Stop this."

A thought occurred to Jayden: Serena couldn't lie.

"Promise me you won't tell anyone my secret."

"Jayden," the flames around the room grew twice in size and Serena was sweating bullets. Jayden had turned up the heat. "You're going to kill us?"

"Just promise me you won't tell."

"Fine, whatever," Serena rolled her eyes. She's say anything to get herself out of this mess. "I promise I won't tell."

Jayden let the flames die down slowly and fell to his knees, exhausted. Serena let go of Emily and walked over to him. She ripped the Samuraizer from his hand and pushed him onto the floor.

"You son of a bitch…"

"I'm trying to protect them," Jayden said from the ground. "They need to trust me."

"Have you ever thought of earning their trust honestly?" Serena asked. She turned to her little sister; "Emily, Jayden's…" she stopped and choked on her words. For some reason they wouldn't come out. Emily looked at her curiously for a moment before she took off and ran from the room.

Serena turned back to Jayden, "What the hell did you do?"

"You can't lie," Jayden said. "You promised me you wouldn't tell anyone my secret. The Nighlok's spell makes you honest, so if you tell anyone what you know about me…"

"I'll have not been honest with you…" Serena muttered as she realised what Jayden had done. "You bastard."

"I'm not doing this to hurt them," Jayden said.

"Could have fooled me," Serena rolled her eyes. She threw Jayden's Samuraizer back at him and stomped over to the door. She gave Jayden one final look, "Antonio may not be able to stop himself from falling in love, but he deserves so much better than you. Next time I see him, if he ever comes back, I'll be sure to tell him."

"Serena…"

"He's given up everything for you, Jayden. He puts his life in danger for you. He protects you and he doesn't even know the truth. I don't give a damn if you're straight or gay, that should at least count for something. You should love him enough to give a damn about how hard this is for him. If you can't return his feelings, that's one thing. But before you call him a liar, look in the mirror."


	146. Prefer the Lies

Mia sat on her bed, wishing the Gap Sensor would go off so she could get out of the house and destroy the Nighlok that was ruining everything for her, though she did have to thank him.

She didn't doubt that Kevin loved her. He said it twice while under the Nighlok's spell so it had to be true. But she didn't want to have to share him, not even a little bit. If he had a girlfriend back home, he should have told her from the start. He said he broke up with her, but it wasn't because he fell out of love with her, if they even loved at all, she wasn't sure. He broke up with her because he knew he wouldn't see her and he couldn't ask her to wait for him. She did promise to wait for him, though. Obviously she cared enough about him to wait until he came home, no matter how long that was. She was committed to the relationship so in a sense it was still alive.

She also had to think about what Kevin had told her before. He never planned on joining the Samurai and falling in love with one of his teammates. When he first arrived, this had been his responsibility. He was at the Shiba House to train and master his symbol and swordsmanship and he was a Ranger to protect the world. Falling in love was something that had just happened. If he hadn't planned on even flirting with any of his teammates, then he must have found comfort in the thought that there was a woman waiting for him back home. And if his relationship with Mia failed, he still had a woman to turn to.

She heard a knock on her door as it slowly opened and Kevin walked in. She turned away from him, hiding her face. She didn't want to see him or talk to him.

"Mia… I'm so sorry."

"Go away."

"I choose you over her," Kevin approached the bed. "I'm engaged to you…"

"I don't want to hear it, Kevin. You lied to me."

"I didn't… the relationship's over between us! I broke up with her."

"You called her your girlfriend," Mia turned around and glared at him. "That's not over."

"Mia…"

"You couldn't even tell me there was someone waiting for you? You had to hide it?"

"It didn't matter…"

"Then why couldn't you just tell me?" Mia hopped off the bed and walked to the door. "You cheated on me… or on her… or whatever! When you get engaged to someone, there shouldn't be a backup!"

"She's not my backup," Kevin shook his head, "When I broke up with her and she promised to wait for me, yes, it felt good knowing I would have someone special to come home to. But she means nothing to me now."

"You called her your girlfriend!"

"I'm being honest with you, Mia," Kevin reached out, taking her hands, "I can't lie…"

"You know the funny thing about honesty," Mia said. She looked up at Kevin, "Just because you believe it's true, doesn't mean it's true. You must have worked hard to convince yourself you have no feelings for your girlfriend."

"Mia…"

"Save it," Mia pulled away from him. She pulled his ring off her finger and threw it at him, "Why don't you give this to your real girlfriend."

"Mia!" Kevin called after her after catching the ring. He followed her into the hall, "Mia, you're overreacting. I broke up with her! I love you!"

Mia ignored him and continued to walk away. She reached Mike and Emily's room, knocked on the door and went inside.

Kevin groaned and ran his hand through his hair. No amount of honesty could save him now. Mia wasn't going to believe him, no matter what he said.

-Samurai-

It had been a couple of hours since his confrontation with Serena in the common room. Jayden's head had cooled slightly and he had thought a lot about what happened. He realised Serena did have a point about him being a hypocrite. It wasn't fair of him to call Antonio a liar when he was hiding the biggest secret of all.

He loved Antonio a lot, but not in the same way Antonio apparently loved him. He didn't want to ruin his friendship with the gold Ranger, but he didn't feel completely comfortable anymore. He was sharing a room with someone who harboured a secret crush on him for months. They had done a lot in the room together that Jayden never would have done if he had known Antonio liked him. They had wrestled each other for the spare pillows and blankets, they had gotten changed in front of each other, they had shared a bed when one was unavailable, the list went on.

But Jayden didn't want to lose his best friend. The relationship would change, but hopefully, once Antonio came home, the two of them could sit down and talk, and maybe it wouldn't change too much.

But before he could do that, he had to make sure he had the full support of his team. As important as Antonio was, he was going to have to wait. If Jayden's secret came out before he was ready, and before the team was ready, the Samurai would lose faith in him, the team would be weakened and the Nighlok would stand a better chance at flooding the earth and taking over. He desperately wanted to tell them, but he knew it wasn't time.

Hesitantly, he knocked on Serena's door. She was pissed with him, that much was clear, but he was hoping they could come up with a compromise.

"Come in."

He slowly opened the door and stepped in. Serena was sitting at her desk, the book of Nighlok in hand. Jayden could only guess she was trying to find a way to beat his spell so she didn't have to wait for him to come back.

"I've thought about it," he said and her head snapped up and she turned to him.

"Get out…"

"Antonio's lie is forgivable. It's not even worth mentioning when he comes home. I'll have to sit down and talk with him, but I shouldn't have made a big deal about it."

"Antonio's a big boy; he can take care of himself," Serena slammed the book shut and stood up, "You on the other hand…"

"I'm sorry I lit the room on fire. But when I told you my secret, you told me you'd let me tell the others when the time was right."

"I can't help what I say, Jayden. It could slip out."

"You threatened to just come out and say it."

"Fine, maybe I shouldn't have pressured you."

"You should have just reminded me I was a hypocrite and left it at that."

"But the way you reacted, Jayden…" Serena shook her head, "You set the room on fire."

"It wouldn't have burned."

"It was hot."

"I wouldn't have killed you."

"I don't think you're fit to be a leader, Jayden" Serena said truthfully. "You're not supposed to behave that way. You may be the fire Samurai, but it's up to you to keep a cool head even when you're under pressure."

"Serena…"

"I don't want them following you anymore," Serena sighed. "I don't want them to trust you just because you think you're right. I don't want them taking risks for you."

"You can't tell them what to do…"

"Neither can you. Not anymore."

"I'll apologize to Emily, if it makes you feel better…"

"Jayden, I don't think you're a good leader right now."

"You can't mean that."

"I say what I mean and I mean what I say," Serena nodded her head, "I cannot tell a lie. I honestly don't trust you leading the others into battle. When the pressure's on, you always seem to slip up."

"Always?"

"The Stones, remember?"

Jayden lowered his head, "That was stupid… I know…"

"You could have killed Kevin, Emily, and Mike! When Mentor Ji asked you should have said…"

"I tried to say no."

"You didn't say no. You dragged my little sister out into the middle of nowhere and…"

"I'm sorry for that!"

"You didn't stop Mike from having his Stone programmed. What if you had killed him?"

"I wouldn't have let him die."

"He could have died!"

"I did what I thought was right."

"I don't trust you, Jayden," Serena said. "And I care too much about this team to let them follow you like sheep."

"When we destroy the Nighlok… you're not going to tell them, are you?"

"I don't know, Jayden," Serena shrugged.

"I'll be more careful with them, I swear," Jayden clutched Serena's hand, "I won't let them get hurt because of me. You know I have to do this. Telling them will only make it harder."

"I…"

"Please, Serena."

"If you ever put them in danger I will kill you," Serena growled. Jayden gulped and took a step back. She had threatened him before, but this time he knew, without a doubt, that she was serious. If she said it, she meant it.

"They'll be safe," Jayden nodded his head. "You can count on me."

"I hope so."

-Samurai-

Mike stormed into the common room with the girls right behind him. He had been comforting Emily when Mia walked in crying. She had told him what Kevin had done and Mike was fuming.

He ripped the book from Kevin's hand and shoved him onto the floor, "_I'm_ not boyfriend material?"

"What are you…?"

"At least I don't have another girlfriend back home, you lying snake!"

Kevin glared at Mike for a moment then turned his attention over to Mia, "You have to believe me. I love you."

"I can't," Mia shook her head.

"Mia, I'm telling you the truth. I love you. I want to be with you. I care about the girl back home, but not as much as I do you."

"Just enough to call her your girlfriend," Mia snapped.

"Mia, this isn't a big deal."

"You tried to hide it from me."

"Because it's not a big deal! There's no contest between you and her. When this is all over…"

"It is over, Kevin."

"Mia, you don't mean that," Kevin pushed himself up to his feet and rushed over to her, "Mia, please tell me you don't…"

Emily looked up at Mia, "He's being honest…"

"Now," Mia rolled her eyes and turned her back to walk away. Kevin tried going after her, but Mike grabbed him.

"Leave her…"

"Do any of you guys understand I love Mia more than anything?" Kevin asked. "I broke up with that girl from back home and I've moved on. If she hasn't she's holding onto nothing and that's not my fault."

"Then break up with her," Mike held out his phone, "It's fully charged, you have no excuse not to explain things."

"We are broken up. Besides, I don't even remember her number."

"Figure it out," Mike growled. "Because until that girl knows she doesn't have a shot with you, you don't have a shot with Mia."

"Mike…"

"I won't let you get back together with Mia until you break up with this secret girlfriend, and every other one you've been hiding," Mike placed the phone in Kevin's hand. "You better start working. You'll be at this for a long time."

"I don't have girlfriends!"

"Not anymore, you don't," Mike said and then walked out.

Kevin glanced down at the phone then up at Emily, "Do you believe me?"

"Antonio, you, my sister, Jayden… I just want things to go back to normal again. No more secrets, no more lies or truths or whatever. I'm sick of it!"

"It's the Nighlok's fault, Em. And we'll defeat him, like all the other ones…"

"The Nighlok just made you tell the truth. It's not his fault everyone has secrets!"

"Em…"

"I'm going to visit Spike."

"Alone? What if the Nighlok comes back?"

"Nothing's going to happen," Emily shrugged. "I'm not a liar."

"Em, it's dangerous out there. For you and for him."

"It's not safe in here," Emily said. She walked to the door and grabbed her jacket, "I'll come back when everyone starts… when things are normal again. No lies, or truths or whatever."


	147. An Overreaction

Kevin left Mike's cell phone somewhere he would easily find it. After nearly an hour trying to think of his ex-girlfriend's number, it finally hit in and he had called her up. As it turned out, she had moved on from him. When she made her promise to him, she hadn't expected him to be gone over a year with absolutely no contact. It was a big relief to Kevin, as he could now tell Mia the relationship was officially over and that she was the only girl he loved.

He knocked on their bedroom door but didn't hear a sound. He slowly crept inside and saw her lying on their bed. It broke his heart to think he had made her cry, but as he approached the bed he saw she was sleeping. He stared at her for a moment and then tucked her in. He doubted she would want him to crawl in next to her while she was angry so he didn't even try to get into bed with her.

He grabbed a paper from his desk and wrote a note to her. He set it down on his pillow, kissed her cheek, left her engagement ring on the paper, and walked out of the room to see if there was somewhere he could go until she woke up. As soon as she did, he would talk to her.

-Samurai-

Jayden tried again and again to call Antonio on his cell phone, but the gold Ranger wasn't answering. He had caller ID, so Jayden assumed Antonio was avoiding him. After what felt like the hundredth attempt, Jayden finally decided to leave a voicemail.

"Antonio, I just want to talk so we can figure this all out. It doesn't bother me that you're gay and I don't want the fact that you like me to ruin our friendship. Just call me back and we'll try to find a middle ground we're both happy with. Please call me back."

He leaned back in his desk chair and sighed loudly. He looked over to Antonio's half of the room. He missed his best friend.

-Samurai-

Serena poked her head around the corner of the hallway. She had been hiding out in her room for a while now, trying to calm herself down. After promising again to Jayden she wouldn't tell his secret to the Rangers under the circumstance that he never put them in any kind of danger, even the smallest risk, she needed to cool her head.

Now she was looking for her sister. After the incident in the common room, she was sure Emily's recovery from her fear had been set back a few steps. She had seen her sister freaking out as soon as the first spark of flames ignited in front of her, and Emily had bolted from the room as soon as she could. Serena knew Mike had been making progress, but she was starting to think it wasn't going to be enough. Sparks, explosions, blasts, and fire were all a regular part of the Ranger life. If Emily was taking steps backwards, Serena was worried she'd have a panic attack in the middle of a fight.

She bumped into Mike as she searched the house. If she didn't know where her sister was, Mike certainly would.

"Have you seen…?"

"…Emily?" she and Mike asked each other and then shot each other puzzled looks. Mike grumbled and pulled out his phone.

"We need to tell her every time we leave the house, but she's free to wander," he rolled his eyes.

Jayden rushed over to Serena, "Can I borrow your phone? I want to see if Antonio will answer if he thinks it's you."

"You're trying to talk to him?" Serena asked. She didn't have a cell phone anymore, but her Samuraizer worked as a phone. She handed it to Jayden as he nodded his head.

"I want him to come home. We'll need a full team to stop the Nighlok when he comes back."

"Speaking of full team, have you seen Emily?"

Mike hung up his phone, "Emily's with Bulk and Spike," he said. "So is Antonio, actually. Spike recognised Antonio and invited him home for hot chocolate when he saw him wandering around, and Emily turned up on their doorstep."

"What are they doing there?" Jayden asked.

"Apparently Antonio just needed somewhere to go," Mike shrugged. "And Emily told me there were too many lies in the house and she didn't feel comfortable living here anymore. She told me she'd come home when all the honesty and lies stopped."

"There goes my plan," Serena muttered. "After the common room incident, I wanted to get Emy to consider therapy."

"Therapy?" Mike furrowed his brow. "Common room incident? What the hell happened?"

"Jayden lit the room on fire," Serena said. Mike shot her a stunned look. She could tell he didn't believe her. "I'm telling the truth. Antonio and I rushed out of the house because he was worried his…"

Jayden covered Serena's mouth. She couldn't spill his secret, but nothing would stop her from sharing Antonio's unless someone intervened.

"Serena got hit by one of the spikes," Jayden said. "She was out with Antonio and the Nighlok got her through a portal. Besides, I'll admit to it. Serena and I got into a fight, she said something I didn't want to hear and I set the room on fire. Emily was right in the middle of it."

"You dick!" Mike shouted, ready to lunge at Jayden but Serena was already in his way. "That's why she was shaking and upset when she came into the room. Dude, you don't light people on fire!"

"I know. I'm sorry."

"No wonder she said the house didn't feel safe. Well, that and the other thing."

"What other thing?" Serena and Jayden frowned. Mike flicked his thumb over his shoulder and pointed to Kevin and Mia's room.

"Mommy and daddy are fighting."

"Over what?" Serena asked. "If it's about who left the dirty rag on the floor in the kitchen, that was me. This pregnancy is making it harder and hard to pick stuff up off the floor and truth be told, I'm just getting lazy."

"Kevin has a girlfriend back home," Mike said. "Or an ex-girlfriend or… whatever. There's a relationship back home that wasn't completely ended when Kevin came here. Mia feels cheated."

"Shit hits the fan," Serena sighed. "I'll go talk to her."

"Promise you won't tell Antonio's secret?" Jayden asked. Serena nodded her head, happy someone figured out a way to keep her from spilling the beans to the rest of the team.

"I promise."

Serena headed off to Mia's bedroom, leaving Jayden and Mike alone in the hallway. Just as they were about to go their separate ways, they heard the Gap Sensor going off. Kevin raced over to join them, but no one else turned up. Mia was likely too upset to fight, and unless Emily and Antonio had their Samuraizers on, they wouldn't know there was a Nighlok in the city.

"We'll be fine just the three of us," Mike said. "We just can't get hit by the Nighlok."

"At all," Jayden sighed and followed Mike and Kevin out of the house.

-Samurai-

Serena knocked on Mia's bedroom door. She heard the Gap Sensor, but assumed the same thing as the other boys when it came to Mia and knew the pink Ranger was in no condition to fight.

She walked into Mia's room and saw her sitting up in her bed with a note in her hands. Serena took a seat.

"He should have told you," Serena pulled Mia into a warm, friendly hug. "Right from the start he should have been honest with you. If he felt it was bad enough to hide, he knew it was wrong. But just because he has a girlfriend back home, that doesn't mean he doesn't love you."

"An ex-girlfriend," Mia wiped her eyes, "Or so he keeps saying."

"Well, he wouldn't say it if he didn't think it was true."

"He only broke up with her because he knew he's be coming here soon," Mia said. "It's not like he didn't stop loving her or…"

"What exactly did he tell you?" Serena asked. "I'll be honest; I have very little clue what's actually going on."

"He was in a relationship with a girl before he came here," Mia sighed. "He broke up with her because he knew he wouldn't be able to see or talk to her once he became a Samurai and told her she didn't have to wait for him. She promised to wait for him, though."

"So he's got another girl who likes him?" Serena asked. "Is that it?"

"Yeah."

Serena burst out laughing. She hugged the pink Ranger again, "You're right, he should have told you, but so what? He broke up with her and fell in love with you. He wants to get married to you. He wants to be with your forever. Let that girl, and hundreds of other girls, be jealous."

Mia looked down at the note, "He says he called her and broke up with her for real. He told her about me. He also says she moved on."

Serena smiled and then noticed a ring on Kevin's pillow. She reached out and picked it up.

"He loves you, Mia. He should have told you, but maybe it never occurred to him because it wasn't important. Does he love this other girl? Even if he does, does he love her like he loves you? Would he leave you for her? Would he ever be tempted to cheat on you with her?"

Mia glanced again at the note, "I don't think so."

"He, Mike, and Jayden are out fighting the Nighlok right now. You're probably still mad at him, but I doubt you'd leave him on his own against that Nighlok."

"I've got some ass to kick," Mia nodded. She jumped out of bed and whipped out her Samuraizer. She was morphed before she reached the front door.

Serena smiled to herself and then fell back into the bed. She looked up at the ceiling.

"Now I need to focus on Emily and Antonio," she said to herself.

-Samurai-

When Mia got to the battlefield she saw something strange. The boys weren't fighting, but the Nighlok was definitely there. Instead, the Nighlok was battling what appeared to be Nighlok Dekker.

Kevin heard rocks shifting and turned to look over his shoulder. He saw Mia and hoped this was good news.

"Mia…"

"We'll talk when we get home," she told him while trying not to sound harsh. Serena had opened her eyes a little bit, but there was still some things only Kevin could clear up before she apologized to him for overreacting. "What's going on here?"

"They were fighting when we got here," Jayden said. "Dekker said he knew we weren't a full team and he would help us out."

"How did he know," Mike asked.

"He's been keeping an eye on Serena," Mia answered. The boys shot her looks through their helmets so she explained, "Last time we ran into him, I hung back and spoke with him. I got him to agree to leave Serena alone, but he wanted to keep his eye on her. He was a dick and we can't trust him, but he is going to be a father. He just wants to make sure the woman he loves, her family, and his son are all safe."

"So he's creeping us?"

"From a distance, I guess. And it's better than him constantly knocking on our door asking for Serena, right?"

Suddenly, the Rangers heard a loud cry and turned to Dekker and the Nighlok. They watched the Nighlok spark before bursting into flames. Kevin felt something leaving his chest and sighed in relief. He was no longer under the Nighlok's spell.

Dekker raced over to the Rangers, "I have defeated the Nighlok in his first life. Unfortunately, I cannot do anything about his second."

"Let us handle that," Mia told him. Dekker nodded and raced off, disappearing into the shadows once more. Jayden, Kevin, and Mike followed him with suspicious gazes. Mia pulled out her turtle Zord and set it on the ground. It was then she realised something important. "We don't have Emily or Antonio."

"We'll have to use the Battlewing, I guess," Jayden said. "Mia, get someone safe."

"Actually," Kevin pulled out the Swordfish disk and handed it to Jayden, "Think you and Mike can do this on your own?"

"Dude, we in the middle of a battle…"

"I'll help out if you need me," Kevin promised. He powered down and took Mia's hand, "There's just something else I need to do."

Mike clenched his fists. He wasn't happy with what Kevin had done. No one hurt his sister. But when Mia powered down she gave him a soft look.

"It's okay, Mike," she assured him, "I want to talk to him too."

Mike nodded and felt Jayden placing his hand on his shoulder. He knew it was time to fight. From behind his helmet, he gave Kevin a threatening glare then hurried off with Jayden.

Mia and Kevin ran for cover and when they were safely hidden in a spot that would protect them from falling debris and from accidentally behind stepped on, while still within view of the fight in case they were needed, Kevin looked right into Mia's eyes.

"I know I'm not forced to tell the truth anymore, but I would never lie to you, Mia. I love you."

"Do you love her?"

Kevin shook his head, "I care about her, but no more than any other ex-girlfriend. I stopped loving her a long, long time ago. I moved on. I had to move on to focus on Samurai training. And then I met you."

"You shouldn't have tried to hide it from me," Mia said.

"It never came up," Kevin shrugged his shoulders, "Not until I realised I couldn't lie and I remembered there was something I didn't want the spell to force me to say. Then I got scared that you would react like you did."

"I overreacted, I guess. I'm sorry about that," Mia looked down at her feet. "Serena laughed at me when I told her. She says I should want girls to want you."

"They can want me all they want, because all I want is you," Kevin said with a smile and leaned in for a kiss. Mia pulled away for a second and then gave in and let him kiss her.


	148. Going Home

The Nighlok falling to his knees and suddenly exploding signalled the end of the battle and an end to brutal honesty. While the Rangers valued being honest with each other, they had learned something very important: sometimes it was best to shut up.

The team of four got back home and they saw Mentor Ji had been watching them on the news. He gave them a smile.

"I take it you're all relieved that's over with?"

"The Nighlok's gone," Jayden nodded, "But some of us still have a mess to clean up."

"Serena went out once the battle was ended. She's going to try and bring Emily and Antonio home."

"When Antonio does come home, would you guys mind giving us a little privacy?" Jayden turned to his teammates. "It'll be really appreciated."

"No problem," Kevin smirked and wrapped his arms around Mia, "We're going to want a little privacy ourselves."

Mike's face scrunched up in disgust as he moved away from them, "Ew, guys, if you want to do it, you don't have to announce it… OW!" he rubbed his shoulder and pouted after Mia smacked him for his comment.

"We'll need to talk too."

"Just talk?"

"Just talk," Kevin nodded. Mike breathed out a sigh of relief.

"I'll be playing video games then. No one bother me."

-Samurai-

Serena got the address to Bulk and Spike's house from Mentor and walked up to the door. She rang the bell, hoping someone would answer. Serena knew her little sister and her best friend were with Bulk and Spike, but she wasn't sure if they were still home, or if they had gone out, or if she would be ignored completely.

The door did open, much to her relief, and a big bald guy stood in front of her. He wasn't quite as big or as tall as her father, and seemed to have more fat than actual muscle, but Serena still felt intimidated.

"Whatever you're selling…"

"Are Emily and Antonio here?" Serena quickly interrupted before he closed the door on her face. "I'm here to pick them up."

"And you are?"

"Serena… uh, Emily's sister."

"Emily's sister, huh? Come in."

Serena stepped inside and looked around. The house wasn't anything special. A living room, a family room, a kitchen, and stairs that led to a second floor.

"Don't bother with the jacket. They're out back. I'm Bulk, by the way."

Serena zipped her jacket back up, "They're outside?"

"In the clubhouse," Bulk smiled as he led Serena through the house to the backdoor, "Your sister and Antonio were just showing us a few Samurai moves. They're pretty talented."

"They are," Serena nodded.

She and Bulk stepped outside and he walked her down to the clubhouse. He opened the door and gestured for Serena to walk in first. When she did, she had another look around. She saw Emily and Antonio were coaching a boy a couple of years younger than Emily, whom she assumed was Spike. She also saw the clubhouse looked exactly like it was supposed to. There was a little kitchenette, a few pillows and blankets stashed in a corner, homemade training equipment and homemade décor.

"Emily, Antonio," Bulk called their names and the training lesson stopped. Antonio turned and saw Serena. Instantly his expression was cold. Emily was a little more inviting, but didn't seem to be in a hurry to talk to or approach her sister.

Serena looked to them both, "It's safe to come home now."

"I'm still mad at you," Antonio growled.

"Spike, why don't we go work on your homework?" Bulk suggested as he opened the door and pointed to the house. Spike groaned and reluctantly followed his uncle out of the clubhouse.

Serena stepped closer to Antonio, "Jayden's been trying to call you. Have you gotten any of his messages?"

"No."

"He wants to talk to you."

"He wants to end things officially, huh?"

"Turns out, you mean just as much to him as he does you," Serena said. Antonio looked up at her hopefully. She smiled, "In a different way, though, but he doesn't want to lose your friendship either. He's willing to find a way to make this work."

"You're telling the truth?"

"The Nighlok was defeated," Serena said, "but I am telling you the truth, Antonio."

"I told you Jayden wouldn't stop being your friend because you liked him," Emily smiled. "I think it's worth a shot."

"I took his car," Serena said, "It's waiting in the driveway. Go thank Bulk and Skull for taking you in and wait for us in the car."

Antonio nodded his head and did as he was told. Serena waited for him to be gone and out of earshot before she turned to her sister, "You need to come home."

"What if I don't want to?" Emily shrugged. "Just because the Nighlok's gone, that doesn't mean everyone's not fighting."

"Jayden and Antonio…"

"You and Jayden," Emily said, "You two were fighting and Kevin and Mia were fighting. Is that over?"

"Don't worry about the fights Jayden and I have."

"I have to when he sets the room on fire," Emily cried. She crossed her arms over her chest, "I just barely managed to stay calm, but I still couldn't do it completely."

"I know," Serena nodded, "You ran. I started thinking about that…"

"And if Kevin and Mia are still fighting…"

"Emily, listen to me," Serena walked up to her sisters and placed her hands on her shoulders, "There's something I wanted to discuss with you."

"Kevin and Mia aren't okay, are they?"

"I hope so. Mia seemed ready to talk when I last left her," Serena said then shook her head, "Can you let me finish though?"

"Finish what?"

"Does the warmth still bother you?"

"When the room is on fire, yes," Emily nodded her head, "But I'm pretty sure…"

"Emy, I'm serious. Yes or no: does the warmth bother you more than it should. Even just a little bit?"

Emily lowered her head, "Yes."

"And fire?"

"It's natural to be scared of…"

"Emy, we used to keep you away from fires because you'd always try to play with the flames," Serena said. "Does the fire still scare you?"

"Yes."

"You've been through a lot this year, Emy. Maybe it would help if you had someone you could talk to about it all."

Emily puffed her cheeks and glared at her sister, "Don't even think about it!"

"What?" Serena asked, a look of pure confusion on her face. "Em, I'm just trying…"

"No one else needs therapy," Emily huffed and shook her head wildly. "I don't want special treatment."

"You've been through more than the others, though, Emily. It might not be haunting you now, but one day, all of this will catch up to you."

"Then one day I'll get therapy," Emily said. "But I'm fine now."

"Fine?" Serena asked and started walking over to the kitchenette. She searched through the drawers. Emily furrowed her brow as she watched her sister.

"What are you doing? Serena, that's rude."

Serena pulled out a lighter. She knew there had to be one handy. With the lighter in hand she searched the room for a candle. Any size would do, she just wanted to make a flame.

"Serena, what are you doing? It's rude to snoop," Emily repeated to her sister but Serena wasn't listening. She found a candlestick and smirked to herself. She handed it to Emily.

"Hold this."

"Serena…"

"Hold this," Serena said. As she expected, Emily hesitated to take the candle, but did so after a couple of seconds. Serena then created a flame with the lighter and approached the candle. Before it could burn, Emily dropped it and stepped back.

"Serena!"

Serena knelt down and picked up the candle. She placed it in her sister's hand and held her own overtop.

"Ten seconds," she whispered to Emily. She watched her little sister shake her head as she started the flame and lit the candle. Tears appeared in Emily's eyes as she tried to let go. Serena's hand stopped her from doing so and she felt trapped.

"…Five, six, seven, eight, nine, t…"

Before Serena could finish the count, Emily blew out the candle. She glared up at her sister.

"I hate you."

"I know," Serena nodded. She let go of Emily's hand and the candle dropped again. She set the lighter down, "Emily, I'm not trying to give you special treatment. You've been through so much and you're not even eighteen yet."

"I can talk to you…"

"I can't help you, Emy," Serena shook her head. "I wish I could, but I can't. You froze up when Jayden lit the common room on fire, what's going to happen when you're in battle, there's real danger, and there are explosions and flames everywhere."

"Mike won't let me get hurt."

"You can't depend on him. You can trust him, but he's not always going to be around. You need to learn to face your fears on your own."

"But…"

"Emy, you can't even hold a candle for ten seconds without tearing up. That's not normal, not for you. Please consider it."

"Who's going to help me?" Emily asked. "It's not like I can tell my doctor I'm scared of fire because Dekker kidnapped me. I can't tell the doctor the house is stressful because we were out fighting a Nighlok and me or one of the others took a hit and we're all screwed up."

"Mentor got me that job at the school," Serena said, "I'm sure he knows someone who can help you."

"I don't want to…"

"I'm not asking for an answer now, but please consider it. You've been through so much: the bullying, my sickness, diving right into the Samurai lifestyle, the danger that comes with it and the stress of protecting the world. Then there's all the stuff Dekker and Dayu have done to do, all the hell you've seen. And mom leaving, the chaos my pregnancy has caused, watching me almost die because of it, then watching mom…"

"But why just me?" Emily asked. "Why am I the only one who has to do it? I'm not fragile. I survived all that."

"I know, but Emy, it's a lot to ask from you. Sometimes it helps to just talk about it."

"I can talk to you, or Mike, or Mia…"

"I'm not doing it alone," Emily crossed her arms over her chest and gave Serena a stubborn look. She wasn't going to let her sister win this one. "If Mentor's got a therapist friend, we could all use that. If the others don't do it, I won't either."

"Emily…"

"Stop treating me like a baby, Serena. I know you want to take care of me. I know I'm your little sister and you want to look after me. I appreciate it. But this is where I want to draw the line. I'm not eighteen yet, but in five months I will be."

"Emy…"

"I'm not a little girl. If therapy would help me, it'll help everyone else too. I don't want special treatment."

"You've been through so much more than they have…"

"They've gone through it with me," Emily said. She looked up at her sister, "When I was kidnapped, they had it worse. I knew I was alive and I knew they were looking for me. They had no clue. They were stressed because every second they couldn't do something was a second where I could be dead."

"Emily…"

"When you were sick, I know it sucked for you, but after a while, I know you stopped caring about what happened. I know you were ready to get better or die. Neither option was really better than the next because at least if something happened, you'd stop suffering. Maybe you preferred to live, but you weren't going to lose much by dying."

"What are you…?"

"Mom, dad, and I had to sit there with you, just watching and waiting. We could only hope you would pull through. We couldn't fight for you; we couldn't stop what was happening. All we could do was tell you that God had a plan for you and you needed to trust him. Suffering's hard. Watching someone suffer is harder. If I need therapy, so do they."

Serena nodded her head and pulled her sister into her arms, "We'll talk about it, okay?"

Emily hugged her sister tight, "Okay."


	149. Therapy

When Serena brought Emily and Antonio home, the gold Ranger went straight to his room, with Jayden on his heels. They both had a lot to talk about, and in order to avoid any awkward encounters, they were going to do the talk as soon as possible. Without exchanging words, they both agreed it was for the best.

Jayden took a seat on his bed. Antonio did the same. There was a brief silence in the room.

"So…"

"I'm not going to force you to do anything," Antonio said, starting up the needed conversation. "If you don't like me back, I get it."

"It's kind of weird, though."

"I know," Antonio nodded, "That's why I didn't want to tell you. We're just friends, and if that's all we'll ever be, I'm happy."

"But that doesn't…" Jayden let out a deep breath. He didn't know how to say it gently or without offending Antonio. He wasn't even sure if what he was saying would be considered offensive or not. "It's just… if it was one of the girls, you know… it would be awkward but… I mean… with you it's just… I'm not…"

"I'm not used to it either," Antonio shrugged. "I catch myself staring at you or other guys and…"

"That's exactly it. The staring and…"

"I won't do it," Antonio said. "I mean, if I can help it. Sometimes, you know… it's like when you caught yourself just looking at Amanda. Not really doing anything, but just admiring her. It's harmless."

"Harmless?"

"It's not like I'm undressing you in my head," Antonio shrugged. Jayden's face turned red. Antonio leaned back, "I mean… well… yeah… it's not… I wouldn't… I…" he sighed loudly and stood up. He walked over to Jayden and took a seat next to him. Jayden shifted uncomfortably and Antonio noticed. The gold Ranger sighed again, "I'm still learning too so… how about this: how about we just… be honest with each other?"

"Honesty? Really?" Jayden chuckled.

"And reasonable," Antonio smirked. "Let's test the waters a little bit… I guess. Why don't we just carry on as normal and if I do anything that makes you uncomfortable, just let me know and I'll stop. And if you do anything that makes me… you know…"

"Yeah…"

"I'll tell you, we can talk and that way we don't get our signals crossed."

"That sounds like a plan," Jayden nodded his head. He turned to look at Antonio, "But… um… at least for now… do you think we could… not that I don't trust you but… boundaries? In the bedroom?"

"I thought about it in the car," Antonio smiled. "Bedroom is a neutral zone; the bathroom's where we do all our stuff in privacy. Getting changed, showers obviously, or just, if you're not comfortable doing something in front of me, go in there. We won't go in at the same time. Even if one of us is just brushing our teeth and the other needs to put his towel away or something."

"So, the bedroom's just for hanging out and sleeping?"

Antonio nodded, "Yeah. If we stick to our boundaries, I'm sure we can get back to not awkward."

"And friends," Jayden smiled. "Just promise me one thing."

"What's that?"

"If you ever get jealous again, you tell me," he teased. "I don't like this running away because you're uncomfortable around me. I mean, this is awkward and I'd rather not do it, but not having this talk and losing you is worse. You are my best friend Antonio. I'm sorry we can't be together the way you want us together, but we can still have a life together."

"As best friends?"

"As best friends."

"Can I give you a hug?"

"Of course," Jayden laughed. Antonio threw his arms around Jayden and hugged him tight. Jayden laughed. The hug felt a little awkward now that he knew about Antonio's feelings, but it was something he was going to have to get used to. He knew eventually Antonio would move on and find someone else, and when he did, Jayden still wanted to be his friend.

Just then, interrupting the hug, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," both boys called as Antonio let go of Jayden. Serena stepped in.

"We're having a powwow in the common room," she said, "Everyone needs to come."

"Now?" Jayden asked.

"Now," Serena nodded. The boys exchanged looks before getting up and they followed Serena to the common room. The others were gathered around. Hardly anyone seemed to know what was going on. Jayden and Antonio took their seats, along with Serena.

"What's this about?" Kevin asked when everyone was present. Serena had called the meeting, so he looked to her, "If it's about honesty…"

"It's something else," Serena shook her head. "Emily brought up a good point, earlier."

"It's not safe here?" Jayden asked.

"No. When I went to pick her up at Bulk and Spike's…"

"Those two desperately need a crash course in swordsmanship?" Antonio tried.

"No. Will you guys let me finish?"

"Serena thinks I'm a whack-job," Emily huffed. She still wasn't happy about what her sister had offered to her, but she had promised to at least consider therapy if the others took part as well.

"You're not a whack-job," Mike assured her and then glared at Serena, "You're really not helping, are you? She was caught in a fire, that's not going to go away overnight."

"She's not bouncing back as fast as she normally does," Serena pointed out. "But this isn't just about her. It's about all of you. Emily made me realise maybe a few therapy sessions might do us all a world of good."

"You want all of us to consider therapy?" Kevin asked. He felt slightly insulted. He didn't need therapy. He could take care of himself. He didn't need some doctor examining his brain and telling him there was a problem. He was perfectly fine.

"I want you to talk with a therapist," Serena said, "At least once. Emily needs it, and she won't do it unless you all agree."

"Emily's fine," Mike said with a subtle growl in his voice. Even if Emily was having a hard time after the fire, he could take care of her.

"Mike…"

"Em, do you want to see the doctor?" Mike asked. "You sit in a room for an hour and just talk."

"I can do that with you," Emily said. "I don't need a crazy doctor."

"Mike, you said you went to therapy," Mia pointed out. "It helped you. Why are you so against her going?"

"I needed it. I had a problem. For no reason at all, I would get unusually angry and start beating people up. She has a reason. If it weren't for our symbols, she would be dead."

"But this wouldn't just be for Emily," Mia pointed out. "We can all take advantage of it. You don't have to have a problem to see a therapist."

"So we're just wasting our money then?"

"I would be glad to cover any cost," Mentor said, "Though, it may be very little. I know a guy…"

"Told you," Serena smirked to Emily.

"He's a qualified therapist who helps patients cope with stress and trauma. He knows about the Samurai and is always on standby to help. You could talk to him about anything."

"Who do you not know?" Antonio asked. Mentor completely ignored the question and smiled at the group.

"I think it's a good idea. Whether you all want to participate or not, I will give him a call and ask him to stop by tomorrow morning. You will each have a session with him."

"I'm going to pass," Kevin shook his head. "Instead of sitting and talking about defeating Nighlok we've already beaten, I'm going to train to fight the ones that'll attack in the future. I think that's a better use of my time."

"If Kevin's not doing it, I'm not doing it either," Emily said.

"I did my time," Mike shrugged. "Last thing I need is someone else telling me I'm lazy and need to be more like Kevin."

"He has me for that," Kevin smirked. Mike nodded and gave his blue friend a high five.

"I'll give it a try," Mia said, rolling her eyes at the other three before she looked to Serena, "I guess it couldn't hurt."

"I'll give it a shot too," Antonio smiled. "I mean, at worse he tells me I need to lay off on the gold jokes, right?"

"I'll do it too," Jayden said. He cast a glance in Antonio's direction and smiled, "He's stress and trauma, but he's got to know a little bit about other fields, I'm sure. Maybe he can help me out with something."

"I will give him a call," Mentor said before leaving to the kitchen to make the call to his friend.

Serena looked over to her sister, "Emy, look, I'll do it too. We all know I have a lot to talk about."

"I don't want to do it," Emily shook her head; "I'll be fine without whacko doctor's help. Until Jayden set me on fire, I was doing just fine."

"Sorry about that," Jayden whispered.

Emily stood up, "Mike and Kevin don't think we need whacko doctor. I'm not going to waste my time."

"Emily."

"I want to train," Emily looked to Kevin, "Wanna train with me?"

"Now someone's making sense," Kevin smiled. He got up from his chair and followed Emily to the dojo. Mike was about to go with him, but Serena jumped up and caught him by the arm.

"Wait…"

"Serena, I'm not changing my mind. I don't need a therapist and neither does she. If she's still scared of fire and getting too hot I can work with her. She doesn't need a doctor."

"Great, the human version of self-help for dummies book," Serena muttered.

"She's been fine until now. If you're going to bring a therapist in, have him analyze Jayden and treat his pyromania. That's a problem."

"There's a huge difference between being a fire Samurai and pyromaniac," Jayden cut in.

"Dude, you lit my fiancée on fire. There is no difference."

"I lit the room she and Serena were in on fire."

"And if you hadn't of done that, Emily would be fine."

"Great. So next time the Nighlok explodes a car or all the chaos and destruction sets the city on fire, we'll ask him to kindly stop because our yellow Ranger's afraid of fire and going near one will set her treatment, by Mike the real whacko doctor, back a few steps," Serena rolled her eyes, "I'm sure they'll be nice enough to oblige. While we're at it, why don't we just ask them to destroy themselves and leave the world in peace?"

"In case you've forgotten," Mike snapped, "Xandred is trying to flood the earth. Water puts out fire. We don't have a problem."

"Therapy helped you," Serena said. "At least try to pretend like this is a good idea."

"She's not doing it," Mike shook his head. "I can take care of her. She trusts me."

"She's dependent on you, Mike."

"As she should be," Mike snapped.

Serena growled. She gave Mike a hard look. Mike instantly regretted how his words came out.

"I didn't mean… look, she can depend on me, I meant. I'll always be there for her."

"I want her to do this, Michael," Serena said. "You're denying it, but I know you know I'm right."

"You're not right," Mike shook his head. "You used to think playing your magic flute would stop the bullying and help Emily with all the name calling and tormenting at school. Guess what? It didn't work. What makes you think you're qualified enough to make this assessment? My fiancée is not crazy."

"She's scared," Serena nodded. "She's scared of fire and she's scared of facing that fear alone."

"She's not alone…"

"What if you die tomorrow, Mike?" Serena asked. "You have no idea when the next Nighlok is coming. What if you don't survive the next fight? You got her this far, she needs to do this on her own."

"What if the therapist dies?" Mike shrugged. "Face it, we have no idea what the future holds. My fiancée isn't crazy. She doesn't need help and you're not going to force her to do anything she doesn't want to do. End of story."

Mike turned around and stormed out of the room. Serena groaned and looked back to Mia, Jayden, and Antonio. They all gave her sympathetic looks.

"Maybe they'll come around," Mia said hopefully. "If everyone thought therapy was a good idea right off the bat, we'd all be doing it."

"Besides, we might learn something," Antonio smiled. "We're the smart bunch. We'll pick up on how the therapist helps us and we can use that to help her."

"Your parents left Emily in our care," Jayden said. "If you and Mentor want it, we can force her to at least sit down with the therapist. And I can work it into training. She can't refuse unless she wants to ignore her Samurai duties, and Emily's not one to do that."

"I'd rather not force her," Serena shook her head; "I don't want to force any of them. I'll try talking to her later."

"Good luck."

"I'll need it," Serena sighed.


	150. I'm Not Crazy

Later that night, Mia and Kevin were getting ready for bed. After the talk about therapy, the house had been almost completely divided. Kevin, Mike, and Emily were avoiding the other half of the Samurai because they were still a little angry at the suggestion. Kevin knew why Serena wanted to put Emily in therapy, and he understood Emily's resistance, he just didn't know why everyone needed to see the whacko doctor, especially if the only person who really needed him, didn't want him.

Emily was avoiding everyone just to avoid having the conversation again. She didn't want a stranger helping her with her fears, she was comfortable with Mike. He'd look out for her and he would protect her. She didn't need anyone else.

Mike was the angriest with the group. He didn't need therapy and Emily certainly didn't need to go. He had been making progress with her before the common room incident. She had still been nervous and a little panicked when she got too hot, but she wouldn't run off on her own in a panic. She would run to him and he would help her calm herself down. And then, once he helped her with her fear of warmth and hot, he'd help her with fire. Step by step: that's how this needed to be done.

Kevin could understand Mike's reservations about Emily going to therapy. If someone suggested to him that his fiancée was losing it and needed to see a whacko doctor, he's probably punch them. It was insulting.

But he couldn't be too mad at Mia. He didn't want to sleep on the couch.

He finished brushing his teeth and spat into the sink. When he looked up in the mirror, he saw she was already sitting on their bed, with papers in her hand. He put his toothbrush in his cup, wiped his mouth dry with a towel, and then walked over to the bed. He crawled in close to Mia.

"What are you reading?"

"Post-traumatic stress disorder."

"Why?"

"The therapist is coming tomorrow," Mia said. Kevin scoffed and moved away from her.

"Mia, you don't need that crazy doctor. You're fine…"

"Events that lead to post-traumatic stress disorder include, but are not limited to: war, natural disasters, sudden death of a loved one, kidnapping, assault, and physical abuse."

"So?"

"We kinda qualify," Mia shrugged. "That doesn't guarantee we'll get it, but it's still a step closer."

"Mia, our parents fought the Nighlok, just like we did. They were all fine, right?"

"I'm not saying we need to see a therapist. I'm just saying it could be helpful. I want to read up why. Besides, it never hurts to have someone else around to talk to. Someone who's sworn to secrecy. You can tell him things you don't feel comfortable telling me."

"I do feel comfortable with you."

"I'm just saying. You're not crazy because you go to therapy."

"He'll make you crazy, then," Kevin rolled his eyes, "Look, Mia, these doctors are just like everyone else. They make a living telling you there's a problem and they convince you they can help. If this guy wanted, he could…"

"This guy is a friend to the Samurai," Mia interrupted. "He's doing this pro bono. Your argument is invalid."

"Fine, whatever. I don't need to see a crazy doctor," Kevin laid down in bed and rolled away from Mia so he had his back turned to her. "I'm not going and that's final."

"Serena told us Emily's not going to go if we don't all do it."

"She doesn't need it."

"Avoiding reminders of the trauma."

Kevin turned his head to Mia slightly, "What?"

"One of the symptoms."

"Mia…"

"She was almost burned alive, Kevin. Now she's scared of warm?"

"She had a problem, I'll admit to that. But Mike got her this far. She used to be scared of a hug, right? We don't need whacko doctor. You don't see Amanda going to a therapist."

"How do you know what Amanda's doing?" Mia asked. "We haven't seen her since Jayden broke up with her. For all you know, she could be seeing a therapist and it could be helping."

Mia shifted closer to Kevin and rolled him onto his back. She leaned over him.

"More than half the house thinks this is a good idea. Serena thinks Emily needs it. What harm could sitting in a room with a guy be to you? Emily needs you to do this."

"Mike doesn't think Emily needs this."

"Now you two agree?" Mia sighed.

"Emily doesn't want this."

"That's not the point right now, Kevin. Whether she wants it or not, she's not going to see the therapist unless we all do it. You included."

"It doesn't matter if I see him. If she wanted to see the therapist, she wouldn't need me to hold her hand. Besides, Mike's not doing it. Doesn't matter if I go or not, as long as he doesn't go, she won't go. End of story. Can I go to bed now?"

"Fine," Mia huffed and moved away from Kevin. He rolled back onto his side so he was comfortable and closed his eyes. As he tried to sleep, he felt Mia moving in the bed. He opened one eye and peeked over to her side. He saw her grabbing her pillow and getting off the bed.

"Where are you going?"

"Common room," Mia answered.

"Why?" Kevin sat up.

"Mike's not a qualified doctor. He's a high school dropout. He got Emily this far, but it's obviously not enough. Seeing the therapist for you would only take one hour out of the day and it wouldn't be of any harm to you. In fact, maybe the doctor will know a surgeon who could get that stick out of your ass."

"Mia…"

"One session. We're asking you for one session, and we're asking Emily for one session. She won't try it unless you do. You need to step up and set an example for her, for Mike, and for everyone else here. By avoiding the problem, you're only making it worse."

"To be fair, my water powers can put out any fire that scares her. Your wind can make the fire spread."

"Whatever," Mia rolled her eyes, sighed loudly, walked out of the room and slammed the door behind her.

Kevin laid back down in bed, "At least I'm not sleeping on the couch this time…"

-Samurai-

The first night sleeping in his room with his best friend who had a crush on him could be a little more comfortable, but at least Antonio was home and still his friend.

Neither Samurai could fall asleep right away, though. They both stared up at the ceiling in silence. They knew the other was awake, and other nights when this happened they would talk until they fell asleep, but now things were feeling awkward. Neither knew how to start a conversation.

"So…"

"Excited for tomorrow?" Antonio asked.

"What's tomorrow?"

"Therapy."

Jayden paused, then shrugged his shoulders, "Nervous. You?"

"Same," Antonio sat up, "Do you think Serena's right? Could we all benefit from therapy?"

"The other Samurai had a therapist coming in once a week," Jayden said. "I don't know if the others know that. I remember, every time the therapist walked in, dad would go see her. Whether he was feeling stressed or not. Kevin's dad only went if something big had happened and he was feeling very stressed or shaky. Mike's and Mia's parents usually went, unless they were too tired or something."

"What about Ellie?"

"Therapy every week… I think. She was just like my dad when it came to appointments. She also had the therapist on speed dial. I guess she didn't want to go home to Sere and Emily only to find she was unable to take care of them."

"Why don't you tell Emily that?"

"Yeah, that'll go well. Hey, Em, wanna be just like your mom? All that therapy and counselling and you'll still run away and hurt everyone when the going gets tough."

"Good point. Why doesn't Mike want to go, though? He has anger issues, right? Didn't he say a therapist helped with that? Why won't he believe?"

"I don't know," Jayden shrugged. He let out a deep sigh, "I kind wish I hadn't lit the room on fire, though. Then we wouldn't be talking about all of this."

"Yeah, note to self: don't anger Jayden."

"I wasn't going to hurt her," Jayden said. "Serena figured that out pretty quickly. She jumped through the flames. Emily didn't and when the flames stopped, she kinda stood stunned for a moment, then ran away."

"Ran to Mike, I heard," Antonio pointed out. He looked across the room at Jayden, "I don't think that's a good idea anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Serena's right. What if Mike doesn't come back from the next fight? Or what if he steps off the sidewalk one day and gets hit by a bus? If Emily runs to him and he's gone…"

"She runs away quite a bit, huh?"

"When things get too stressful she…" Antonio paused as a thought occurred to him. It seemed to occur to Jayden as well because the red Ranger shot up. The boys looked at each other from across the room.

"She runs away," they both whispered.

Now they were never going to fall asleep.

-Samurai-

As Mike laid in bed, with Emily wrapped tightly in his arms, he couldn't help but think about Serena's suggestion. It was a crazy one. Emily didn't need professional help. He was doing just fine with her. In fact, it was his idea that had gotten her to this point, and everyone had opposed him. So who were they to suggest they were now qualified to determine what Emily needed? He knew her best and he knew she wasn't crazy.

She was fast asleep on his chest but was suddenly startled. She bolted upright, breathing heavily. Like other nights where she had a nightmare, he placed his hand on her back and rubbed gently.

"You're okay. I'm right here."

Emily took a few deep breathed and leaned back into Mike. He wrapped his arms back around her but she suddenly moved away. Mike wasn't surprised. She did this every night. He was just satisfied that she wasn't running away or refusing his hugs anymore. He was a warm sleeper and gave off a lot of body heat: heat that made Emily uncomfortable.

She flipped her pillow. She hadn't been sleeping on it, but the underside was still cooler against her cheek. She kicked down the comforter, leaving only the sheets on her body. Mike adjusted himself to suit her position, and when they were both settled, he closed his eyes to sleep.

But he couldn't sleep. He was too angered by what Serena had suggested. She was Emily's sister, she wasn't supposed to make Emily think there was something wrong with her. He clenched his fists tightly and then remembered his breathing exercises. He had to do them. If he didn't, he'd lose control and his aggression would come out.

After a few moments he felt the bed shift. He closed his eyes so Emily wouldn't know he was awake. She would settle down if she saw he was sleeping.

He felt her lean over him, likely to see if he was awake. After a couple of seconds he expected her to fall back into bed and try again to sleep. But she didn't. He felt the bed shift again as she got up. Mike opened one eye to see what she was doing.

She walked to their closet and pulled out a fan. He furrowed his brow. It was the same fan she had put away when he thought she was making progress, only she had put it away in the hall closet. If it was in their room, she had moved it.

She set the fan next to the bed and then turned to the clock. Mike watched, without her knowing, as she set the alarm for before he would wake up. He couldn't help but admit she was smart. Alarm clocks never worked with him. They wouldn't wake him up, especially when he didn't want to get up (which was every morning with very few exceptions).

When the alarm was set, Mike watched her leave the room. She wasn't gone long, and when she came back, he saw she had ice packs, bags of frozen peas and frozen vegetables in her hands. She set them down in her bed, crawled in, pulled up the blankets, turned the fan on, and closed her eyes.

Given the way she knew exactly what she needed to do; Mike could assume this wasn't the first time she had done it. He reached over to her side of the bed and felt it was freezing cold, and it would stay that way for a while. The big blanket seemed warm, but all it did was act as an insulator, keeping the cold air trapped and the ice and vegetables would stay colder, longer. Maybe even all night.

When he was sure she was asleep, he got out of bed. He turned off the fan and the alarm clock. He then grabbed the fan and carried it down the hall to the closet. He stashed it up on the top shelf, where Emily couldn't reach.

He got back into the room and slowly pulled her blanket down. He grabbed the ice pack, the peas, and the vegetables, and carried them back to the kitchen.

"Cold, cold, cold, cold," he muttered, rushing to get the frozen packs out of his hand. He pulled the freezer open, dumped them all in, and then rubbed his arms for warmth. Even with her aversion of heat and preference for cold, he had no idea how she made that trip without freezing.

He walked back to their room and looked at her again. He wasn't going to be a monster and let her overheat again, so he left her with only the sheet, keeping the comforter at the foot of her bed. He crawled into bed and laid awake, staring at the ceiling. Now he really couldn't sleep.

He stayed awake the rest of the night, checking the clock. When 6:00 AM came, he got out of bed. He knew Kevin would be awake at this time, and if he wasn't, he wouldn't mind being woken up.

He walked into Kevin and Mia's room. Mia wasn't there, but that didn't bother Mike. He touched Kevin's shoulder and shook him awake.

"Dude, do the therapy with me today."

Kevin groaned and wiped the sleep from his eye, "Are you crazy?"

"Emily needs it."

"She says she doesn't," Kevin rolled over, "Get out of my room."

"Kevin…"

"I'm not getting my brain poisoned by some whacko doctor. It's a waste of time."

"Emily…"

Kevin sat up, "Look, I had this talk with Mia, okay? If Emily needed or wanted to see whacko doctor, she'd do it whether I did it or not. I'm not crazy, I don't have any phobias, nothing's wrong with me. I don't see why I need to see the doctor."

"Alright, fine. Maybe you don't need to see a doctor. But Emily does…"

"Emily knows what's best for Emily. Let her be, or convince her yourself. I'm not going to be a pawn in whatever manipulation you and the others have going on."

"You suck, you know that?" Mike huffed and then turned away from Kevin, bumping the blue Ranger's night table accidentally as he did.

Kevin rolled his eyes as Mike left. He then looked to his night table. He noticed that when Mike bumped it, the stuff on the table shifted ever so slightly. He straightened out his clock so it was perfectly centered, laid his watch down close enough to the edge where he could reach for it easily in the morning and strap it on. He also saw Mia had left her papers and a highlighter on his night table. It was likely her attempt to get him to read the information on post-traumatic stress disorder. He picked up the papers, straightened them out, and laid them down flat on the corner of the table on the left side, leaving an inch between the two outer sides of the paper and the end of the table so they wouldn't fall off. He then placed the highlighter down in the center of the paper and straightened it out so it was at a right angle with the front side of the night table and the papers.

He saw the time was six in the morning but today was a sleep in day, so he had two more hours to sleep. He laid down in his bed, readjusted the blankets so they fit around him and weren't uneven on any sides.

"Therapy's for whack-jobs," he muttered. "I don't need it."


	151. Doctor's In The House

The Rangers were all training in the dojo when the therapist arrived. Serena was overlooking the training, so Mentor had gone to the door to welcome him in. He greeted his old friend Timothy with a hug. It had been years since he had seen him. Had Timothy not been here on business, Mentor would have suggested they sit down together for lunch and catch up.

But just because this was business, that didn't have to stop Mentor from making small talk.

"How have you been?" he asked as he took Timothy's coat. The therapist smiled.

"Really well. Business is doing great."

"Is that really a good thing?"

"My patients are all doing well," Timothy nodded, "That's all I ask for."

"I'm sorry I have to pull them away from you. With the Nighlok, this must not be a good time to leave."

"I've left them in capable hands," Timothy assured Ji. They took a seat in the common room, "besides, I think the mental health of the defenders of the planet is a little more important at this time. You told me it was urgent."

Mentor Ji nodded his head sadly, "My youngest found herself in a little bit of trouble. A Nighlok kidnapped her and a civilian. By the time the others found them, they were burning alive."

"Were they okay?"

"Symbol power is a wonderful thing. Unfortunately, the mind is always a little stronger than the body. The civilian I'm not sure what state she's in, or if she's getting help, but my yellow Ranger could use a little help from you, though she is resisting."

"They usually do," Timothy nodded. "You also told me the other Samurai wanted a few sessions with me."

"They've been through so much," Mentor said, "It couldn't hurt. And Emily won't see you unless they all do. That is causing a bit of a problem, though. Not everyone is excited for your arrival. Most of the Rangers are willing to give you a shot…"

"Then I'll start with them," Timothy smiled. "There's no helping those you do not want to be helped, and there's no sense ignoring those who do."

Both men heard a door sliding open. Mentor checked the time and saw it was the end of morning training. The Rangers were likely headed back to their rooms to shower and get ready for the rest of the day.

Mentor got up and gestured for Timothy to follow him. They walked down the halls and bumped into Serena. Mentor smiled. He placed his hand on Serena's shoulder and turned her to Timothy, "The doctor you requested is here. Serena, meet Dr. Timothy Fletcher. Timothy, this is Serena, the yellow Ranger's older sister."

"Older sister?" Timothy looked to Mentor curiously as he shook Serena's hand. He knew how the Samurai powers were passed down. The eldest child was always first in line to receive responsibility of the Samurai Ranger. Never had the powers skipped down the to the second or third child.

"I was sick. We had no choice but to send Emily instead of me," Serena explained to the doctor. "But that's in the past. You're going to help her?"

"I'm going to try," Timothy nodded. "We'll see what she wants."

"She doesn't want to do this," Serena sighed. She looked down the hall to Emily's bedroom and then back to the doctor, "Look, can you just promise me you'll try all you can?"

"Of course," Timothy nodded. "And I'll start with you."

"You called me here, you seem open to the idea, why not set the example. If your little sister sees you participating, she might be more open to letting me in."

"I guess… I…"

"The others are getting ready," Mentor nodded his head and gestured for Serena to follow Timothy, "It'll be about an hour before they're all done anyways. Might as well start now."

"Alright, sure," Serena said and she led Tim to her bedroom, where they could talk privately. She pulled out her desk chair for him to sit on before she sat down on her bed.

-Samurai-

As Mike got changed, he glanced over at Emily across, the room. She was slipping her sweater on. Mike glanced in the mirror as she did this and saw an uncomfortable look on her face. One he hadn't seen before when she put her sweater on, but he never thought to look in the mirror.

When she looked up and saw his reflection, her expression changed to a smile. Mike smiled back, but he knew she was trying to hide it. Being warm still made her uncomfortable. She wasn't making progress. She was doing what she thought the others wanted her to do and what she thought she had to do.

He approached her from behind as wrapped his arms around her, "Don't lie to me, Emily."

"I didn't say anything," Emily whispered. She had a feeling he knew the truth. When she woke up this morning the alarm had been turned off, her fan was gone and the ice packs and vegetable bags were all gone. Still, she hoped that if she didn't bring it up, she wouldn't have to talk about it.

"You didn't have to," Mike told her. "Em, it's not progress if you're not comfortable."

"I'll get comfortable," Emily said. "You tell me all the time, it'll take a while."

"Longer if you don't do it right. Do you want me to let you go?"

"It's okay."

"Emily, do you want me to let you go? Am I too warm?"

Emily lowered her head, "A little bit."

Mike's arms dropped and he took a step back. Emily turned to face him, looking upset.

"I'm sorry."

"Me too, Em," Mike nodded, "Maybe I'm not enough. I think Serena's right. You should see the professional."

"But… but…" Emily shook her head, "No."

"Emily…"

"No. I'm not doing it. I don't need his help. You guys can help me. You guys are helping me. Look, you can hug me. I won't freak out, I swear."

"Instead of hugging me," Mike said and gently touched her hair. It was still wet from her shower. It was wet because she refused to blow dry it. The heat from the blow dryer still scared her. "Fix up your hair. It's warm air. It won't hurt you."

"I don't want to fix up my hair," Emily shook her head. "I want to keep it like this."

"You always used to do your hair after a shower," Mike told her, "Right up until Dayu and Dekker kidnapped you, you did your hair all the time. You stopped because you're scared."

"I don't want to do it anymore. It's a long process every day."

"Emily…"

"I don't want to," Emily shook her head and stomped her foot. "I'm not crazy; I don't need to see a doctor. I'm fine, and I'll get over my fears by myself, whether you want to help me or not."

"You won't let me help you, Em."

"I'm not crazy. Dr. Bananas won't help me."

"My therapist helped me."

"You had a problem you couldn't fix by yourself. I can fix my problem."

"Give Dr. Bananas… I mean, give the doctor a try, Emily. It can't hurt."

"You told me I wasn't crazy! You told me there was nothing wrong with me!" Emily shouted, now on the verge of tears. "Whacko doctors are for people with problems, people who do have something wrong with them. Freaks! I'm not a freak."

"So am I a freak because I saw a therapist?" Mike felt himself beginning to get a little angry. He wanted Emily to listen to him, but she wouldn't.

"Maybe you were. But I'm not!"

There was a knock on the door before Mia opened it. She could hear the shouting from her bedroom and wanted to make sure everything was okay.

"What's going on in here?" she asked, holding the door open.

Emily saw this as her exit and slipped out, under Mia's arm. She wasn't going to stand here and be accused of being a freak by her friends and her fiancé especially.

"Emily!" Mike called after her, but she was already gone. The front door slammed shut. Mike rubbed his face in his hands. Mia looked to him curiously.

"What was that about?"

"You guys were right," Mike said. "She tried to freeze herself last night so she wouldn't get too hot. I doubt that was the first time she's done it too."

"You finally believe she needs more than just you?"

"I believe it," Mike nodded. "She thinks she doesn't even need me. You're fiancé's not helping, by the way."

"I know," Mia sighed loudly. "He thinks he doesn't have to go and it's not sinking in why he should go anyways."

Mia felt a tug on the door as someone else tried to open it a little wider. She let go and turned to Antonio, who stepped past her and walked in.

"The therapist is here," he said. "He's talking with Serena now and he's willing to take someone else."

"I'll go next if no one minds," Mia shrugged, "Though I have no idea what I'm going to talk about."

"I'm sure something will come up," Antonio looked around the room, "Hopefully we can convince Emily to talk to him. Where is she, by the way?"

"She ran off," Mike sighed. "I agree with you guys now, she needs his help. But she won't see him. She got mad at me and ran off."

"Like usual," Antonio sighed. After his and Jayden's epiphany the night before, this was no surprise. Fortunately, and unlike her mother, Emily always seemed to come home before too long. It was probably the only difference between the two of them. Antonio hoped that difference remained, and this wouldn't become a 'like mother, like daughter' situation.

-Samurai-

Serena had to admit, the doctor was good. The hour had started with her unsure of what to say. Now, she wasn't sure there was enough time in the world to get everything out.

Timothy looked to her knowingly for a moment, and the down at his clipboard. Serena had noticed he always did this right before he asked her a question that would open up so many more.

"You're telling me you felt it was up to you to protect her?"

Serena nodded her head, "She's my little sister. I couldn't just let bad things happen to her. I didn't want bad things to happen to her."

"Whenever you stepped in, did you do it because you felt she needed it, or because you felt you needed to do it?"

"What's the difference?"

"Your parents raised you differently than your sister. For the longest time they thought you would be the yellow Samurai Ranger. You were raised to be independent. You were taught that while you needed to work with your team, no one could protect you better than you could yourself. You fought your own battles."

"I couldn't come here and hide behind everyone else," Serena shook her head.

"You said there is about eight years between your sister and yourself? That's a huge gap."

"When mom was here I kind of took over," Serena nodded. "I taught Emily how to walk and heard her say her first word."

"Have you ever thought of letting go?"

"Of what?"

"Your sister's not two anymore," the doctor said. "She can walk and talk without your help. I doubt, whenever she wants to get from point A to point B, you hold her hand and walk her there."

"No."

"It's the same with everything else. By protecting your sister, and fighting her battles for her, you're never letting her win. You're putting extra stress on yourself that doesn't need to be there, and you're taking away her ability to look after herself."

"I have no idea what you're saying," Serena shook her head.

Timothy set down his clipboard and his pen, "There is a problem here, and it's got nothing to do with Emily. The problem's with you. You were worried when the kids started teasing your sister so you took care of it. The bullying didn't stop; you kept trying to take care of it. If Emily had problems with a teacher, you handled it. Even when you moved up to High School, you still stopped by Emily's school when there was a problem. You thought it would be easier that way. The teachers knew you, they liked you, they would listen to you. Was there ever a time where Emily started to struggle and you didn't jump in to save her?"

"I… Why wouldn't I try to help?"

Timothy tried again, "Serena, you told me your sister didn't do well in school."

"She was dyslexic," Serena nodded. "That wasn't her fault."

"Surely she came to you for help with her homework. Was math a difficult subject for her?"

"All subjects."

"When she asked for your help, did you give her the answer, or did you point her in the right direction."

"I never gave her answers," Serena shook her head.

"Do you read for her?"

"Sometimes. When it's faster."

"When was the last time you let her struggle?"

"Her Christmas card, I…" Serena trailed off. Emily hadn't read it on her own. She started the first few lines, then handed the card over to Serena to read.

Timothy smirked, "You need to learn to let go. Especially with your own child on the way. If you come to her rescue every time she needs help, she's never going to learn to get herself out of trouble. That's why I'm here now."

"Because of me?"

"You can help her overcome her fear, but you can't do it for her. The more you try, the less effective this will be. This is a struggle Emily will have to face on her own, and if you keep protecting her and rescuing her, she's not going to have the tools she needs to stand on her own."

"I guess not…"

Timothy smiled as he checked the time. The hour was up. He could go on and on with Serena, but it was best to handle any issue in small doses.

"Before we finish, I'd like you to do something for me. Homework, if you wish."

"Homework?"

Timothy nodded, "You taught your sister to walk. Did you ever let her fall down?"

"She fell down all the time," Serena answered.

"When she fell down, did you lift her up, or did you let her stand up on her own."

"At first I lifted her up," Serena said, "After a while though she started getting up on her own. I would just stand across the room, holding my arms out."

"Did she make it to you?"

"Eventually."

"Your homework this week is to let someone fall. It doesn't have to be Emily; it could be any of the others. If they come to you for help, do not do the job for them. Instead, point them in the right direction. They'll make it there eventually."

"And that'll help Emily?"

"That'll help you," Timothy collected his things and stood up. "Your life will be a lot less stress if you focus only on the important stuff."

"Easier said than done."

The doctor walked to the door with a smile on his face, "Next time, I want to talk about that illness you kept mentioning."

"I had a counsellor when I was sick," Serena shook her head; "I'm all talked out."

"You'll only tell me when you're comfortable telling me," Timothy said. "Now, where's my next Samurai?"


	152. The Cold

After training, Kevin always did a little bit of reading. The books on his personal bookshelf he had read several times, but it never hurt to read them again. There was always something he could learn to better himself as a Samurai.

When an hour and a half passed, he parked his page, ended at the end of a chapter. Unless he finished the book, he had to finish a chapter. He couldn't set the book down halfway through. There needed to be some kind of conclusion to what he was reading.

It was his turn to use the shower so he undressed and stepped in. In the shower, he did as he always did. He washed himself twice from head to toe. If he didn't do it twice, he was worried he wouldn't clean everything and he would stink.

After ten minutes he got out, dried himself off and wrapped the towel around his waist. He walked up to the sink and picked up his toothbrush. It was routine to brush after showering. If he was going to be clean, he may as well clean every part of himself.

He brushed for two minutes then spit. He rinsed his toothbrush then his mouth. He set his toothbrush in his cup, finished drying off, then walked to his room to get changed.

He laid out the clothes he wanted to wear on his bed. All the pants together on one side, the shirts at the foot of his bed, and across from the pants were his sweaters.

He picked out his shirt first: a light blue t-shirt. Then he picked out his sweater: a dark blue pullover Nice and thick for the winter, but not so thick he would overheat. He then slipped on a pair of jeans. He brushed himself off and looked in the mirror to make sure everything was okay. He straightened out his shirt and then noticed a loose thread in his sweater. He pulled the sweater off and set it on the bed. He reached for another one and held it up to his chest. He looked down at himself. Now he was going to have to change his shirt too. The sweater he chose was blue, so his shirt couldn't be blue as well. Two of the same colour felt wrong to him.

So he pulled off his shirt and switched it for a white long sleeve. He put the shirt on, then the sweater. He checked himself again. He straightened out his clothes. He checked for any loose threads, straightened out his clothes gain, double checked for threads. Finally, he straightened out his clothes a final time and smiled.

"Now I'm ready."

He checked the clock. The loose thread had put him slightly behind schedule. To get back on track, he was going to have to eat a smaller lunch so he could finish it faster.

Then he looked at the bed. It hadn't been made yet. Normally it was Mia's job in the morning so it completely slipped his mind. He pulled all the blankets off the bed and made it from scratch. He had to make sure the blanket was even on both sides of the bed. If one side was longer than the other, the bed didn't look nice. He tried eyeballing it, and then grabbed a ruler from his desk, just to be certain.

When that was done, he got to work on the pillows.

"I thought you'd be in the common room by now."

He looked up and saw Mia. He finished with the pillows, checked to make sure they were perfect, and then smiled at her.

"You're talking to me?"

"I just came out of therapy. It's amazing what Dr. Fletcher can do. Where was he when my parents divorced?"

"You're not crazy, Mia," Kevin told her. "You don't need to talk to him."

"I think I did. I feel so much better now. He's going to be here for a while; I might ask him for another session. You should really go see him."

"I don't need it," Kevin said. The corner of his eye caught the bed and he realised his and Mia's pillows were off center. He adjusted them carefully, took a step back, examined his work, then adjusted them again.

Mia rolled her eyes. This was normal behaviour for Kevin and this was why she always made the bed. She liked it looking neat and clean, but she wasn't a freak about it.

"Kevin, it's good."

"But…"

"We're just going to mess it up tonight when we go to bed anyways."

Kevin smoothed out a wrinkle, "I guess. Anyways, there: it's perfect."

"Only you."

"So you're going to see Dr. Wacko again?"

"Yes, Kevin, and you can't stop me."

"You know there's nothing wrong with you, right?"

"I know," Mia nodded. "It's just good to know there's someone who'll listen."

"I'll listen."

"It's different with him."

"You like him better?"

"Of course not," Mia shook her head. "It's just; sometimes it's comforting to hear someone telling you that you can solve your own problems."

"I tell you that."

"It's just different, Kevin. And it's not going to affect us, I promise."

"So what did he say about you?"

"That I needed to put myself first sometimes," Mia smiled. "I'm always so worried about everyone else that I ignore my problems. Then they get too big to handle and they start haunting me until I finally deal with them. He told me if I just focus on them when they're small, they won't seem so big later on."

"I could have told you that," Kevin rolled his eyes. "In fact, I have told you that you needed to take some time to yourself every once in a while, and I don't even have a degree. He calls himself a doctor?"

"Kevin, just sit down with him. It couldn't hurt and it'll help Emily."

"I don't need a doctor."

"Antonio's talking to him."

"Antonio's going through something. An extra set of ears might help."

"Jayden's talking to him."

"Jayden's got the most responsibilities out of all of us. And besides, he did try to light Emily and Serena on fire."

"Serena spoke to him."

"Serena's pregnant with Dekker's child. Anyone would need therapy if that happened to them."

"I did it."

"I still don't understand why."

"So you're really not going to give him a shot?" Mia asked. "And you're not even going to do it for Emily? She needs help."

"Then she should see him. I don't get why I have to go."

"You're her big brother, Kevin. Like it or not, she looks up to you. If you're too scared to do something that won't encourage her to do it."

"I'm not scared. I don't want to do it."

"Because you're scared of opening yourself up. But take it from someone who's been there, Kevin, you'll feel a lot better when you get it all out. Make yourself vulnerable."

Kevin shook his head, "No."

Mia groaned, "You're impossible," she muttered as she walked out of the room.

-Samurai-

Emily was sitting on a stone in the forest. It was probably safer for her to go into the city where other people could see her, but she didn't care. She wanted to be alone. Besides, she had her Samuraizer on her. If anything happened, she could call her friends for help.

She felt something could touch her nose and crossed her eyes to see what it was. She couldn't get a good look, so she glanced up at the sky. A smile crossed her lips when she saw snow. Finally, the winter season was bringing snow. And just in time, too. With this sweater on, she was starting to feel a little warm. She thought about taking it off, but then realised that wouldn't prove anything to Mike. Even if she was getting uncomfortable, she had to face her fears.

The snow really started coming down but Emily didn't mind. She now liked the cold and didn't care for a storm. She had run into this forest so many times she now knew her way back by heart.

There was a noise behind her as she tried to take her mind off how warm she was getting under her sweater and resisted taking off her sweater. She turned around to the source of the noise and saw Dekker approaching her. Her body tensed. He stopped walking.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked her.

Emily clutched her Samuraizer, "Don't get any closer."

"I'm not here to hurt you," he promised her. "Those days are behind me."

"Liar."

"If I were lying, you'd be dead."

Emily gave him another hard look before relaxing her grip around her Samuraizer. She noticed he was wearing a think fur jacket.

"Aren't you hot?"

"No," he shook his head. He pointed to her, "Aren't you cold?"

"I like it," Emily shifted over on the rock and gestured for Dekker to take a seat. He accepted the invitation. Emily gave him a look.

"Do you think I'm crazy? Be honest."

"No," Dekker shook his head. "Not necessarily. Sometimes I do question the things you do."

"I think you're whacko," Emily replied honestly. "My friends all think I'm whacko."

"You are nothing like me," Dekker told her. "The only thing we share in common in our love for your sister. How is she, by the way? How is the child?"

"Serena wouldn't want me answering that question."

"She's not here."

"Fine," Emily answered him. "They're both fine."

"Thank you," Dekker smiled. "I take it she never talks about me."

Emily shook her head, "She's moving on. You should too. Leave her alone. Leave me alone."

"You invited me here," Dekker reminded her. He noticed she was shivered and reached for the fur over his shoulders, "Here, take this."

"I'm fine. Fur's too hot."

"You'll freeze."

"It's better than burning," Emily shot a sharp glare in Dekker's direction. He caught it and looked to her sympathetically.

"I realise I have failed to apologize to you for that," he bowed his head, "It was wrong of me."

"I almost died."

"It will not happen to you again," Dekker assured her. "Dayu knows that if she goes anywhere near you or your family, I will kill her."

"Kill her now. Get it over with. If she strikes first, one of us could be dead by the time you hear about it."

"I would rather give her a chance. I'm not a murderer," Dekker turned to Emily. He noticed she was still shivering and she seemed pale. Her lips were starting to turn blue and her eyes were beginning to close. "How long have you been out here?"

"An hour."

"A storm is coming," Dekker told her. "I can feel it. You are not dressed for it."

"I'm fine."

"You should head inside."

"I don't want to go home."

"You don't have a choice," Dekker removed his fur coating and wrapped it around her before he lifted her up in his arms. Emily protested slightly at first, but it didn't last long. Halfway back to the Shiba House, she closed her eyes. The fur was keeping her a little warm, and the colour was beginning to come back to her face. He knew she would be okay.

When he walked on the Shiba grounds he thought about setting her down and leaving her for the Samurai to find. If Serena saw him, she's kill him. But he couldn't leave Emily in the cold. If she found out he left her, she's kill him.

So he knocked on the door and waited for an answer. When it finally opened, Dekker was relieved to see Serena, but he could tell she was far from happy to see him. Then she looked at the bundle in his arms. Pure rage took over.

"What the hell did you do?" she reached to take Emily. Dekker pulled away.

"You are pregnant. I understand you should not be carrying anyone."

"Give her to me," Serena growled. Dekker stepped back and gently bounced Emily in his arms until her eyes opened. He set her carefully onto her feet and made sure the fur didn't fall from around her."

"She will need to be warmed…"

"Get out!" Serena shouted.

"I did not hurt her, if that's what you're thinking. I found her."

"Finding her in the house is still kidnapping."

"Serena, I…"

What's going on?" Mia turned the corner when she heard yelling again. The house just couldn't be peaceful for a day. Another reason they needed Doctor Fletcher. She looked to the doorway and saw Dekker, "Why is he here?"

"He took Emily."

"Brought her back, more like it," Mia shook her head, "Thanks, Dekker."

"What?" Serena turned to Mia.

"Emily and Mike got into a fight and she took off," Mia explained. She walked over to the trio and wrapped her arm around Emily. "Like it or not, Emy, you need to be warmed up. C'mon."

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not. We'll warm you up and then you'll see the doctor."

"Neither," Emily shook her head. She pulled away from Mia and dropped the fur. "I'm going to my room."

"Mike's in there."

"I'm going to your room. Don't come in."

"But…" Emily stormed off before Mia could argue. The pink Ranger rolled her and followed Emily, worried about leaving her alone.

Serena turned to Dekker when Emily and Mia were gone, "Fine, you didn't kidnap her. You still had no right to approach her."

Dekker picked up the fur from the ground. He draped it over his shoulders, "Like it or not, Serena, I saved her life."

"You've got to stop doing that."

Dekker shook his head, "Never."

"Stop trying, Dekker. You're never going to win. You screwed up."

"I did," Dekker nodded. "I am so sorry, Serena. But I've changed."

"No you haven't. You a selfish, dangerous, lunatic. You need to be put down."

"Can I ask you something?"

"I'd rather you didn't."

"Can I feel the child?"

Serena's eyes widened, "You're the whack-job!"

"A storm's coming," Dekker said. "Snow is falling, winter is here. I have no home, no family, and no place to go. For the next few months I'll be out in the cold. Please give me something to take my mind off the bitter winter."

"No."

Dekker wasn't surprised by her answer, but he was taken aback by the harness of her tone and it was obvious on his face. He then bowed his head slightly.

"Thank you."

"You're fucking nuts."

"Winter will never be as cold as your answer. I can be thankful for that."

"I…"

Dekker opened the door and started to walk out. Now Serena felt bad. She didn't know why. After everything he had done, he deserved an answer so bitterly cold.

"Dekker, wait," she called him back inside and closed the door behind him. She took his hand and walked him into the common room. No one was there, no one would know.

She sat him down on her stool and she pulled Emily's over. She took a seat and then held his hands in hers.

"Warm them up first," she said and rubbed her hands against his, "I hate cold hands on my stomach. I think junior does too."

Dekker smiled at her, "You don't have to do this. Your refusal is justified."

"That'll do," Serena let go of his hands, "Five minutes max. No more, but don't be afraid to take less time."

She lifted her shirt over her stomach. Dekker stared down in awe. At first he had no idea what to do. Inside of her, his child, so fragile, was growing. He was scared his touch would hurt the baby or her.

"I just…"

"Touch it and go," Serena told him.

Dekker placed his hand on her stomach it felt weird to him, but in a good way. He set his other hand down gently.

"He might kick if you talk to him," Serena didn't know why she was telling him this, but if he was going to touch her, he should at least get the full experience. "Introduce yourself and see what happens. He loves Emily's voice; maybe he'll like yours too."

"I don't… I…" Dekker stared down at her stomach, "I am your father."

"Not like Darth Vader," Serena rolled her eyes. "Baby talk him."

"It's daddy," Dekker tried again. He looked up at Serena, then back down, "I… I love you."

Serena's heart melted but she tried to keep an expressionless face as Dekker continued.

"I'm sorry for what I've done. I know I won't be around much… but I do care for you. If you ever need me… you'll always have a father."

To Serena's surprise, the baby kicked. Dekker felt it too. His eyes were wide in pure amazement, a look of joy on his face.

Serena pulled away from him. She rolled down her shirt.

"Time's up."

"He kicked."

"He does that all the time."

Dekker looked into her eyes, "It was amazing."

Serena turned away, "You should go."

"Serena…"

"Get out, Dekker," Serena walked to the front hall and opened the door. Dekker followed her. He stood in the doorway, but he wasn't outside yet. Serena couldn't close the door on him.

"Thank you, Serena."

"Whatever."

Dekker looked down at her lovingly, "You are a special woman."

"Dekker, please go."

"One more thing," Dekker leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the cheek, "I know you can't return my feelings, but I do still love you."

Serena touched her cheek as he pulled away. He flashed her another smile and then set off.


	153. The Lowest Point

Timothy had seen everyone in a day; at least, almost everyone.

He had seen Serena and Mia, Jayden and Antonio, Mike, and even Mentor.

There were only two Samurai missing, and a feeling in his gut told him they were the most in need (and Mentor's words).

They had avoided him all day. He knew it was intentional. If they didn't run into him, they could act like he didn't know he was there, or they had forgotten to see him, or they thought he was too busy.

He decided he would go to them. He knocked on the door to the dojo and let himself in. Mentor had given him permission to enter every room in the house; he was going to take advantage.

Neither had seen him enter, so he decided to stand in the background for a minute. If he studied them, he would have a better idea of what they were like and where he could help.

Kevin hit the punching bag and then looked over to Emily. He shook his head and gestured to the window.

"If he hadn't of brought you home, Emily, look at what you would have been stuck in."

The snow was really coming down. Timothy looked out the window and he felt like he was inside a shaken snow globe. Flakes were everywhere, he couldn't see the yard and the wind was pounding. By the end of the storm, they would have a good foot of snow outside.

"Well, he did bring me home…"

"What if he didn't? Or worse, what if he killed you?"

Emily rolled her eyes, "I'm fine, Kevin. Stop freaking out. You're just as bad as everyone else. Mia keeps trying to make me soup…"

Kevin massaged his temples, "Emily, I can see you shivering from here. This isn't healthy. At least put on a sweater."

"No."

"Emily, I'm not kidding around. You don't have to burn up you just need to keep warm. Go to your room, get yourself a sweater and don't argue with me."

"No!"

"Do you mind?" Timothy interrupted, finally alerting to two Rangers of his presence. He received angry stares, but neither said anything. He walked over to the duo and gently touched Emily's arm. He looked her in the eyes with a comforting smile. "Emily, your health is obviously very important to this team. They don't want you getting sick and are trying to do what's best for you. I don't think putting on another layer will warm you up too much, but it might keep you from getting sick. Could you please throw on a sweater? If you get too hot, you can take it off."

Emily glared for a moment before turning to leave. Timothy wasn't sure if she was going to do as he asked, but she hadn't put up a fight. He looked to Kevin. The blue Ranger was shocked.

"How did you…?"

"She's not a child. She's your teammate."

"I know that…"

"If you treat her like a child, she will behave like one. She is old enough to listen to reason and old enough to make her own decisions."

"So you're a parenting specialist now?" Kevin scoffed. He turned back to the punching bag. "Look, I need to get this wrapped up in half an hour."

"Can you take five minutes just to tell me why you don't think a session with me is right for you?"

"No. That's five minutes wasted."

"I assure you, Kevin, a healthy mind is just as important as a healthy body."

"And I have both," Kevin said. He beat the bag but saw Timothy wasn't going anywhere. He walked over to the bench where Emily had been sitting and picked up his water bottle. He looked to the doctor, "You're here for Emily, not me. Focus on her."

"Everyone tells me she refuses to see me unless you all participate."

"You just want money or a reference or something. You're not doing this because you want to see us get better. You think you have all the answers because you studied at some fancy school, got a piece of paper with your name on it framed in an office somewhere, and a bunch of people think you cured their craziness."

"You don't believe in therapy?"

"Not when I'm not a whacko."

"To some degree, we all are. How it affects you determines whether or not you need intervention. For example: a man can't remember if he locked the door to his car while shopping for food. He has a full cart and doesn't want to leave it behind. He speeds through his list, but is careful to make sure he gets everything. He pays for what he gets and walks back to the car. He checks the door and is relieved to see it was locked. He loads his groceries in the trunk, maybe laughs at himself for worrying and sets off for home."

"What's wrong with that guy?"

"Forgetfulness, maybe," Timothy chuckled. "Aside from that: nothing. Now, we get to another guy. He pulls into the parking lot and takes the first man's spot. He pulls his keys from the ignition and gathers up his bags. He checks that he has his keys in his hands and opens the door. He steps out of the car, checks he has the bags, then checks for the keys. He had both, so he closes the door. He checks again for his keys, then his bags, then his keys again. He locks the door. Then, before he walks away…"

"Checks his keys, checks his bags, blah, blah, blah," Kevin rolled his eyes, "Look, he's just being cautious. Maybe he recently locked the keys in his car or something."

"He does this every day," Timothy said. "I'll skip into the store. The entire time he's grocery shopping, this man is wondering whether the car door is locked, whether he has his keys and whether he remembered his bags. He's constantly checking his pockets for his keys and the shopping cart for his bags. He needs to make sure he's got them both. As for the car, he worries he forgot to lock and he worries someone will realise he forgot to lock and steal his car. The thoughts intrude so much, he leaves his cart behind and walks out to the parking lot. He walks up to his car, checks the door. It's locked, so he checks for his keys. He goes back into the store. Let's say, fate's kind to him and his cart is as he left it. He checks for his bags, checks for his keys, and then wonders if the car door is still locked. He tries to ignore it, continues shopping, until he can't ignore it any more. For a second, third, fourth time, because it's an even number, he goes out to check. He needs to check, if not he starts to feel ill. He worries something terrible is going to happen."

"He's a whack-job."

Timothy shook his head, "This man is not a whack-job. The term is called obsessive-compulsive disorder. Many people have it. It's not all that uncommon. In fact, it's one of the things I'm looking out for in this house."

"Seriously?"

"One of many," Timothy nodded. "Addictions, any anxiety disorder, any disorder related to stress or trauma, relationship issues, you name it."

"Worst you'll find is Mike's addiction to pizza and video games," Kevin rolled his eyes. "And Emily's pyrophobia, but that's why you're here."

"Thermophobia is why I was called, though I would like to address her pyrophobia. I understand it's not that uncommon to see or be near flames while in the battlefield. We can't have a Ranger suffering from a panic attack while battling, can we?"

"Thermo… you're technical, and that's coming from me."

"It's my job."

"Well, go do it. Emily's room is down the hall to the left. Now if you don't mind, I usually unwind after training with some reading. I'd like to read through six chapters before the hour and a half is up."

"Do you do this every night?" Timothy asked.

"I try to do it every night."

"On nights where you schedule is thrown off, does it bother you."

"Of course," Kevin nodded. "I mean, unless I'm injured or Mia needs me for an emergency."

"Is there still a nagging feeling in the back of your mind?"

"A feel a little sluggish if I don't train at least twice every day," Kevin nodded his head. He then glared at the doctor, "Look, I don't need your stupid analysis done on me. I'm fine. I'm going to read. Do not bother me."

-Samurai-

Emily didn't argue with the doctor, but she wasn't going to do as he said. She didn't want to put her sweater on because she could already feel herself heating up from her time in the cold. A sweater would just make things worse.

She paced around the angry at the doctor, angry at her friends for thinking she needed the doctor, and angry at Serena for bringing her here. As she paced, her body began to heat up from the exercise. Emily grew more and more uncomfortable and decided to take care of it. She walked into the bathroom and turned on the tap for the tub, filling it with water so cold she shivered just thinking about it. She undressed and got into the tub. It was freezing cold, but it felt good and she felt safe. She laid back, trying not to slip as she did. The tub was longer than she was and she could easily slip under.

For the first little while, she shivered and she took comfort in her shiver. Eventually the shivering stopped. Emily could barely stay awake at this point. She felt herself beginning to slip down and tried to reposition herself before she went under but found that task harder than it needed to be. It took her longer than normal to start moving her hands. When she did, she couldn't get a good grip and she managed to slip anyways. Her head hit the tub just before she was submerged under the water.

Just outside, the bathroom, Mike was desperate for a toilet. After seeing the therapist he decided to play video games. His session had gone well. He hadn't learned much about himself he didn't already know from his last therapist, but he was really seeing the advantages to having Timothy over. Having an extra person, someone who could really help him, around to talk about the worst of situations, was a huge comfort. He couldn't understand why Emily and Kevin were avoiding him.

He saw his bathroom door was closed and assumed Emily was inside. A closed door usually meant the bathroom was occupied. He knocked.

"Em, you in there?"

No answer so he walked in. He made it to the toilet and lifted up the seat. As he reached for his belt, he had a look around. He spotted the tub was filled with water and furrowed it brow. Then he saw why the tub was filled. He grabbed a towel and raced over.

"No, no, no, no. Don't you dare do this to me, Emily," he cried as he reached into the tub and pulled Emily's head out from under the water. To his relief, she began coughing right away.

The water touching his hands was freezing cold. He held her up, keeping her head out of the water, as he reached for the plug. He pulled it out and let the water start to drain. He then reached for the towel and wrapped it around Emily. He lifted her out of the tub. Now that towel was soaking wet so he knew he needed a new one.

"Emily?" he heard Serena's voice call from his bedroom door. "Emily, something happened. I need to talk to you."

"Serena!" he called for her, terrified something would happen if he left Emily alone. "I need towels."

"Mike?"

"All of them!"

"Why?"

"Do it!" Mike screamed. There was a silence from Serena. He assumed she had gone to do as he asked. He reached up to the sink to grab the hand towel. He needed to get Emily dry.

"Here are your towels. Next time get them yourself," Serena called from the bedroom door. This wasn't good enough for Mike.

"I need help!"

Mike heard her drop the towels and race over. As soon as she got to the bathroom door she stopped. For a moment, she looked disgusted. He understood why. He was holding her sister and was wearing only a towel. Then she saw the water on the floor, the water draining from the tub, and she noticed her sister was wet.

"Towels!" Mike said to her. She nodded and raced back to where she dropped the towels.

"Here," she said as she brought them back to Mike. He grabbed them and started wrapping Emily up.

"Stay awake, Emily," he whispered to her. Her eyes were open, but she seemed barely able to respond to him at all, "Please don't do this."

He and Serena got her dried with one towel and then wrapped the others around her to keep her warm. Mike picked her up and carried her over to their bed. Serena followed.

"Mia said she seemed fine," she looked to Mike.

"Mia must have been wrong," Mike shook his head, "or Emily lied to her. She'll need warm…"

At the worst possible moment, the Gap Sensor sounded. Mike ignored it.

"She'll need warm clothes," he said. He sat with Emily and held her close, hoping he was warm enough to bring her temperature back up."

Serena raced to the dresser. She couldn't even hear the Gap Sensor buzzing. She grabbed warm clothes and hurried back to the bed.

"Mike, Emily!" Jayden called into the room as he rushed in, "Moogers downtown. Get up!"

"I'm not going."

Serena looked up at Mike's comment. It was then she realised the flashing Gap Sensor in the room and the loud beeping.

"I'll take care of her. Go," she told him.

"It's Moogers, they don't need me."

"You're down Emily. Go!"

"Down Emily?" Jayden asked. He stepped into the room and saw Emily lying in the bed. He couldn't tell right away what was wrong with her, but she didn't seem well. "What happened?"

"I'm not going!" Mike shouted. He reached for Emily's clothes. He wanted to dress her. Serena grabbed his wrist.

"I'll do this."

"But…"

"Mike, you'll see her later. We need you downtown. There's a dozens of Moogers and they keep appearing," Jayden said.

Mike clenched his fists and his body trembled in rage. He felt himself turning red and boiling up from his anger.

"I'm not going!" he shouted and almost pounded his fist down into the bed, right on Emily. Serena caught them and forcefully pushed him off the bed. He landed on the floor with a thump and looked up, a little stunned.

"Get out," Serena growled. "Go cool off before you hurt one of us."

Jayden picked Mike up off the ground, "You can beat the Moogers. We need you."

"I'm coming back, Emily," Mike promised as he was pulled from the room. "I'll be back! Please warm up!"

Serena looked down at her sister, "Please tell me this wasn't what it looked like."

Emily slowly shook her head, "Accccident."

"You're freezing cold."

"Ss-sorry."

"Let's get you dressed," Serena said. "Do you need help?"

Emily nodded. Serena slowly dressed her sister, trying not to expose her to the air in the room too much, fearing it was too cold for Emily.

"M-my head hurtss…"

"Mentor will look at you," Serena promised. She slipped a shirt on Emily and then a sweater. She tried to lower Emily into the bed, but she refused. Instead, she hugged her sister. Serena pulled the blankets around Emily, wrapped her up warmly, and hugged her back. "You'll be okay. Just stay awake."

Serena then covered her sister's ears and screamed, "MENTOR!"

She heard his footsteps racing over and knew he's find her soon enough.

She felt a weight jumping up on the bed. It wasn't Mentor, she knew that. She turned around and Saw Scruffy. She pulled the dog in for a hug.

"Emily, stay awake. Tell me about the day you got Scruffy."

"I want help…"

"I know, Emy. You'll get help. Just tell me about the dog. Where did you get him?"

"Serena, are you okay?" Mentor asked as he stormed into the room in a panic. The Rangers were all supposed to be out and he was worried there was something wrong with her.

"She's freezing, Mentor," Serena said. "Help."

Mentor nodded, "I'll be back."

He bolted out of the room.

Serena hugged her sister tighter, "Scruffy, Emy. Talk to me about Scruffy."

The dog barked and nuzzled Emily. Serena smiled.

"Scruffy wants to know where he came from."

"P-pet ss-ss-store," Emily answered. "I'm c-c-cold."

"You'll be warm soon. I promise," Serena buried her face in Emily's shoulder, "Then we'll get you help. All the help you want. You'll be all better soon."

Dr. Fletcher walked in with Mentor Ji as he came back. Serena looked to the doctor.

"Don't you dare remind me about my homework."

"Ji needs room to work," Timothy said. "You can sit in the chair and watch."

"NO! She needs me."

"She needs help. Not yours," the doctor pulled Scruffy off the bed and gestured for Serena to follow. "You can watch from the chair."

"You said fall, not freeze and drown."

"You've done what you could. Sit in the chair. You need to let go."

"Serena, I need room," Mentor nodded.

Serena reluctantly got up as Dr. Fletcher brought her a chair. She tried to move it closer to the bed, but he shook his head.

"You're here if she needs you. You can talk to her."

"Ss-Serena…"

Serena tried to get up. Timothy put a hand on her shoulder and pressed her into the chair.

"From here."

"You're okay, Emy," Serena whispered. "Let Mentor take care of you," she turned to Timothy, "You're evil."

"Mentor needs room. This is for the best. When he tells you, you can go back. For now, comfort her from here."

"You're going to be fine, Emily. I'm right here. I won't let anything happen to you."

Timothy shook his head, "Don't tell her that. Tell her she can pull through. She doesn't need you."

"I know how to comfort my sister," Serena growled. She got up from the chair and took a seat at the foot of the bed. She was still out of Mentor's way, but not by much. She placed her hand on Emily's leg. "I'm right here, Emy. Nothing's going to happen. We're going to make sure you're okay."


	154. Let Her Go

Mike set upon the Moogers in a rage. He couldn't tell how many there were and he didn't care to know why Xandred had send them out. All he wanted to do was beat them into the ground and go home.

He hadn't said anything to the others yet, neither had Jayden, though they had noticed he was more aggressive than usual and assumed it had something to do with Emily staying home.

"Forest Spear!" he swung his weapon wildly, taking out a pack of Moogers and then continuing on, charging through the army like an unstoppable train.

"If he worked this hard more often, he'd be better than all of us," Kevin commented to Mia. "Combined."

"Just fight, Kevin," was Mia's only reply. Kevin understood she wasn't happy with him because he didn't want to go to therapy, but it was his choice. He sighed and swung his Spin Sword, but before he could hit the Mooger, Mike jumped in the way, taking the monsters out with several deadly blows.

"Mike!" Kevin scolded, "I could have killed you! Fight your own Moogers!"

But Mike didn't listen. He wanted this battle to end.

"Symbol power!" he called, pulling out his Samuraizer, "Vines!"

The pavement cracked and vines burst out from the ground, capturing all the Moogers and keeping them still. Mike was going to slice at them one by one and end the fight, but Jayden had other ideas. He used his own symbol power, hit the Moogers, and the flames destroyed them and Mike's vines. When the smoke cleared the only sign of a battle were the cracks in the pavement.

"Go home, Mike," Jayden said to the green Ranger when the fight was over. Mike powered down and took off.

Antonio walked over to Jayden, "What's wrong with him?"

Jayden powered down and lowered his head. He and Mike had been a little late to arrive to the fight but on the way, Mike had explained what he had found. Jayden couldn't believe it. He didn't want to believe it.

"Where's Emily?" Mia asked. "She can't avoid fights just because there might be fire…"

"She's not avoiding them. Not intentionally. Mike found her in the tub… freezing cold and drowning…"

The other three powered down at they heard this and stared at Jayden. They were all pale. Then, Kevin rolled his eyes.

"It's because you guys brought the whacko doctor here…"

"Kevin, shut up," Mia snapped. "Just shut up."

"Don't tell me it's not his fault," Kevin said. "He turns up and suddenly she gets worse? Isn't he supposed to be comforting? Shouldn't he have seen this coming?"

"He's a therapist, not a psychic," Antonio said.

"Doesn't matter…"

"It does matter," Mia growled. She looked up at Kevin, an intense look of rage in her eyes, "He can only help her if she lets him, and she won't because you refuse to see him."

"I don't need to see him."

"I don't care what you need! This isn't about you, Kevin."

"Then why do I have to go? Convince her, not me!"

"Sometimes, Kevin, you do things for other people even if you don't want to. If it were me…"

"Mia, you're not a freak. You don't need…"

"Stop it, Kevin," Mia stomped her foot, "You're setting up an hour with him."

"No."

"Yes! You're going to go, you'll sit down, you'll talk with him, and then you'll tell Emily all about it."

"No!"

"That's an order, Kevin," Jayden cut in. He was surprised Kevin was arguing with Mia, but he knew the blue Ranger couldn't refuse an order from him.

"You can't force me to…"

"When the safety of the team is at risk, I can," Jayden nodded his head. "A healthy body starts with a healthy mind. If you give a damn, at all, about this team as a whole, and as individuals, you're going to see the therapist. If you don't before the end of the night, you're turning in your Samuraizer and your disks."

"I'll be benched?"

"You'll be sent home," Jayden clarified.

Kevin glared at Jayden hatefully, "You can't…"

"Try me."

-Samurai-

Mentor had finished treating Emily and Serena had jumped right back in. She was lying in bed with her sister, holding her tight. Timothy couldn't help but smile at the bond they shared, but knew he needed to work on a healthy break. One thing he wanted to work on with Serena was her ability to let go. She had spent most of Emily's life trying to protect her from nearly everything. When things were hard for her little sister, Serena always seemed to jump right in to help.

This incident had been eye opening for Timothy, as he watched Serena comfort her sister. Emily was dependent on it. She didn't just want comfort from her sister, she needed it. She felt far more settled when Serena told her she would protect her and take care of everything. This disturbed Timothy greatly.

He left the girls alone for almost half an hour, but when time was up, he got to his feet and looked to Serena.

"Come with me."

She shook her head, "No."

"I know an excellent recipe for soup that should warm her right up."

"Then go make it."

"I need your help."

"No you don't."

"Serena, please come with me."

"Emily, what do you want?"

Timothy had seen this coming. Serena was going to use every advantage she had.

"I want you to stay," Emily whispered. Serena turned to the doctor and gave him a winning look. He shook his head.

"Emily, you will be fine on your own for a little while. It will give you time to recover properly. You heard Mentor Ji, your body will take care of itself from here on out."

"I need Serena…"

"Scruffy will stay with you," Timothy suggested instead. He wasn't cruel. He knew Emily was upset and didn't want to be alone. Scruffy was the perfect choice to stay behind. From what Timothy had seen, he could tell the dog was loyal to his mistress. He wouldn't leave her side and if something happened, he'd respond to the best of his abilities.

"No…"

Timothy approached the bed, "I know it's scary, but Serena will be right down the hall. If you really need her, she won't be far," Timothy wrapped the blankets around her, "She can't do anything for you. Your body will take care of itself. You're strong enough to do this, Emily. Show your sister you're just as strong as she is."

He gave Emily a smile and tapped the spot next to her on her bed. Scruffy jumped up and cuddled his mistress. Emily wrapped her arms and some of her blankets around the dog and hugged him. Timothy looked up to Serena.

"It's a fast recipe for soup," he told her. "It'll take twenty minutes. Come with me."

Serena looked at her sister first, and then reluctantly followed the doctor to the kitchen. She watched as he walked to the bag he had brought with him and pulled out a can of soup.

"My favourite."

"Canned?" Serena asked. "You pulled me away from her for canned soup? What if…"

"Let her fall."

"This is life or death…"

"It's not that bad," Timothy chuckled. "She hasn't called for you yet. I know it sounds harsh, Serena, but she doesn't need you. In fact, I think you need her. That's what I need to put a stop to."

He started the soup on the stove and while it warmed up he approached the table. He took a seat and gestured for Serena to do the same.

"Tell me about your illness," he said. "What scared you the most about it?"

Back in her bedroom, Emily felt a little unsettled at first without her sister. She could vaguely remember the Gap Sensor going off so she could only assume the rest of the house was gone. She didn't want to be alone but, slowly but surely, she started to feel a little more comfortable. Her body was warming up, she was still shivering, but Serena told her that was a good sign. It meant her body was trying and had the energy to so.

It may have had the energy, but all Emily wanted to do now was sleep off this nightmare. She nestled into her dog for warmth and fell right to sleep, comfortably. By the time Serena was allowed back into her room, Emily was peacefully sleeping and recovering. Just to be sure, Serena checked Emily's breathing and checked for a pulse. Given her circumstances, they were both normal.

Timothy walked in behind Serena, "Is she walking?"

"This could have backfired."

"I wouldn't have put Emily's health in any danger," Timothy smiled. "And this wasn't done for her, though she will benefit from it."

"I don't want to let go. She needs me."

Timothy took a seat. He looked over at Serena, "When you were sick…"

"We just finished with that…"

"When you were sick, what was your biggest worry? What kept you awake all night?"

"Nothing," Serena shook her head, "The drugs knocked me out."

"What was the worst nightmare you had, then?"

Serena sat down next to Emily and Scruffy. She took Emily's hand.

"At first I was just worried I was going to die. I had nightmares of the doctors giving me the news that I wouldn't make it."

"What worried you about dying?"

"I just… I didn't want it to happen, like anyone else, you know. But I was also worried… I didn't… I didn't want to let my family down. I didn't want mom and dad to be upset and I couldn't leave Emily alone. I was scared that if I died she wouldn't make it by herself. She always needed me to help with the bullies at school. As they got only, the bullying got worse. Dangerous, sometimes. When I was sick, I couldn't stop them. All I could do was comfort her."

"Did it make you feel helpless?"

"She needed me."

"Did she tell you that?"

Serena shook her head, "She was so small… and…"

"Did you tell her what you told her today? Did you tell her you would fix her problems for her?"

"Not exactly like that," Serena nodded. "I just told her I wished I could be there to make it stop."

"What worried you after that nightmare came true? You said your nightmares were about being told you wouldn't make it. When that happened, did they continue or change?"

"Changed," Serena whispered. "Until then, I kinda hoped I would get better and I would go back to normal. I would tell Emily all the time that as soon as I got better I would make the bullying stop, I'd take back my duties as yellow Ranger and I'd keep her safe. When that didn't happen and I knew I would be confined to my bed until I died… I worried about her. She couldn't make it."

Timothy gestured to Emily, "She's here now."

"The others take care of her."

Timothy tapped his chin, "When she's better, I'd like to do something with her."

"What?"

"She will tell you when she gets back from it, but I want her to do it alone. You will stay at home with the other Samurai and you will keep yourself busy. Maybe prepare yourself for the birth of your child."

Serena looked down at her stomach, "It's still months before…"

"Would you rather leave it to the last minute?"

"I'll do it," Serena nodded, "Just take care of her."

"Don't you worry about a thing," Timothy smiled. Suddenly the door opened up and Mike rushed in.

"Emily!"

"Shh," Timothy whispered, "She's asleep."

Serena also gestured for Mike to be quiet. He took a few calming breathes and approached the bed. Serena got up and let him take her spot. Mike sat down and took her hand. It was cold, but not as cold as before. He felt her forehead and got the same results.

"I'm going to explain to the others what happened," Serena said, "Surely they noticed."

"Whatever," Mike answered. He brushed Emily's hair away from her face and kissed her forehead. Tears clouded his vision, "Why do you do this to yourself, Emily?"

"Mike, would you like to continue our conversation?" Timothy asked. Mike waved him out of the room.

"Not now. I want to be alone. When she wakes up I want to talk to her privately."

"Are you sure?"

"Go see if Kevin's decided to let you analyze his head," Mike growled. "Leave us alone!"

"If you ever need me, my door's always open," Timothy said as he walked out.


	155. Getting Help

The Rangers were both worried and relieved as Serena explained to them what had happened with Emily. Jayden could only give them the minor details of the incident when they asked back in the city. Serena knew a lot more.

"It was an accident?" that seemed to the biggest question after they heard Mike had found her in the tub. No one wanted to ask if it was suicide, but they all wanted to know whether or not Emily had hurt herself intentionally.

"I don't think so," Serena shook her head. "She tells me it was an accident; I'm going to believe her."

Timothy walked into the room at this point. He wanted to talk with someone right after a fight to see what was going on in one of the hero's heads when they came home. The more he understood about their daily lives, the more he could help them help themselves.

Kevin clenched his fists when he saw the therapist. Given how little time had passed between the therapists arrival and Emily nearly drowning, he couldn't help but throw a little blame (or all the blame) Timothy's way.

"You did it," he growled and looked at the others, "That son of a bitch was the last person to talk to her before she did this."

"Kevin…"

"Let him talk," Timothy interrupted Mia. He stuck his hands in his pockets and looked at Kevin, "Say what you want to say."

"You're here because the others all think she's crazy. Then you start talking down to her and she does this."

"I wasn't talking down to her."

"You told me the way I talk to her wasn't right. You tried to correct me and look what happened! I don't know what you said, but you screwed her up!"

Timothy nodded his head, "If that's what you believe I can't change that."

"Stop pulling out your freaky voodoo crazy person talk. I'm not some mental health patient. I'm perfectly fine."

"Perfectly fine?" Timothy asked. "Well, given how much you train and how focused you see to be, I guess you're close, but no one is ever perfectly fine."

"Well, I am."

"And what if you weren't?" Timothy asked. "What would happen then?"

"Guys," Serena whispered to the others around the room. She knew when Timothy's questions started he needed privacy with his patient, "want to see an amazing recipe for soup?"

The other had all had a session with the doctor so they understood what Serena was trying to do and nodded their heads.

"Soups always interesting," Antonio replied. The four of them shuffled out of the room, leaving Kevin alone with the doctor.

Timothy took a seat across from Kevin, "Have you always strived so hard for perfection, Kevin?"

"Don't talk to me."

"If it makes you comfortable, you can simple answer with yes or no."

"Yes," Kevin growled. It was obvious to Timothy that the blue Ranger didn't want to be here, but it was a step forward, even if it was just a baby step, because Kevin did answer his question.

"I see…"

"I have to be perfect," Kevin added. "One mistake could mean the end of the world. I don't want to be responsible for that. We have a huge responsibility. Everyone is counting on us to keep them safe. We need to be the best we can be."

"And there's nothing better than perfect," Timothy agreed.

"Finally, something we agree on."

"Would you mind telling me why you seem to be the only one here who works so hard to be perfect? As far as I've seen, the others all work for good or great. What's different about you?"

"The others work as hard as they can. They just can't reach the same level I can."

"Jayden seems pretty good."

"He's the best. But if something happens to him I need to step it up."

"So you're worried you might not fill his shoes."

"No," Kevin shook his head, "I would be an excellent leader. Look, doc, I've just always needed to be the best. It's just who I am. You can't change that."

"I can't," Timothy shook his head. "But what I want to work on with you is acceptance."

"Acceptance?" Kevin scoffed, "I'm fine with who I am. I'm fine with everyone else. I don't need…"

"I want you to learn to accept that there is no such thing as perfect. You can be good, you can be great. Maybe, for a while, you will be the best, but there's always something new to learn. There is always something that needs improvement. We only have a lifetime to practice our skills. That's not a lot of time."

"So you're going to tell me I have to do something I'm bad at and be okay with not doing it perfectly?"

"No," Timothy shook his head. "I want you to be the leader. I want all the pressure to be placed on your shoulders. You will lead the team into battle, you will train them, you will make all the calls yourself."

"I can do it."

"I have no doubt that you can," Timothy smiled, "But I will warn you it's not an easy job. Sometimes, you need to learn to settle. You cannot help everyone. You can't save everyone. You can't do everything."

"I'll prove you wrong. Jayden manages to do it."

"Jayden does it very well," Timothy agreed. "It's one of his many skills."

"And it's not mine?"

"We'll see, won't we?" the doctor got up from his chair, "Well, Kevin, this has been fun. Unless you think you need to see me again, why don't we just make one more appointment for before I leave so we can discuss how your turn as leader went?"

"Perfectly."

"If you think you can do it perfectly, I encourage you to try."

"I will."

"I know you will."

-Samurai-

Mike was still lying in bed with Emily at his side, but as she slept he needed to distract himself. If he focused on her, he would drive himself crazy wondering why she had hurt herself so badly. He still had no answers and he didn't want any answers unless they came from Emily's mouth.

He had a handheld video game in his hands and played. For the most part, it distracted him, but his mind still strayed over to Emily. He wiped the tears from his eyes.

"Sometimes, I think it would be easier if I didn't love you," he muttered.

"Do you mean that?"

Mike dropped his game and sat up. He looked over at her and saw she was awake. She stroked Scruffy's head. The dog was doing a good job keeping her company and keeping her warm.

"You're such an idiot sometimes, Emily."

Emily lowered her head and fixed her gaze on her dog, "I'm sorry…"

"What were you trying to do, huh, Em? That water was freezing cold, for starters! Have you ever heard of hypothermia?"

"I don't…"

"And then drowning yourself? Emily, if I didn't have to pee, you would have been dead! Is that what you wanted?"

"Stop yelling…"

"I'll yell if I want to!" Mike shouted. "You scared the hell out of me, Emily! You're always scaring the hell out of me. Why can't you ever just admit you need help? Why do you always insist on doing things by yourself?"

"Please stop yelling…"

"You can't run away from your problems!"

"I'm sorry… just stop…"

"Emily…"

Mike was interrupted by a loud bark. Now, even Scruffy had had enough of the yelling. At first he had noticed both Mike and Emily were upset and he didn't know who to comfort, but he put two and two together. Mike's yelling was making Emily more upset. He was loyal to Mike, but Emily was his mistress. He barked again and growled at Mike, showing off his teeth. He was ready to attack if Mike did anything to hurt of upset Emily.

The green Ranger got the message. He held his hands up and took a few deep breaths. He then leaned in closer to Emily and pulled her up gently. He wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm sorry, Emily."

"I'll get help, I promise," Emily whispered. He stroked her hair.

"Everything's going to be fine," he promised her.

"I don't want to be sick."

"You're not sick," he kissed her, "not badly sick. You're a sick we can fix. I shouldn't have pushed you away from therapy. I should have thought of what you needed right from the start. But we'll get on track now and everything's going to be okay."

He hugged her tight and laid back down in bed with her. He kissed the top of her head and never wanted to let her go.

"It wasn't suicide," he heard her mutter softly. "It was an accident."

"Don't worry about that, Em."

"I promise…"

"I believe you."


	156. The Doctor Reaches Kevin

Kevin poked at his dinner with his fork. He wasn't very hungry. He was the last one left at the table after dinner. Everyone else had gone their own ways for the night.

His schedule normally didn't allow him to sit at the table, but after dinner was always personal time. He could do whatever he wanted and right now he wanted to sit at the table, play with his food, and think.

Mia walked into the kitchen at this point carrying a bag and there was a big smile on her face.

"Where did you go?"

"Shopping with Serena," Mia smiled. "Dr. Fletcher wants me to take some time to do the stuff I like, and Serena needed to get out of the house so she wasn't tempted to take care of Emily."

"You're listening to whacko doctor?"

"Stop calling him that," Mia took a seat across from Kevin, "You're still working on dinner? Isn't it cold by now?"

"What did you buy?" Kevin didn't want to talk about himself. He changed the subject. Mia's smile returned to her face. She grabbed the bag and lifted it onto the table.

"You're going to think it's cute," she said as she pulled out what appeared to be a stuffed animal. A lamb, to be more specific. Kevin furrowed his brows and shot her a puzzled look.

"A stuffed animal? Really?"

Mia smirked. She flipped the lamp around and pulled on the Velcro on his back, lifting up some of his fluff. She then pulled down a zipper and reached inside. Kevin was slightly disturbed as he watched.

"Vegans and vegetarians beware…"

Mia pulled out a bag from the lamp, "You can microwave it. The lamb warms up and stays warm for up to five hours… I think…" she walked over to the microwave and stuck the bag inside, "We're going to give it to Emily."

"We?"

"Serena and I both paid for it," Mia answered with a nod. "She'll need it now to warm up, and a lamb isn't a threatening animal. It might help with her fear of warmth. It and the therapist. She's agreed to see him."

"Good for her."

"How did your session go today?"

"I didn't have a session. He and I just talked."

"However you want to put it," Mia shrugged. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"He's going to make me team leader."

It was Mia's turned to look confused, "Why?"

"He thinks there's something wrong with me. I think he's just trying to get me to fail at something."

"What do you mean?"

"He asked me if I was a perfectionist and why I needed to be perfect at everything. I told him that's just who I am but I guess he's not happy with it."

"You are a bit of a perfectionist," Mia nodded her head in agreement with the doctor, "You could maybe work on it a little."

"Seriously, Mia?"

"Yes. He's going to tell you stuff you don't want to hear. That's his job."

"His job should be to treat the real whack jobs of the world," Kevin muttered. "Somewhere, in our very city, there's some crazy person walking around the streets. He's a danger to himself and others. Meanwhile, doctor freaky is here working on us. We don't need his help."

"Kevin…"

"There's nothing wrong with me, Mia."

"He's not saying…"

"I'll prove him wrong. I can be perfect!"

"You're not…"

"I'll lead this team and I'll be better than Jayden. Future generations will have blue as leader, not red. You'll see!"

Mia shook her head and rolled her eyes, "You're missing the point entirely, Kevin."

"Serena called him here for Emily. You can do whatever you want with him while he's here, Mia, but don't force me to have another talk with him. I don't want him and I don't need him."

The microwave beeped and Mia reached in for the heated bag. As she pulled it out, she looked over at Kevin.

"I'm sorry you don't get it, Kevin. And for your sake, I hope you're right. I hope you don't need him, because if you do, you're really missing out and I don't want to see you get hurt."

She stuffed the bag inside the lamb and closed the animal up. Kevin watched her.

"Mia…"

"Therapy isn't just for freaks, Kevin. It's not just for crazy people, people with problems, or people you think are weird. Therapy is for everyone. You're not crazy for going. Seeing a doctor doesn't mean you have a problem."

"Yes, it does."

"It's called a checkup, Kevin. You go to your doctor for a checkup to make sure you're healthy even when you don't feel like there's anything wrong with you. It's the same thing."

"I know my own head, Mia."

"If you did, you'd realise it's your fault, not the doctor's, that Emily's in bed sick."

Kevin's face turned red, "That's a lie."

"You knew she wouldn't see him unless we all went. You still refused. It was one hour of your time, Kevin!"

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that."

"You could have prevented this!"

"I don't have to see the whacko doctor if I don't want to."

Mia cried out in frustration and clutched the lamb tightly in her hand, "You're a self-centered ass, Kevin."

"You're not being fair! Why is it my fault she drowned herself? Why am I suddenly responsible for her well-being?"

"Suddenly?" Mia growled. "You've known her for over a year and you think this has happened all of a sudden? If you and her switched places, she'd have gladly seen the doctor for you. We all would have!"

"I still don't get why I'm responsible for her health. It's not my fault she's got problems. I didn't kidnap her. I didn't light her on fire. I didn't drown her in the tub!"

"You're her friend. She asked you for help and you said no."

"She didn't ask for my help. She said she didn't want to go."

"Whatever," Mia rolled her eyes and bumped Kevin's shoulder as she walked past him. "Do whatever the hell you want, Kevin. I don't care anymore. She's agreed to see him now so I guess it doesn't matter anymore."

"You're not being fair, Mia."

"Maybe I'll take a page from your book and not give a damn."

Kevin groaned, frustrated. He dropped his fork on his plate and shook his head. He heard footsteps in the room and looked to see who it was.

"You're right. She's not being fair."

He glared at Timothy, "Are you everywhere?"

"You could have shouted a little louder," Timothy shrugged, "There's a deaf guy across town who didn't quite catch that last part."

"But you agree with me? She's not being fair?"

"You're not responsible for what Emily chooses to do," Timothy nodded. "It's unfair to you to blame you for her mistakes."

"Keep talking like this and maybe I might like you."

Timothy took a seat, "I'm no relationship expert, but maybe you need to think about why she's saying these things. Is she doing it just to make you feel bad about what happened? Or is there more to what she's saying. Sometimes, people have a hard time expressing their thoughts and feelings."

"Mia's not one of those people."

"Sometimes, people have a hard time understanding the thoughts and feelings of others," Timothy said. "Do you know why I was called here?"

"To help Emily."

"Emily could have come to me for help," Timothy shook his head. "I do have an office, and it would have saved me driving all the way out here."

"Why are you here then?"

"Well, from what I heard, when Emily was offered therapy, she suggested you all take part. I haven't spoken to her yet, but I hear she's been through hell. You were all right there with her."

"So?"

"There was a kidnapping incident with a Nighlok… Derek?"

"Dekker."

"Your fiancée was the first victim. You must have been panicked. Out of your mind with worry."

"I got over that."

"Do we ever really get over what's happened to us in the past? What about the reason I'm here? You were a hero when you saw that cottage burning. I heard you and Jayden rushed in and saved Emily and Jayden's friend."

"Yeah."

"Must have been terrifying when you weren't sure you'd get them out in time. Or when you thought they were dead."

"I managed to keep a cool head. I had to."

"It must have been hard."

"A little bit. I did worry. When CPR wasn't working, I thought I was too late. I could have run faster or started CPR the minute I got her out of the house. I thought I wasn't good enough."

"And when Mia was kidnapped?"

"I should have listened to her," Kevin lowered his head. "She had this theory about Dekker and we all thought she was nuts. She gave us the silent treatment because she got mad. When she stepped outside, he hurt her and took off with her. If I had just believed her or if I had just kept a closer eye on her… that never should have happened."

"You've been through hard times too. You've had your own hardships, and you've suffered through the hardships of your friends. From what I've been told, Emily was the first to realise you all needed help. I was called because Serena wanted help for her sister, but I'm here because Emily's looking after you."

"She… she is?"

"How else can you explain it? Kevin, I don't create problems. I notice them and I do my best to help you fix them. If you really don't think you have a problem, I'll leave you alone. If you want to prove me wrong, or if you just want to stop by for a checkup, I'll be here for another little while. You can always talk to me, about anything. I love discussing the weather and I love being able to help you understand yourself a little better."

"I'll consider it," Kevin said. "Can I still be leader?"

"I'm waiting for you to take command," Timothy nodded. "A leader doesn't wait to be called upon. He steps up when he's needed."

"Thanks, doc," Kevin picked up his plate, "By the way, would you mind telling Mia she was wrong to accuse me. She won't listen to me if I tell her. You know how women are."

"If you admit to your mistakes first, maybe it'll encourage her to admit to hers. Tell her you're not perfect and sometimes you mess up."

"I'm not perfect?"

"No one is perfect, Kevin. The more you try, the more unhappy you'll be. That's what I tried to tell you earlier. Accept yourself for who you are. You're good at some things, great at others, and terrible at all the rest. It's who you are. The minute you embrace that, you'll be happy."

"The very minute?"

The doctor chuckled, "Tell yourself, 'I tried my best, that's the best I can do and I accept that'."

"A mantra?"

"They work," Timothy nodded. "Mine is: you can't fix everyone, Tim, but never refuse to help those who come to you, no matter how hard their condition may be. Miracles do happen."

"That's a long mantra."

"I shorten it."

"To?"

"At least try to fix him, you idiot."

Kevin laughed, "I don't think a therapist should be calling himself an idiot. Or talking to himself for that matter."

"Whatever works," Timothy shrugged. "It's getting late, though. My door's always open, but be reasonable. I do like sleeping."

"Goodnight, doc."


	157. Therapy Helps

His time at the Shiba House was not easy, but it was definitely proving to be interesting.

Timothy loved his job. He loved studying the mind and figuring out why people did what they did. He loved being able to get inside their head and understanding how they justified their actions, good or bad. It was for that reason he fell into psychology, and his path was laid out for him there.

He had seen many different people in the years he had been working. He had seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. He had helped people who felt like they were going to die if someone didn't intervene to help because the trauma they were relieving was taking over their lives, and he had helped people who were just too stressed from everyday life and needed and ear to talk to.

But the mind of the Rangers was a special thing. These were heroes, but they were also still kids; kids who hadn't chosen this career path because they loved what they did. They were saving the world because it was what they had been born to do. Most of them, from an early age, had been preparing for this moment and knew nothing but the life of danger.

Jayden was an interesting case for that reason. The Shiba House was his home and the Samurai life was the only life he knew. His first taste of anything the rest of the world would consider normal only came when he and Mentor Ji took in the rest of the Samurai. Jayden had admitted to him that while he didn't regret all his years training and fighting, and he did wish his life had been a little more normal. He was only getting to experience some of the basic childhood pleasures now. Timothy's challenge with Jayden was getting him to loosen up when his friends were all having fun and to participate with them. As he put it to Jayden: "Go out, have a good time, be a little silly, do something a little embarrassing, come home and laugh about it."

Jayden was willing to try. But he was also focused on something else. It had come up when Antonio was first mentioned and Jayden did admit it bothered him greatly. His relationship with Antonio was completely different with everything out in the open. Jayden didn't feel completely comfortable around his best friend, whom he had recently learned had a crush on him. What bothered him the most was that he didn't want to feel uncomfortable. He wanted to go back to the relationship they had before he learned the truth.

"Don't focus on going back," Timothy had told him, "The past is the past, you can never go back. Accept that things are different and learn to live with those differences, or make changes you think need to be changed. You can have a strong and healthy relationship with Antonio once again, but it'll never happen if you keep looking back."

Jayden had a smile on his face as he heard this and he had thanked Timothy for his time. Timothy hadn't gotten the chance to see him again since, but when his patients left him on a good note and didn't come running back, he could only assume they no longer needed him and that left him with a good feeling that they were going to be okay.

Antonio had also been interesting to talk to. He was the only one who had chosen this life and boy was he excited about it. Timothy didn't have much to say to the gold Ranger that Antonio didn't, on some level, already know, so when he was told Antonio recently discovered he was gay, he wanted to work on helping the gold Ranger feel a little more comfortable with his identity outside of the house. He understood Antonio had a crush on Jayden but knew nothing was going to happen to pull their relationship beyond friendship. He encouraged Antonio to try, once, to flirt with someone while out in public. The flirting didn't need to be obvious. Kind smiles, if appropriate there could be a little touching, playful speech, anything would do as long as Antonio was expressing himself. The more he put himself out there and the more he got good responses, the more he was going to feel safe.

He did feel the need to remind Antonio that not everyone was accepting of homosexuality, but that was another session entirely, Timothy felt. But, for that reason, he suggested Antonio flirt when one of his friends were near. In case something went wrong, he had a friend to fall back on. Someone he knew who already accepted and cared for him regardless of who he loved.

Just like Jayden, Antonio left with a smile and the doctor hadn't seen him back since.

When Timothy had first seen Mia, she didn't know what to talk about. But Timothy always managed to find something. In her conversations, he noticed she was always inserting herself in as peacekeeper. Somewhat like Serena, but in a different form. She had told him how the others saw her as mommy and how she had always loved that role. She liked caring for other people, she liked being the level head when they were stressing out. She likes putting herself into their stressful lives and pulling them out. But Timothy seemed to notice something off about her. She never mentioned her own problems unless prompted. She never spoke about herself. He hadn't yet told her she needed to value herself more than she did, but he was working on getting up there. The impression he was getting from her was that she felt she always needed to put others before herself because her problems weren't ever as important. She was scared to face them and ask for help, and let them grow and grow until all she could do was ask for help. Even then, she felt bad for leaning on her friends. She would help them day after day, and when the time came for them to return the favour, she felt like she was being a burden to them.

He suggested she take time to herself. He thought if, from time to time, she did something for herself, a completely selfish moment, it could help her realise her problems, no matter the size, were always just as important as her friends' problems, and for her, they needed to be more important. She couldn't drop everything to help her friends when she was already trying to work through something.

Mia had promised to come back. Timothy was waiting patiently for her to do so.

Timothy had heard of Mike's reluctance to therapy and was surprised to hear he was the only Ranger who had seen a therapist before and the therapist had helped him. He couldn't understand why Mike had opposed to the idea at first, but was glad he had come around. Mike spoke to him of his rage and aggression and how it had recently surface. He had been more open and honest to Timothy than anyone had been. Mike knew therapy worked best that way. Timothy felt he knew _everything_ Mike had done.

He told him to do as his previous therapist had instructed. Anger and rage was going to be a part of his life forever, but he could control them. Timothy told Mike to step away when he felt he was getting angry. No matter the situation. When aggressing behaviour and violent thoughts flooded his mind, Mike needed to relax and breathe. He also reminded the green Ranger that every once in a while it was okay to want to punch someone. Everyone felt that need; it just took a little more restraint for Mike not to strike whoever was making him annoyed or angry. It was something that needed to be practice, but he had come so far already, Timothy was confident Mike didn't need his help anymore.

Then there was Serena. Timothy loved his sessions with Serena. Like Jayden, she had been born and raised for the Samurai life. She had more exposure to normal life than the red Ranger, but her upbringing had a heavy focus on her Ranger life. Then, when she fell ill, she had no choice but to do, what Timothy felt was the hardest thing to do: ask someone else to live your life. It was frustrating for so many reasons. Serena would lose control. She had to live her life through her sister, which, to Timothy, explained why she was so protective and controlling when it came to Emily.

For Serena, passing down her powers meant giving up her life. Her illness would kill her; there was nothing she could do about it except try to live out her final years as her sister. But Emily was a different person from Serena entirely. She couldn't do the things Serena did. She couldn't make the same choices Serena would have made. This caused frustration, which caused stress that, to this day, Serena still felt.

It was also a lot of pressure on Emily, who Timothy had yet to talk to. He believed everyone was aware of everything that was going on in their environment, they just chose what to focus on and ignore the rest. He felt Emily knew the pressure that had been put on her. When Serena passed the earth Samurai powers down to her, Emily wasn't getting a chance to be her own Samurai or her own Ranger. She had been told, even if it was subtly, that she needed to be her sister. Serena had been chosen because she was good enough. Emily hadn't, because she wasn't. But Emily wasn't Serena and never would be. The world would never have two people who were exactly the same in every way. The differences between the two sisters caused and inferiority complex with Emily. She wasn't ever going to be as good as her sister. No matter how hard she tried, Timothy was sure she would never ever fill her sister's shoes because they weren't her shoes to fill.

Serena's need to protect Emily was what Timothy wanted to address with Serena. He felt it wasn't Serena's fault she felt that way. She had been forced to help her father care for Emily when their mother took up her responsibilities as a Samurai. Serena had mentioned to him that she had taught Emily to walk and she had heard Emily's first words. She had changed diapers, given bathes, nursed the sick child, held her hand on the walk to her first day of school, played with her, and helped her with homework. In a way, Emily, to Serena, was something between a little sister and a daughter, and Serena had the mothering instincts of a bear. But, what Timothy understood, Emily had never been a graceful child. She hadn't found anything she was good at. As a child, she never found something that made her special. She lacked confidence, and, like every child, when that came into play and she needed help, she ran to whoever could help her. Most times, it was her big sister. But instead of fostering confidence and given Emily the chance to fight her own battles, Serena always jumped in. She could never let her sister go, and it only got worse as she fell ill. She didn't just want her sister, she needed Emily. She needed Emily, but she had convinced herself and Emily it was the other way around. Timothy wanted to work more with her.

Finally, the last person Timothy had seen was Kevin. He was a special case as well. Timothy was sure there was a real reason for Kevin to see a therapist. His upbringing had been similar to the Mike's, Mia's, and Serena's, but he had turned out much different. Being a Samurai wasn't just a part of his life, it was everything. And through the years of training, he had been taught, or he had taught himself, Timothy wasn't sure yet, that the only way he could be a good Samurai, was if he was the best. If he attained a level of skill so perfect that no one, not even the best, could attain. But that was impossible, and the fact that Kevin could never reach it would weigh heavily on his mind and cause frustration unless he learned to accept himself no matter where he stood on the totem pole. High, low, or middle.

Kevin was still a work in progress, and Timothy hoped he would come back.

He walked into the common room and saw the others were up eating breakfast. He decided to sit back, a little out of sight, and watch them. The more he learned, the better, and Mentor Ji had given him full permission to observe.

He smiled when he heard a comment from Kevin.

"I know I'm normally training at this time," he said to Antonio, who had noticed Kevin was sitting with everyone instead of training in the dojo, "but one missed session won't kill me. Besides, it'll give you a chance to catch up."

"Ha-ha," Antonio laughed and tossed a small piece of bacon at Kevin. It bounced off his forehead and fell on the floor. Kevin reached down to pick it up but a tongue beat him to it.

"What the…?" he noticed the tongue was attached to a dog and laughed. Scruffy loved bacon.

"Look who I found," Serena smiled as she walked into the room, her arm wrapped around Emily's shoulders which were draped with a blanket to keep her warm. From where Timothy was sitting, Emily looked like she had made a full recovery and was now ready to get back to her normal life. He just wished Serena would let her get up and walk by herself.

"How are you feeling?" Jayden asked her as Emily took a seat.

"Confused."

"That's not good."

Emily shook her head, "I'm still scared of hot, but I don't want to be cold either…"

"Ah," Jayden chuckled. "I'm sure you'll find a middle ground."

"And Dr. Fletcher can help you with that," Kevin said with a smile to Emily. "He and I had a talk and turns out, he's pretty good at what he does. You should sit down with him."

"You talked to him?" Emily asked. "I thought you said he was the whacko doctor and you weren't a whacko."

"I was a whacko for thinking I couldn't benefit… and a total dick for not realising you were counting on me."

Emily furrowed her brow but Kevin turned to Mia. He hadn't yet apologized to her for what happened the night before (and slept on the dreaded couch as a result), but he was ready to apologize now.

"That stick shoved up my ass… that might actually be my head."

Mia glanced over to him with a small smile as he apologized.

"You were right, Mia, even if I didn't think I needed to see the therapist, I guess I should have done so to show Emily it's okay to be a little weird."

"I'm sorry too," Mia nodded. "Last night I said something I guess I shouldn't have and you were right, it wasn't fair."

"This is so scripted," Mike looked around the room, "Where's the camera?"

Mia and Kevin exchanged looks before he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her in close. Emily watch them for a moment, confused.

"I don't get it."

"Doesn't matter," Mia chuckled, "We heard you decided to see Dr. Fletcher anyways?"

Emily opened her blanket slightly and showed Mia the lamb, "I don't know. He's doing a really good job helping me."

"Glad to hear it. You're still having a talk with him, right?" Serena asked.

Emily nodded, "Yeah, eventually."

"Eventually?" Jayden frowned.

"You guys all came to see me last night, remember?" Emily smirked, "And you all talked to me about your sessions… well except Kevin."

"We played tic-tac-toe," Kevin smiled proudly.

"Either way, given what you guys told me, you're all a bunch of nuts," Emily giggled. "Some of you need more help than I do."

"How much did we share?" Antonio frowned.

"Enough," Emily smirked.

Eyes darted around the room.

"You're bluffing," Mike said.

Emily shook her head and pointed around the room, "Whack-job, whack-job, whack-job, whack-job, whack-job, whack-job, and Scruffy."

Truth be told, they had all talked briefly about their session in an effort to convince Emily to see the doctor. She knew a bit, but not much. She just wanted to tease them.

"Emily," Antonio said kindly, but it was obviously just a mask, "Can you run?"

"Yeah, I… uh oh!" she cried laughingly as Antonio jumped out of his stool and came after her. She got up, nearly falling in the process, and ran as fast as she could away from him. But she tired quickly and Antonio was much faster than she was. He grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder.

"One word and I'll throw you out into the snow!"

"Serena, Mike!" Emily laughed, "Help!"

"Antonio," Serena sighed and shook her head. She was about to rescue her sister then stopped. She laughed, "it's cold out. Let her get a jacket on first."

"Right," Antonio nodded, "We don't want her to freeze. Come on, Emily; let's get your coat, hat, mittens, and scarf on first. Then we'll dump you in the snow."

"You forgot snow pants," Mike called as Antonio walked to the front door.

Antonio turned around, "You know, this sounds too complicated," he walked to the couch and dumped her there. He then lightly smacked her face with a pillow, "There."

"You're mean," Emily giggled.


	158. Those Three Words

The winter, as he predicted, was bitterly cold.

Dekker could travel many places. There were gaps everywhere and portals to and from the Netherworld could open up in the coldest and warmest places on Earth. All Dekker needed to do was use them.

And for centuries he had. When the seasons were too cold for him to bear, he would travel to the other side of the world, where it was warmer, and live there. He didn't have much and couldn't afford clothing to cover himself up. He couldn't afford a home for shelter and he certainly wasn't going to take a spot at the homeless shelter. Even in his cruelest days, he wouldn't have been so selfish because he had an escape.

But this year was different. The snow fell, covering the ground in a frozen blanket. He shivered constantly and rarely could he find shelter from the wind, but there was no place he would rather be.

He sat up in a tree, on the lowest branch, a few yards away from the Shiba Home. He would protect Serena and his child at all costs and he couldn't do that from one of the warmer countries this time of year. He needed to keep his eye on her. He needed to stay here.

One thought that distracted him from the cold was the memory of meeting his unborn child for the first time. He would never forget the way Serena's stomach felt as it carried and protected his growing son. He would never forget the look on her face when he whispered he loved his son. He had caught it, unbeknownst to her. He had seen the look of shock and love that had barely lasted a second, but was strong enough to give him hope that maybe he could have a family.

He remembered the way she didn't kick him out of the house after her had kissed her cheek. Now he was wishing he had tried for more. Now he was wishing he had given her a real kiss.

He saw a figure walk across the Shiba yard, but with so many people residing in one house, he couldn't tell right away who it was. The Samurai then left the yard. Dekker stood up on the branch. He hated when a Samurai was on their own. They risked getting into trouble. He always watched over them, no matter who it was and he wouldn't let anything happen to them, but he wished they would just follow their own rule and stay with a buddy.

Dekker jumped from one tree to another, trying not to make any noise. The fact that the leaves had fallen and the branches were thick helped quite a bit with the silence, but not so much for staying out of sight. Still, he managed to duck into the shadows as he approached the Samurai to get a better look and who it was.

"Serena," he smiled when he recognised her. He decided this was his chance. Every time he saw her, he was going to try to get a little closer.

He jumped down from the tree and into the snow. He chased after her.

"Serena!" he called her and she stopped in her tracks. She turned to face him.

"What do you want?"

"About the other day…"

"No," Serena shook her head, "I haven't gotten the chance to talk to anyone about that yet, Dekker, I…" she trailed off when she noticed he was shivering. She knew he had no place to go and was likely living in the cold. "Dekker, you're freezing."

"It's nothing," Dekker said.

Serena looked back at the house and then sighed loudly, "There's a coffee shop in town. It'll warm you up."

She reached into her pocket and pulled out some change, "It's all I have but take it."

"All you have?" Dekker shook his head and refused, "I'm sorry, Serena, I won't take it. You need it…"

"I start work next week. I'll make money and I'll be fine. I don't need this, take it."

"Serena…"

"Take it."

Dekker shook his head, "Come with me, please."

"Is that what you said to Emily when you…" Serena trailed off again and sighed, "Sorry… it's just… after what you did… She's inside working with a therapist. I trust everything's okay but I can hear her crying and…"

"You are not protecting her?"

"It's part of my homework not to."

"You are not in school."

"The therapist thinks she's overprotected by me especially. I have to let her fall."

"She'll get hurt."

"He knows what he's doing. Emily will be fine. I just… I can't listen to it."

"Then come with me for coffee," Dekker placed the change back in her hand. "We need to talk."

"Not until I tell someone else what you did," Serena shook her head. "I don't know what to do and I need help."

"I can help you."

"You want me back! But I can't do it again. It's a vicious cycle, Dekker. If I take you back, I'll piss off Dayu. She'll either come for me or she'll go after Emily. Either way, something bad will happen, you'll lose it, you'll turn into a monster and we'll have to break up. Then Dayu will be pissed because she wants the baby, she'll come after our son and… I'm not doing that again, Dekker!"

Dekker pulled Serena into his arms when he noticed tears starting to fall from her eyes. He held her gently.

"Dayu won't hurt you…"

"She already has," Serena muttered. She pulled away from Dekker, "Just go warm up, Dekker. You've done enough. I love you, but I can't take you…" she stopped. She took a breath. She realised what she had said. Dekker heard it too. He was smiling. Serena was terrified. Her breathing turned shaky, she stumbled backwards, away from him.

"I love you too," he whispered. He reached out for her hand. She moved further away.

"Don't touch me."

"Serena…"

"Leave me alone!" she screamed. She turned to run. Dekker watched her go beyond the gate and back into the house.

He knew this was a step forward, but in many ways, he felt like he had taken a step back.

-Samurai-

Serena ran into the house in a panic. She didn't know where to go or what to do. Fortunately, she bumped into Mentor Ji. She almost bounced off and fell to the ground, but he caught her. He noticed her distressed state and held her warmly.

"Serena, it's okay."

"I don't love him."

Mentor frowned. He thought she was upset because of Emily so her words made no sense.

"Who don't you love?"

"But I said it… I… I… I don't know… I…"

"Who, Serena? Who don't you love? What happened?"

"He's outside. He brought Emily home and I let him… I… he… I shouldn't have… he…"

"Shh," Mentor whispered and stroked her hair gently as he held her. Jayden walked by at that moment and looked to see what was going on. Mentor gestured for Jayden to take over for him, so Jayden wrapped his arms around Serena and comforted her while Mentor grabbed his jacket.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Only one person could have done this," Ji growled. He left the house, slamming the door behind him.


	159. Emily's First Session

Mentor Ji didn't have to go very far before he ran into Dekker. He had given the monster a chance when he first saw signs that Dekker could be saved, but now he had crossed a line. Not only had Dekker threatened Mentor Ji's adoptive son, whom he loved more than anything, but now he was emotionally torturing Serena and it had to stop.

He grabbed Dekker by the shoulder and spun him around. Before Dekker could see who he was he felt a sharp pain in the center of his face. He groaned loudly, stumbling backwards as he grabbed his nose in his hand.

"The best thing you can do for her now is leave," Mentor shouted. "Leave her and the rest of my Samurai alone or you will have to deal with me."

"You?" Dekker scoffed. "The old man? You never leave your house. You've been watching the Ranger trains! What makes you think you can challenge a warrior like me?"

"You have a wife who loves you," Mentor growled. "Go back to her. Stop trying to win Serena back. It'll never work."

"She told me she loved me," Dekker wiped the blood from his nose and winced. It hurt like hell. "She said it first. We were having a conversation and…"

"Let her go."

"She has my child."

"That's just an excuse for you, isn't it?" Mentor frowned. "An excuse for you to get close. You think you can get her back but you can't! She's scared of you, Dekker."

"She was not scared around me."

"I should have never let you in my home…"

"I've saved her life! I've saved the life of many of your Rangers."

"You've also put them all in danger," Mentor Ji growled. "As long as I live and breathe you will never lay eyes upon any of the Samurai. If you so much as glance in their direction…"

"You'll what?" Dekker stood over Mentor Ji. He was slightly taller but Mentor wasn't threatened. He grabbed Dekker by the shirt and rammed him into a tree trunk.

"Keep away from my children or your blood will stain this snow before your son enters this world."

"And if Serena chooses to see me?"

"Influence her in any way and I'll make sure your death is slow and painful."

"This coming from a man who calls himself a mentor."

"My Samurai team comes first," Ji threw Dekker into the snow, "I'd kill for them. Any of them."

Mentor turned around. He needed to walk away before he did something he'd regret. Dekker pushed himself up and brushed the snow from his body.

"I love her. I can't turn that off. You can't change the way I feel."

Mentor shook his head. He continued walking, "Just ignore him, Ji. Go home."

-Samurai-

Timothy smiled. He was extremely proud.

"You're doing great, now hold this."

He placed a long stick in her hand. Thanks to Jayden, there was a decent sized fire in the center of her bedroom and warm enough to heat up the room. Timothy could feel the sweat dripping down his body. He had a tight hold of Emily as he kept her near the fire. She was in tears and begging for her session to end, just as he expected. She was also trying to pull away from him to run, but he wouldn't let her go. Mike had told him about the code he had put in place when he was helping Emily, and Timothy decided he would use it as well. Emily was fighting, begging and screaming for the therapy to stop, but she hadn't said the code word. A little voice in Timothy's head worried that she was so distraught she forgot what it was, but he was fairly confident she was fine.

Emily wouldn't hold the stick he was trying to give her, so he held her hand in his and then made her hold onto the stick. Together, they dipped the stick in the fire. After a moment, the tip began to burn.

"Let me go…"

"You're doing better than expected, Emily," he encouraged her, "I know it's scary, but the fire hasn't burned you yet."

"I'm hot. I'm too hot," Emily shook her head. "Stop it, I can't breathe."

"In and out," he reminded her, "You're okay."

"I can't do it. I can't… I don't… please stop!"

"You're doing so well, Emily. Just a few…"

The fire started to burn down the stick and got closer and closer to Emily's hand.

"Grinch!" she shouted and Timothy let her go. She dropped the stick and fell to her knees. Her body was trembling. She was crying hard.

Timothy picked up the water pail from the corner of the room and threw it over the fire.

"That was amazing, Emily. We managed to stay in front of the fire for ten minutes."

Emily didn't respond. She curled up into a ball and buried her face in her arms to cry. Timothy knelt down beside her and gently rubbed her back.

"You aren't going to be cured overnight, but you've made wonderful progress. I think, tomorrow, I can take you to my special place."

"Serena and Mike…?"

"Can't come with us, I'm sorry, Emily," Timothy shook his head. He wanted Emily to do this on her own, "I'm afraid they're both busy."

"I don't want to go. I was wrong; I don't want to do this," she sniffled. "I don't like fire and I don't like the cold. You won't let Serena come near me when I need her and you're keeping me and Mike away from each other."

"You did great without them, Emily. You don't need them."

"I do!" Emily screamed. She jumped up and was about to run when Timothy grabbed her arm. He pulled her back down.

"Emily, there's still a few minutes left."

"Leave me alone!"

"There will be no more fire. You need to cool off naturally and you can do so while we talk."

"No!"

"I won't do anything to scare you, Emily."

"Grinch!" Emily screamed. Timothy sighed loudly and let go of her arm. Emily took off like a rocket for the door and jumped into Mike's arms. He had been waiting in the hallways for the entire session. He caught her and held her tight.

Timothy walked up to them. He gave Mike a smile, "Right up until the end she did great."

"Maybe you should do this again tomorrow?" Mike suggested and looked down at Emily. She shook her head and buried her face in his chest.

"I want him to go away."

"I was thinking of taking her out tomorrow," Timothy offered.

Mike looked down at Emily then back at Timothy, "Maybe not tomorrow."

"Another ten minutes in front of the fire, I guess," Timothy was a little disappointed, but understood the point Mike was making. He was sure Emily could handle his surprise, but only when she was ready. Given the way this session had ended, he was starting to doubt she was ready. He touched her back, at which she flinched. He pulled his hand away and leaned in closer. Gently and calmly he whispered: "I'll see you again tomorrow. You'll do so much better, I know it."

"I hate you."

"I'm proud of you. You're so much stronger than I thought you were."

He gave Mike a smile then set off to the common room to see if there was anyone else who wanted to speak with him today.

Mike kissed the top of Emily's head, "I don't know what happened in there, Em, but I'm proud of you too. It takes a lot of guts to face your fears. Why don't we go pick up a celebratory pizza for dinner? You get ready and I'll join you in a minute."

Emily clutched Mike's hand as he tried to leave. He flashed her a smile and got her to let go.

"Just a minute, Em."

He raced down the hall and caught up to Timothy.

"Dude, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"You can have an hour if you'd like."

"No, not like that. It's about Emily."

"You're not sitting in the room with her, Mike," Timothy shook his head.

"I know, I know. That's not what I'm asking," Mike answered. Timothy had made his instructions clear to the rest of the house before starting his session with Emily. For the full hour, no one was to come to Emily's aid. No one was to step in, no one could interrupt, and there was absolutely no rescuing her at any time unless the situation was actually life or death, inside or outside of her therapy hour. Mike didn't like not being able to protect Emily, but he trusted Timothy knew what he was doing and didn't question it. The doctor had also said the exercise was meant for everyone else as well (his eyes fell on Serena especially as he said this), and that if they failed, they would be letting Emily down, and letting themselves down. Mike didn't want to disappoint anyone.

"Then what are you asking?"

"Tutoring."

"Are you thinking of taking classes in…"

"School?" Mike scoffed, "Pfft, no way! I meant for Emily. You're doing a great job, but there's one thing you lack: comfort. She's only just met you and you're already getting her to face her fears. She doesn't trust you enough. Would it be okay if I helped her out a little? She and I are celebrating with pizza. Maybe I could light a few candles and maybe I could convince her to light a few. Just to help her get used to being around fire again before you throw her back into the flames tomorrow."

"I don't know. She depends on you quite a bit for protection…"

"That might be my fault," Mike sighed, "but look, when I do this, I'll follow your rules. I'll keep a good distance and encourage her. I won't protect her, but being near me might help her a little."

"I guess there is no harm in trying," Timothy nodded his head, "but regardless of her outcome with you tonight, tomorrow she will be alone with me."

"I get it, dude. I really do. She's just better at one on one, and better with people she knows. I think I can convince her that fire's okay; I just need to work with her on my own. It's a onetime thing, I swear."

"I am impressed with how much you've helped her already," Timothy smiled. "Not many patients can handle exposing themselves that much in their first session. In normal cases, I would have started with a picture of a flame."

"So I can do it?"

"Go for it. Just remember, the more you try to protect her, the further back you'll send her."

"Tough love," Mike nodded.

"I know it's hard to believe, but this is harder for you than it is for her. If she starts to panic she will scream, she will cry, she'll do anything to get you to give in. But if you do…"

"I'm only hurting her. I get it."

"I like to start with ten minute exposures," Timothy smiled. "If she does panic, wait ten minutes, blow out the candles, and praise her achievements. If you do it correctly and I see progress, you and I will help her work her way up."

"Thanks, doc. You won't regret it."

"When she is comfortable in the ten minute mark, I will take her out for my surprise."

"Sounds fair."

-Samurai-

Jayden couldn't believe his ears.

"You told him you loved him?"

Serena nodded. She was curled up on her bed, clutching the baby blanket to her chest. Her crying and panic had ceased for now and she was explaining to Jayden what had happened.

"It slipped out."

"Did you mean it?"

"I…"

"Serena," Jayden groaned. He knew her tone; he knew that expression on her face. She was falling in love again, "You're going to get hurt."

"I know," she nodded, "That's why I panicked. I… Can I tell you something?"

"It can't be worse than telling me you love Dekker."

"I let him in."

"What do you mean?"

"He brought Emily home the other day. She had gotten into a fight with Mike and ran out in that snow storm. Dekker brought her back. This was right before she got hypothermia, actually."

"It's better finding her in the tub that dead outside," Jayden shrugged. "So what, Serena? He brought her back. He's not going to hurt us because he loves you."

"He asked to touch my stomach and I let him."

Jayden's jaw dropped, "You're an idiot!"

"He saved Emily, he played the pity card…"

"You should have said no and slammed the door in his face! Serena…"

"It's his child…"

"Only by blood," Jayden shook his head. "Trust me; adoptive fathers can be just as good as real fathers. If you let Dekker back into your life, you're letting him into your son's life. You can barely protect yourself against Dekker, how the hell do you think you can protect your son?"

"Dekker says he won't hurt him…"

"Dekker also said he wouldn't hurt you. Look at you now! You're going to get yourself killed, and you're going to get your son killed too. Is that what you want?"

"He wasn't lying."

"You are not seeing him again," Jayden growled. "You're not letting him into this house. You're not going to talk to him if he approaches you. You will not help him if he's in trouble."

"Jayden!"

"You can't see him anymore, Serena! A clean break, that's what you need!"

Serena scoffed, "You're not the boss of me."

"I'm trying to protect you. You obviously can't protect yourself."

"My son needs a father."

"And you think Dekker's the right man for the job? This so-called father has kidnapped and beaten nearly every person in this house! You included! His psychotic wife is following in his footsteps, and you want to let that into your life? Your son's life?"

"Screw you, Jayden," Serena rolled her eyes. She crawled off the bed, baby blanket in hand. "I don't have to take this."

"Where are you going?"

"To find Dekker."

"Serena, get back here!" Jayden called after her. She stepped out of the room and he followed, "Serena, I'm serious!"

Serena kept walking. Jayden ran after her. He caught up to her in the hallway. She was putting on her jacket and boots.

"Serena, please stop and think about what you're doing," he begged her.

"What are you doing?"

Serena and Jayden looked down the hallway. Emily was sitting in one of the chairs with her jacket and shoes on. She seemed to be waiting for someone. Neither Jayden nor Serena had seen her when they walked by.

"What are you doing, Emy?" Serena asked.

"Mike promised me pizza. I'm waiting for him to get ready," Emily said. "Where are you going?"

"Out."

"Will you be home later?" Emily asked. "After dinner, I want to tell you about therapy."

"Tell me now. How did it go?"

"After dinner," Emily shook her head as Mike walked down the hall, ready to leave. He took her by the hand and smiled at Serena and Jayden.

"Despite whatever she said, her session went well," he told them proudly. "She did freak out, but she made it ten minutes in front of the fire."

"That was a good size fire, too," Jayden smirked, "Wow, Em, good job."

"I don't want to go back."

"But she will," Mike wrapped his arm around her. "She will and she'll do better. I know it."

"Can we talk later, Serena?" Emily asked.

Jayden looked over to Serena and answered for her, "I don't know. Serena might be out for a while, Em…"

"I'll be home," Serena shook her head. "We'll talk after your dinner."

"It might be a couple of hours."

"I'll be here," Serena assured them. "Go have fun. You earned it."

"Love you."

"Love you too," Serena said as Emily and Mike walked out the door. Jayden looked to her when they were gone.

"You changed your mind?"

"You try leaving that," Serena groaned and pulled off her jacket. "I don't know how mom did it."

"You would have come back, I'm sure."

"When I found him… or if I couldn't find him," Serena nodded, "but… maybe you're right. We've been through so much. If I can't protect myself from Dekker I shouldn't be going after him. I shouldn't have to protect myself from him. I should be more like Emily."

"What do you mean?"

"I should find someone who'll look after me. Someone I trust completely. Someone who'll take me out for pizza and be proud of me."

"Do you still love Dekker?"

"I always will," Serena answered Jayden honestly, "But I need to be able to trust him before I let him back in."

Jayden let out a loud sigh and then wrapped his arms around Serena, "Maybe one day he and you can be together. But for now, it's not a good idea."

"Single parent. Sounds fun," Serena replied sarcastically.

"You're not a single parent," Jayden smiled to her, "We're all here. We're all helping."

"I know. Thanks."


	160. New Record

Emily carried the pizza box and two plates from the kitchen to her bedroom. She didn't think she and Mike needed the plates, but for some reason Mike did. Emily wondered why, he was usually one to eat pizza right from the box, but didn't question it and did as he asked.

"We should start eating before the pizza gets…" Emily dropped the box and the plates as she entered the room and saw there were candles lit up everywhere; on the desk, on the dresser, on the night tables, on books on the bed, on the floors, on shelves. Anything that looked capable of holding a candle had a candle. She looked at Mike with a hard glare as he came out of the bathroom, "Don't do this…"

"It's romantic."

"No, it's not," she looked around the room again. In some ways, this was worse than the flame Dr. Fletcher had made her stand by. The candles, while they were all just little flames, filled the room. Every single space seemed like it was on fire, and it was.

"You're mean. You… you planned this."

"I would never hurt you, Em," Mike assured her. He leaned over and picked up the pizza box and the plates. Fortunately neither had been smashed or damaged when Emily dropped them. "Just sit with me, please."

Emily shook her head as tears started to drip down her face. Mike found it hard to keep pushing her, but he remembered what the doctor said. This was harder for him than her, and if he gave into her, he was only going to hurt her.

"You're doing great," he smiled to her, "How about you move away from the door and do great on the floor?"

"I want my sister…"

"Serena's probably busy," Mike shook his head. He set the pizza and the plates down in the middle of the room and walked over to Emily. He took her hand and tugged gently, "C'mon. You're okay."

"Mia…"

"She's busy. Emily, they're all busy. You don't need them here, there's no danger."

Mike gently pulled and led her to the middle of the room. He got her to take a seat and then he sat across from her. Emily shifted over to him but he shifted away. She whimpered and it broke his heart to hear, but he remembered what the doctor said and knew he had to do this.

"You're fine, Em. Just remember to breathe."

"Help."

Mike winced. He had to turn away from her. Timothy hadn't been kidding when he said Emily was going to try everything.

"You don't need help," he told her. "You're doing great."

"No," Emily shook her head, "I can't do it, I…"

Mike snuck a glance at his watch. She only had a few more minutes. He smiled and then took a slice of pizza. He figured if he acted like nothing was wrong, she would follow.

"Mike…"

"You're fine," he reminded her.

"No I'm not…"

"Emily, you've been in this room for seven minutes and nothing's happened," he told her. "Relax. You're okay."

"No…"

"Close your eyes, it'll be over before you know it. Or here," he held up a slice of pizza for her, "Eat this. By the time you're done, you'll be calm."

Emily stared at the pizza. Mike put it down on a plate and offered it to her.

"Mmm," he smiled, "If you don't eat it, I will."

She glanced down at the pizza. She was hungry but she couldn't think with the fire all around her. Mike stole a pepperoni.

"C'mon, Em. Take a bite. Nothing's going to happen."

He heard the beep of his watch, indicating the top of the hour and the end of Emily's ten minutes. But she was doing so well he wanted to push it. It wasn't the doctor's orders, but he knew it would help.

"Take a bite," he encouraged her again. Her body shook as she stared at the pizza, but she finally took a bite. Mike glanced down again at the clock.

"Eleven minutes. Em, you beat your score from earlier!" he cried happily as he hugged her, "And you didn't panic."

He got up and started blowing out the candles. He really wished he had Jayden or Mia's powers so he could put out all the flames at once with pure will or a good gust of wind, but he had to do them one by one.

"Never do that again."

"Don't be that way, Emily," he said to her, "Look, you did it. You stayed calm and you lasted eleven minutes. The doctor said you could only do ten."

He blew out a candle. There were still two in the corner that were lit, but they were behind Emily. She didn't even notice them. He flicked on the lights and smiled, "And you did it without help. You did it by yourself. It wasn't that bad, and the fire didn't hurt you, right?"

Emily shook her head, "It could have."

"It could have done a lot of things," Mike agreed, "but it didn't. There was no danger and you managed to stay calm. I'm so impressed and so proud of you, Emily," he kissed the side of her head, "You can do it again tomorrow, right? With the doctor and only one flame?"

"I don't…"

"You can," Mike nodded. "Don't doubt yourself, Em."

"Can you come with me?"

"You don't need me," he smiled. "You did this without me."

"You were…"

"Dr. Fletcher's going to be doing the same thing I did with you. You have to trust him like you trust me, okay? I know it's hard, but if anyone can do it, it's you," Mike pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight; "You have to do this, okay, Em? We don't want what happened yesterday to happen again, right?"

"I…"

"You were running away from the warmth?" Mike asked her, "Is that what you did in the tub? Like that time Mia and I found you with the shower running cold water?"

Emily nodded her head slowly, "I was starting to feel warm and… I'm sorry."

Mike sighed, "I was so scared, Em. You were just lying there… I thought you were already dead."

"Mentor said I hit my head."

"The best sound I heard you make was a cough when I pulled you out of the water. Do you remember that?"

Emily shook her head, "Not really."

"You were barely conscious, I guess," he sighed. "I pulled your head out of the water and then started to drain the tub. I got you out of the water and you were freezing cold. Like ice. I was so scared I was going to lose you."

"I'm sorry."

Mike looked down at her, "In the building, Em, when Dekker and Dayu kidnapped you, that was the only time the fire was ever going to hurt you. Every other time, you've only been scared because you let yourself think you were in danger. You have to remember that you're not. You have to take the chance to look around and see what is actually dangerous.

"Okay…"

"Do it right now, Em. Are you in danger?"

Emily shook her head, "No."

"Look around, Em. Look around the room. Are you in danger?"

Emily glanced around quickly, "No."

"Look again."

She looked again, "No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Absolutely sure?"

"Yeah."

"There's nothing to worry about? Nothing that might hurt you?"

"No."

"Turn around."

She did as she was told and glance over her shoulder. She saw there were still two candles that were lit. She jumped. Mike chuckled. He leaned in over her shoulder.

"Twenty minutes," he whispered. "Those were lit for twenty minutes."

"But… but…"

"You can do ten, I know you can. You're so much stronger than you think you are, Em. Tomorrow, I want you to do your best, but I want you to make it to ten minutes, at least. Do you think you can do that?"

"Without help?"

"You don't need it, Em. You've never needed it. You're amazing," he cuddled her and kissed her neck, "Would you like me to blow out the candles?"

Emily shook her head. She turned around and looked into Mike's eyes, "I want to set a new record."

"You're setting one now," Mike said, "Twenty-thr…"

He was interrupted by a kiss. Emily jumped into his arms and pressed her lips against him, nearly knocking him onto the floor."

"Twenty-four…"

"Shh," Emily giggled.

"Seriously, ten minutes isn't that long."

"Mike."

"Yeah."

"Shut up."

"Got it."


	161. Talks

After everything he had said, Kevin couldn't believe he was doing this.

He knocked on the door to the room Dr. Fletcher was staying in. He tapped his foot nervously as he waited for an answer. It was getting late at night, but the doctor had said Kevin could talk to him at any time.

The door opened and Dr. Fletcher smiled, "Well, well…"

"Would you mind just a quick chat?"

Dr. Fletcher opened the door a little wider, allowing Kevin to step in, "Of course not. Have a seat wherever you like."

Kevin walked in and found himself a chair. He didn't really feel like he had a problem. Since he had come to terms with the idea that therapy could be for anyone, there had been a lot less drama in the house, and a lot less drama centered on him. He knew that even though he didn't think he needed therapy, sometimes it was good to try.

Since his last talk, he had been thinking a lot about the homework the doctor had given him. He was supposed to be the team leader but he hadn't gotten a chance to take up that role.

"What's on your mind?" Timothy asked.

"You think I'm a perfectionist, right?"

"Do you think you're a perfectionist?"

"Please don't do that," Kevin sighed, "Can you just talk with me and answer questions?"

Timothy nodded his head, "Yes, Kevin. I think you value perfection and try your best to achieve that level."

"Is that why you want me to be a leader?"

"Being a leader is a huge responsibility, Kevin. I don't doubt you would make an excellent one. However, a team is built from many skills from the many different people who make up that team."

"Yeah, yeah, we've had this speech."

Timothy crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall, "Kevin, when I asked you to be leader, I wasn't setting you up for failure. I wanted to show you that not everything needed to be perfect. Your friends don't all have to be the perfect Samurai you want them to be."

"How did you…?"

"I pick up on a lot, Kevin. I've had many conversations with everyone in this house. I won't share the details with you, but at this point, there is very little I don't know," he took a seat on his bed and smiled. "Some of your friends are not cut out to be the perfect Samurai. They will never master the sword, or have the discipline you do. They won't know their history…"

"This sounds a lot like Mike."

"Regardless," Timothy shook his head, "I wanted you to realise there's no such thing as perfect. You will never be the perfect Samurai with the perfect team. You need to relax."

"Now this really sounds like Mike."

"Maybe you can learn something from him," Timothy suggested. "Kevin, I would like to see you take over as leader, even for just a couple of hours. I can tell you this over and over again, but it'll never sink in. You're a doer. You need to do things, you need to get things done."

"I need to learn this lesson myself, you mean?"

"I've discussed it with Ji and Jayden. Tomorrow morning, all rules will be dropped. It will be up to you to plan the schedule for the day, choose sparring partners in training, decide what the Rangers need to work on. You will figure out what will be for lunch and when the Samurai will eat. This house will be your house and it'll be up to you to take care of your team like a leader would."

"I can do it," Kevin smiled. "And I'll do it right."

"You said perfectly the last time we had this discussion."

Kevin nodded his head, "I think I'm starting to get your point. Perfect isn't always right. There are some things that can be done perfectly. I learned how to draw a perfect circle when I was younger. I got perfect marks on my report card every year in High School and nearly made it to the Olympics…"

"You got perfect marks?"

"It took a lot of hard work," Kevin nodded, "but I know what you're saying. Perfect marks didn't mean anything. I didn't go to college, no one cares if I can draw a circle or not. The things that really matter, the real skills in life can never be perfected. I'll remember that when I lead the team tomorrow. I'll be a perfect leader by not being perfect."

"I don't want you thinking there's a loophole to my _no one is perfect_ theory."

"I don't" Kevin shook his head and chuckled, "I'm just saying. I'll probably screw something up tomorrow. Maybe one of the guys will get pissed at me."

"Mike?"

"Most likely," Kevin laughed, "but I think I'm okay with that. I've messed up before and nothing bad's happened to me. I'm still alive. I'm still a Samurai. I'm a good person. My friends still care about me and my fiancée hasn't changed her mind yet."

Timothy walked over and held out his hand, "Kevin, it's been a real pleasure working with you. I will always remember you as my most stubborn, but one of my most rewarding patients. You've really pulled through for yourself, and for your friends."

"You're not half bad yourself," Kevin smiled and shook the doctor's hand, "Just ignore anything you might hear about what I used to say. I'd recommend you to anyone."

-Samurai-

As Emily promised, after dinner she went straight to Serena's room, bouncing with excitement. Despite having to survive the flames (it still felt like a huge challenge), dinner had been amazing. Not only did she feel she was making huge progress with her fear, but she now felt like she could overcome her fear. The end was in reach, she just needed to work.

"Let me in! Let me in! Let me in!" she cried excitedly as she bounced by Serena's door and waited for an answer. As soon as it opened, Emily jumped into her sister's arms. "I'm cured! I'm cured!"

"You're cured?" Serena frowned, closing the door behind Emily, "Mike said it went well, but I didn't think he meant that well."

"Well, I'm not cured yet," Emily took a seat at the foot of Serena's bed and grinned happily, "but at dinner Mike lit some candles and at first I freaked out, but he coached me through it, like what Dr. Fletcher would do. And guess what?"

"Did you do it?"

"Eleven minutes," Emily nodded her head excitedly, "Eleven minutes with all the candles lit. Then, he blew out all of them except two, but I didn't know. I calmed down and that's when he told me I was calm and there was a fire still in the room. It didn't hurt me, and I realised they aren't all going to hurt me. As long as I'm not in danger, there's no need to freak out."

"Think you can make it ten minutes with the doctor, then?"

"More," Emily grinned. "He's going to ask me for ten minutes, but I think I'm ready to try more. Mike just blew those last two candles out now."

"So that entire time…"

"Yep," Emily nodded, "From the time Mike and I got home, up until now, I was in a room with fire and I managed not to freeze to death or drown myself. I'm pretty proud."

"You should be," Serena reached over and hugged her sister, "I'm proud of you too."

Emily smiled brightly and bounced on the bed for a few seconds before a small frown crossed her face.

"Where have you been?"

Serena looked at her, puzzled, "Right here, Emy. Is this delayed amnesia? Mentor said you hit your head in the tub."

"No, I mean, where have you been? I haven't seen you around much. Ever since I nearly drowned myself you've kind of… oh…"

"What?" Serena asked before Emily threw her arms around her. "Emy…?"

"I'm sorry. I scared you, didn't I?"

"No, Emily… well, yeah, but…" Serena gently pushed Emily away, "That's not it. I wanted to be with you, but you didn't need me."

"I did need you."

Serena sat next to her sister and held Emily's hand gently, "You wanted me, Emily, but look at you. You're on the road to recovery and you're doing it without help. At least, not the kind of help that's been holding you back."

"Huh?"

"Do you remember when you were little and you had nightmares? Remember how I let you crawl into my bed and I'd tell you I'd protect you?"

"Yeah."

"Remember thunderstorms? I said the same thing."

"Yeah."

"And when the bullies at school started picking on you, I'd told you I'd take care of it?"

"And then when I got sick, and you'd come home crying, I'd tell you I wished I could help you? Did I ever make you feel like you couldn't… do anything?"

Emily shook her head and averted her gaze from Serena, "No…"

"Emily, please don't lie to me. I want the truth."

"You didn't do it on purpose. It's my fault I felt that way. I was never good enough to…"

"You were plenty good, Emily. You picked up the flute pretty quickly, you were dad's little helper on the farm…"

"I couldn't do much…"

"You were mom's little helper too. In the kitchen, around the house. And you were great at taking care of me. You always knew what I needed, especially when it was a hug. You were a good hugger."

"Mike says the same. I think it's just because he wants more."

"He's telling the truth," Serena chuckled. "You were kind, too, and loving, and patient. You were generous and sweet and…"

"Can you get to the point?" Emily's cheeks were red. Serena hugged her sister close.

"And humble, in the best way possible. You never bragged, you were never arrogant."

"I never had a reason to be."

"Emily, I'm the one who's sorry. If it weren't for me, you could have been something amazing by now. Not that you aren't, I just mean… I've been holding you back."

"Because you were sick?"

"Because I tried to protect you."

"You're supposed to you. That's why you're the big sister and I'm the little one. I'm cute and adorable and you're mean and threatening."

"Remember the humility thing I mentioned?"

"Right," Emily lowered her head. Serena laughed.

"What I'm trying to say, Emily, is that you didn't need someone to protect you from your nightmares. You needed someone who could encourage you to be brave enough to face them, just like everything else you've had to face. The thunderstorms, the bullies, the tornadoes, remember that?"

"Took out the entire barn," Emily nodded, "Dad wasn't happy."

"I'll never stop protecting you, Emily, but I'm going to step back. There's so much you can do on your own, and so much you have to experience. You can't do that if I'm holding your hand every step of the way. I'm letting go."

"But you're still going to be there, right?" Emily asked with a little bit of worry in her voice.

"If you need me," Serena nodded, "but you don't need me as much as you think. You comforted yourself after that drowning incident. Even if I was there at first…"

"I needed you."

"I know. That was one of the few times you've actually needed me. But when I walked away, you were fine. You fell asleep without a panic. You're facing your fear of fire without me having to put out the flames for you. This is something you can do and I have to let you."

Serena turned to Emily. The yellow Ranger didn't seem happy with this decision, but Serena knew it was the right thing to do. She gently nudged her sister, "You've got two feet, stand on them, Emy. But know that if you fall, I'll always be there to catch you."

Emily smiled. She leaned into her sister, "Same."

"Emy embrace?" Serena asked. Emily hugged her sister tight, just like when she was little. "You're still a good hugger."

"You're not half-bad yourself."

"Don't ruin the moment."

"I have to."

"No you don't."

Emily nodded her head, "I do."

"Just sit in the comfortable silence."

"I hate silence."

"Since when?"

"Where were you going?"

"Subject change, much?"

"Where? When Mike and I were going out to dinner, you put your coat on and then never left."

"I'm going to be honest with you, Emy. I was going to find Dekker."

Emily pulled away from her sister and glared, "You were what?"

"Don't ruin the moment."

"Now I have to ruin it!" Emily frowned. She smacked her sister over the head, "Please tell me Jayden was at least going to go with you."

"I didn't want him… OW! Stop hitting me! I let go, but I'm still older!"

"Sometimes, I think you're the stupid one."

"Hey!"

"Don't go see him until you can trust him," Emily said.

"I won't, I realised I… wait, until? You want me to…?"

"He's scary, but maybe… look, I'm never going to want that relationship to work out. If he does change and things do work out for you, I'll be trying to sabotage your relationship every day. But he is the baby's father and… he took care of me in the forest the other day and he seemed to care about you and the baby. I hate him, but if one day you can trust him you should give him a chance to at least be a part of baby's life. Supervised, of course."

"You're really telling me that?"

"I hate myself," Emily muttered. Serena wrapped her arm around her.

"Until I trust him completely, I'll stay away."

"If you do need to see him, though… because you'll never learn to trust him if you never see him… take me with you."

"Emily…"

"He scares me big time, and for good reason," Emily shrugged her shoulders, "but I know you really, really well, and if he's manipulating you, or if you turn into a different person around him, and not for the better, I'll know and _I_ can protect _you._"

Serena smiled, "Eventually, Emy. It might be tomorrow, a week from now, or when I'm old and grey and my son's a world famous doctor, but I'll definitely let you know."

"Good. Now can I have a cookie?"

"What?"

"Mike only had enough money for pizza and refused to let me spend a dime, so I couldn't get a cookie."

"You think I have…" Serena trailed off and sighed when Emily gave her a look. She pointed to her closet, "I've got a box stashed away in a shoebox on the top shelf. You'll need the stool."

"I love you."

"You love cookies."

"I love when you have cookies."


	162. All or Nothing Part I

Timothy pulled into a long driveway and stopped. There was still a little way to go before he reached the end, but leaving the car here was for the best. He could walk the rest of the way. He turned to his passenger. Emily was trembling. He placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Are you sure you're ready for this? There's no shame in turning back and doing ten minutes in front of a flame."

When Emily had told him what she had accomplished with Mike, he felt confident that she could handle his surprise so he had driven her out here. It was out in the country, far away from the city, and somewhere even Emily didn't know about.

"It can't hurt to try it, right?"

"This is a big risk, Emily. This is all or nothing. Either this is going to final step in your treatment, or you'll be in therapy for a long, long time. Just, make sure again, you've got your Samuraizer and your Ape Zord with you, right?"

Emily checked her pockets and saw both where there. Her Ape Zord wasn't activated. She had chosen to sleep the entire way up.

Emily then glanced to the backseat. It was empty. She and Timothy had driven for hours. They were far from home, and far from the others. There was no one here to help Emily; no one here to tell her whether or not this was the right thing to do, and no one to protect her if something went wrong. She was truly on her own. She took a deep breath and smiled to Timothy.

"I'm ready for it. I just have to remember to breathe and calm myself down."

"It's not going to be easy," Timothy told her. "This will be one of the hardest things you will ever have to do."

"I know," Emily nodded her head. Timothy unlocked the car and they both stepped out.

"I can't guarantee you'll come out of this unharmed," he told her. "I will tell you that I will not let anything kill you, but there is a high risk you'll be telling the others how you did from the ER."

Emily stopped dead in her tracks, "That would have been nice to say _before_ I agreed to do this."

"You can back out at any time," Timothy smiled to her as he reached into his jacket. He pulled out a button and placed it in Emily's hand, "This button will tell me when you feel overwhelmed. Push it, and everything will stop. But I will also warn you, if you push that button, I'll know, the fire department will know, and the hospital will know. They'll send help. DO NOT push it unless you're in trouble. Is that understood?"

"Like, I'm dying? I thought you said…"

"I won't let you die, Emily," he walked her the rest of the way up the driveway and they stopped in front of a house. A very large house, almost the size of a castle. Emily had never seen anything like it. She stood with her jaw hung open and her eyes wide in awe.

"I found Mia's dream home."

"It does look like something from a fairy tale, huh?" Timothy chuckled. "We're going to burn it."

"That'll be a big flame," Emily turned to Timothy, "Are you even allowed to…"

"Don't worry," he nodded, "I've got all the forms and papers in the trunk of my car. I've owned this property for years and I can do whatever I want with it."

"You're loaded."

"It belonged to my great grandparents."

"Your entire family is loaded."

"It's a little run down. We can't afford the upkeep, but I do still use it for the Samurai."

"Huh?"

There's no one around for miles, and you aren't the first Samurai to call for my help. You can do anything here. No one will ever know we came out here."

"Then how will the fire department and…"

"Let me worry about that, Emily," Timothy smiled. "Now, before we burn it down, would you like a tour?"

"Can I take pictures? Mia's going to be so jealous when I tell her I was inside a castle. Is there a throne? A crown? Please, can I wear it?"

"There's no throne and no crown," Timothy laughed, "At best, I think I left a La-Z-Boy chair in one of the rooms upstairs last time I was here. You can sit on that."

"Race ya!" Emily called as she ran inside the house. Timothy chuckled and shook his head as he watched her run. He started to follow her in, but when he got to the door he reached for the mailbox. It was the only part of the house that hadn't aged, as if someone had recently replaced it with a new one.

Inside the mailbox, Timothy felt for a switch and when he found it, he flipped it on.

He pulled his hand out, and then ripped the mailbox right off the wall. Then reached into the bushes and pulled out a long rope.

"Emily?" he called for her. "Where did you go?"

"There are two upstairs!" he heard her cry from the top of the staircase. He raced after her and saw her staring up at another set of stairs.

"This place is huge, and I haven't even seen the rooms yet."

"I can take a picture of you sitting in the La-Z-Boy so you can make Mia jealous. Let me show you the room it's in."

"Can I live here?"

"Can you afford to buy it from me?"

Emily reached into her pocket, "I've got seventeen dollars."

"That won't even get you the chair," he laughed, "but maybe I'll let you keep it regardless. We'll see how you like it," he stopped in front of a door and pulled a key out of his pocket, "it's right in here."

"If no one knows where this house is, why do you lock it?" Emily asked.

"The lock sticks. There's a doorstop inside the room so we don't get locked in. I'll tell you now; there are no windows in this room that you can escape from. Unless you want us both trapped in here, do not move the doorstop."

"I'll be sitting in the chair," Emily said.

Timothy got the door unlocked and Emily zoomed inside. He made sure the door didn't lock by putting the doorstop in place, and walked into the room.

He saw her with a disappointed look on her face as she stared at a desk chair.

"That's hardly a La-Z-Boy."

"My wife must have come to pick it up. She's been wanting something for the rec room."

"Your wife?" Emily looked down at Timothy's hand, "Uh, doc, you don't wear a ring. She must not like…"

She trailed off when she felt Timothy grab her and apply pressure to her neck. Before she could even process what was happening, she couldn't breathe. Timothy led her over to the chair and pushed her in. The minute he let go of her she started trying to fight him, but she was still too startled to react properly. She hadn't expected him to do this.

She did, however, manage to get up from the chair. He groaned, but quickly grabbed her. He wouldn't choke her again; he didn't actually want to hurt her.

"Let me go!" she screamed. "Grinch."

"That doesn't work here," he told her. "Your escape is the button."

"Button!" she screamed. He was holding her tight; she couldn't reach it in her pocket, "Button, button, butt- oof!"

He got her onto the floor, on her stomach, and pulled her arms behind her back. He pulled out his rope and started to tie her hands up. Emily's struggling made it very difficult, but he managed to tie the final knot tightly around her wrists. She couldn't get out. He pulled her up and saw she was crying.

"Emily, I need you to stay calm."

"You're going to kill me."

"Why would I kill you? I want you to get out of here."

He sat her down in the chair and leaned over her, "I'm going to explain to you exactly what I'm doing."

Emily tried to get up again. He grabbed the rest of the length of rope, wrapped it around her and the chair, and then pulled it down to her feet. He was nearly kicked in the face, but he got control of her and tied her up.

"You're a fighter, like your mother," he smiled up at her. "I was called to help every week when your parents were the Samurai Rangers."

"Mom did something to you, didn't she?" Emily asked. "You liked her, asked her out, but she was already married and turned you down. Now you're going to kill me because you can't deal with rejection."

"You watch too much TV. I'm going to help you. Besides, why would I kill you?"

"Because I'm the little one. Everyone always thinks they can pick on me because I'm the little one. Or, you like Serena and she rejected you. That's why you told her to stop protecting me. So you could get me out here alone and kill me as a way to get back at her."

"I'm taking that TV out of the Shiba House when we get home," Timothy shook his head. He leaned over Emily, "I'm not trying to kill you. I don't date patients, do I don't have any kind of grudge against your sister or your mother."

"You're a lunatic, then."

"Emily, this house is going to go up in flames in five minutes."

"You are trying to kill me."

"The room right next to this one has all the supplies you'll need to get out of this house alive."

"I can't get out of this chair."

"Stay calm, you'll figure it out," he told her. "Now, I'm going to tell you, this room, and the two below it, are completely fireproof. The rest of the house will burn to the ground, but these rooms will not. In here, are you are totally safe from the fire."

"You're lying," she whispered. "Please don't burn me alive. Please, please, don't."

"If I wanted to burn you alive, I would have knocked you out cold, tied you up, and left you in the closet in the hallway to burn."

A beeping noise could be heard throughout the house. Timothy knew he only had two minutes to get out.

"I'll be waiting for you outside," he said as he reached into her pocket and pulled out her Samuraizer. "I'm leaving you with the button. Remember; only use it if you really need it."

"Give that back!" she shouted as he hurried out of the room. She heard him close the door and then heard a click. He had locked it, and he had locked her in. She struggled against the rope, but it wouldn't give. Another loud beep was heard and Emily could only assume that meant the fire started. The fire alarms going off were another indication that a fire was burning through the house. She didn't know how much time she had.


	163. All or Nothing Part II

Emily struggled, but the rope tying her to the chair wouldn't give. Tears streamed down her face. She couldn't even reach the button Timothy had given her to call for help, and he had taken her Samuraizer with him when he ran out.

She wished her friends were here with her. Jayden could control the flames. He could protect her and clear a path out. Kevin could use his water powers to put out the fire and get her out. Antonio was a quick thinker. If he were here, he would know what to do. Serena was the same. She didn't panic in emergencies; she always knew a way out. Mia could stay calm, and Mike, she didn't know how he did it, but Mike always managed to save her.

Her sister's words then echoed in her head: _"You've got two feet, stand on them, Emy."_ She remembered the conversation she had with her sister the night before. Serena believed she was strong enough to take care of herself. She didn't want to prove her sister was wrong. Serena didn't make a habit out of being wrong. Most of the time, she was right, especially about stuff like this.

She struggled again. She squirmed around so much the chair lost balance and fell over. Now she was really starting to panic. Tears clouded her vision and she closed her eyes. She couldn't untie herself and she was stuck on her side.

After a few moments, she felt something sharp poking her face. She opened her eyes and the Ape Zord was standing by her head, trying to get her attention. She looked around, trying to figure out what had happened when she closed her eyes. She looked down and saw the ropes had fallen around her. The Ape had cut through them and untied her. Emily smiled. Timothy took her Samuraizer, but not the Ape Zord.

"I love you so much right now," she smiled and scooped up the little creature in her hand as she pushed herself to her feet. She ran to the door but felt it was hot. She remembered the fire.

"I'm stuck…" she muttered. She started to panic again. She remembered the doctor said this room was fireproof. If he was right, she would be safe in here. She backed into the wall and fell to the ground. She curled up into a ball.

The Ape Zord jumped out of her hand and landed in front of her. The Ape wasn't happy at all. She ran right into Emily's leg. Emily didn't respond. The Ape bit her leg.

"Ow!" Emily shouted. She looked down at her Zord, "No!"

The Ape growled at Emily. She knew what the little creature was trying to say. She never had trouble understanding the Zord, even when it belonged to Serena. She took a few deep breathes, as the Ape instructed.

"I have to get out of here," she said, "I can't do that if I freak out. I have my emergency button if something goes wrong and despite his most recent behaviour, I'm going to believe the doctor when he said he wouldn't let me die here, which means there has to be a way…"

Emily looked up and saw a vent. She had no idea where it went, but it seemed to be her only way out. The one window in the room was protected by bars, and she was too high above the ground to jump.

She pointed to the vent, "Monkey, can you get that open?"

The Ape nodded and flew up to the vent. Just like the real animal, the Ape was strong. She ripped the grill right off the vent and threw it to the floor.

"Think I'm small enough to fit?" Emily asked. The Ape shook her head sadly. Emily sighed. She started to panic again. The Ape tackled her again, this time in the stomach. "Oof, sorry."

The Ape glared at Emily. She rolled her eyes.

"He would have left me with a way out, unless he was actually trying to kill me," the Ape tackled her stomach again, "Ow! I'm sorry, but it's a possibility."

The Ape shook her head. She remembered when Emily's mother was the yellow Ranger and the doctor had come in to help. The Ape trusted him. She knew he had a plan.

And Emily trusted her Ape. She always had.

"So he's not trying to kill me?" The Ape shook her head again. Emily smiled, "Okay, so there has to be a way out."

Emily looked up at the vent. She couldn't fit, but if she were a little smaller she could. She then turned to the Ape.

"Go through it, see if you can get to the other room and bring me back whatever Dr. Fletcher left."

The Ape smiled and soared into the vents. Emily waited for her return, while trying to stay calm.

"Stupid exercise," she muttered.

The Ape came back, pulling a brick and a blanket. Emily knew right away it was a fire blanket and smiled. She didn't know why he had left her with a brick.

"Was there anything else?" she asked the Ape as it dropped the tools at Emily's feet. The Ape shook her head.

Emily picked up the fire blanket, "This should get us out of the room, and the stairs weren't too far away."

She ran over to the door and touched the doorknob. It was warm, but it was also locked. Now Emily realised while he had left her with the brick. The Ape carried it over. Emily smashed the doorknob with the brick several times until it fell off. She opened the door. The fire hadn't quite reached her room yet, but it was close. There was a still a path to the stairs. She covered herself with the blanket, keeping it close in case she needed it. She raced down the stairs, hoping they wouldn't give out under her.

The second floor was filled with smoke so thick, Emily could hardly see. She felt warm too. She couldn't see any flames, but there was clearly a fire on this floor.

The Ape flew down after her and landed on her shoulder. She whispered in Emily's ear. Emily nodded her head and got on her hands and knees.

"You're officially my best friend," she smiled. She remembered where the stairs were and started crawling under the thick smoke to reach them. She knew that once she was down, the door would be right there and she could run out and prove to everyone she could take care of herself.

"Stay calm," she whispered to herself. "The fire's dangerous, but I can get myself out of here. There's no need to panic… yet."

She found the stairs but looked down and saw the bottom was on fire. The entire path from the bottom of the stairs to the door was on fire. Emily's heart began to race. The Ape tugged on her hair. Emily looked to see what she wanted.

There was a clear path to a window. With no other escape, Emily knew she had to try it. She jumped up to her feet and ran over. The lack of oxygen was starting to get to her. The smoke was so thick, she could hardly breathe, but if she gave up now, the fire would win.

"_This is all or nothing. Either this is going to final step in your treatment, or you'll be in therapy for a long, long time."_

Dr. Fletcher hadn't lied when he said that. Emily didn't want to be in therapy, so she knew she had to keep going.

The Ape smashed the window and Emily cleared the glass out of the way so she could squeeze out. The window led out onto a balcony. Emily jumped out and got as far away from the house as the balcony would allow her to go. She glanced down, over the railing.

"I'm out. I just need to get down there without breaking my legs," she said to herself. She turned to the Ape, "I can't stand on my own two feet with broken legs, huh?"

The Ape gave her a look. Now was not the time to joke. Emily returned the look.

"You know, if you had told me to keep the rope, we would have had a way down," she said.

The Ape flew up onto Emily's shoulder and tugged on the blanket. Emily smirked.

"Think you can hold my weight?" the Ape nodded, but Emily knew this wouldn't last long. The Zords were strong. The turtle Zord had helped Kevin pull Mia to safety when she fell from the cliff. And Octozord was big and strong enough to hold Jayden's weight when he went into the volcano. Emily knew her Ape Zord was somewhere between the two. Strong enough to hold Emily's weight on her own, but not strong enough to do so for more than a minute.

"Well, broken legs are better than dying," Emily said. She gave a corner of the blanket to the Ape, who dug her claws in to hold on. Emily threw the other half of the blanket over the railing and then climbed onto the other side. She grabbed the blanket tight and looked at her Ape. "Please don't drop me."

The Ape nodded her head. Emily slowly lowered herself down, taking her feet off the edge of the balcony. She was hanging from the blanket by only her arms. The Ape flew up, and then tried to carefully lower Emily to the ground.

When Emily was close enough, she jumped off. The Ape lost strength at that point and fell. Emily caught her, thanked her with a kiss, and then ran around to the front of the house. She saw Dr. Fletcher waiting for her, and the minute he saw her running, he had a look of relief on his face.

"You made it," he smiled.

Emily glared at him, "Okay, I get you weren't trying to kill me, but was that really necessary? Fighting me? Tying me up? Locking the door? Setting the entire house on fire in a matter of seconds? I made it out, but I doubt I'm ever going to want to go near fire again!"

"The only way you could have made it out was if you stayed calm," Timothy smiled. "If you can survive this on your own, candles, campfires, and small fires on the battlefield should be no problem for you."

"What if I had panicked? Or passed out! That smoke nearly choked me to death and that was just the smoke!"

"I know," Timothy said. "You were in there quite a while. I was worried I was going to have to call for help. Then I saw you running out."

He looked her over a few times, "I know the doctor who lives in town. He'll look you over and make sure you're okay. Then I'll take you home."

"And what will he do if I tell him you kidnapped me and locked me in a burning building? He'll ask what happened."

"Would you rather we head straight home and Ji can have a look at you?"

"As long as you promise not to stuff me in the trunk and crash the car."

"You can sit in the car with me."

"Can I drive?"

"Not until a doctor or Ji clears you," Timothy shook his head.

"So I have to trust you?"

"Emily, I know your mother and I've gotten to know your sister really well. Do you think I would want to suffer their wrath? Do you think it would be worth it for me to hurt you?"

Emily giggled, "And you haven't even seen my dad."

"I've seen pictures," Dr. Fletcher nodded, "And that fiancé of yours? I don't want to get on his bad side either. It's in my best interest to get you home, safe and sound."

"On the way home, can we stop for ice-cream? I think I deserve it."

"I'm not letting you freeze yourself, again, Emily."

"It's one scoop! I won't freeze, I promise."

"No. And no fountains or pools either."

"It's too cold for swimming or drowning," Emily shook her head. She grabbed the doctor's arm, "Please, please, please can I have ice-cream?"

"No."

"A cookie, then?"

"Fine. We'll stop into town and I'll get you a cookie, but we'll also see the doctor, then."

"Fine, but two cookies, then. Monkey deserves one."

"Who is Monkey?" the doctor asked. Emily pulled her out her Zord. The doctor sighed. "Emily, that's an Ape."

"Her name is Monkey."

"You named your Zord?"

Emily nodded her head, "Serena let me name her when I was little. It stuck."

Dr. Fletcher rubbed his temples as he walked up to this car, "Something tells me, by the end of this car ride, I'm going to need to see a therapist."

Emily got into the passenger seat, "Well, according to Kevin, you do talk to yourself. That's a bad sign. And you did leave me in a burning house, tied up and waiting to die."

"You're not letting that go."

"It's not something you just get over."

Before the doctor started the car, he glanced over at Emily with a smile, "You're a very brave young woman, Emily. I'm proud of you."


	164. The Last Day

"Stop pacing," Mike glared at Serena. "The others are already making me nervous enough. You pacing is tipping me over the edge."

Serena shot a look in Mike's direction, "I'll stop pacing when they get home and Emily shouts she's cured."

"What if it backfired?" Antonio asked and looked around the room with a worried face, "I mean, I know the doc is good, but my problem wasn't as big. I've just got to go out and flirt, and I can bring a friend with me."

"He told me I had to have fun," Jayden said, "if that's my problem, it seems pretty minor too."

"This is my problem," Serena bit her nails and looked out the window, "I can't let her go. It's like I need to know if she's okay twenty-four/seven."

"Must have driven you mad when there was the no contact rule between you and her," Mia said. Serena nodded her head.

"Every time I heard the phone ring I'd jump. We got a few midnight calls, too. Wrong numbers, but dad nearly had a heart attack every time."

"You guys know what he told me to do," Kevin said and the rest of the house nodded.

Kevin had to step up as leader for the day. He had gotten everyone out of bed, at a time he thought reasonable, and got them ready for the day. He had done fairly well, according to Jayden, but was now beginning to see this wasn't a job that was meant for him. There was so much work that needed to be done that he never noticed. In training alone, he had to watch out for bad technique and correct it, but he also needed to make sure everything was safe; the equipment, the Rangers' attacks on one another. If anything happened, it was his fault. It was a little hard for him to accept, and he hadn't stepped down as leader just yet, but he was starting to get the idea that he was better as second-in-command, and not very good as leader.

He also had to deal with the whining and complaining from everyone. The meal plan was left up to him, just to add to his pressure. He tried to make the meals healthy foods, but everyone, even Jayden and Mia, whined that their food tasted too bland and sometimes even downright disgusting.

"There's no shame in backing out," Jayden smirked to Kevin.

"You just can't stand not being in charge."

"You can't stand not being perfect."

"Fine," Kevin crossed his arms, "I'm done. I'm a bad leader and I can accept that."

"Just like that?" Antonio asked.

Kevin took a deep breath and let the thought sit for a moment. He then smiled a genuine smile at Antonio and nodded his head.

"Yeah, just like that."

"We know what the therapist told Mike," Jayden said with a smirk, bringing the topic back to everyone's treatments, "Mia, what about you?"

"I'm kind of in your boat," Mia chuckled. "You get to have fun, I get to be selfish."

"It seems therapy has helped everyone," Mentor said as he walked into the room with a plate of food. The Rangers were too nervous waiting for Emily to even think of food, but they were just like any other teenagers and young adults. As soon as food was brought to them, they dug right in. Antonio was first to reach for the bread and cheese.

"Not yet," Mike glanced out the window, "I know he said it would be hours, but shouldn't they be home by now? Or a call or something. I'd like to know if she passed."

"There is no pass or fail," Mentor shook his head and took a seat. "Sometimes, we can't solve our problems."

Kevin nodded his head, "I think that's what Dr. Fletcher tried to tell me. I still feel like I've got to do things perfectly. My stuff's always going to be organized and lined up because that's the way I like it. That's the way I need it. But I guess I'll learn to accept when things aren't perfect or when I'm not the best. My room and my stuff can be the way I like it, but the world doesn't have to suit me. I have to suit the world."

"You couldn't have figured that out when we first moved in?" Mike grumbled playfully, "You touched my stuff."

"I apologized for that already."

"What I'm saying is: what happened to Emily was scary. What's happened to all of you is scary. You may have nightmares for months, years, or the rest of your life once this is done. But I'm glad to see the therapy has helped for now, and I assume, if you all need it, you'll be willing to go back."

"Definitely," Kevin nodded, "I learned my lesson."

"And we all agree," Jayden smiled.

Serena was biting her nails impatiently and glancing from the window to the door. She had been listening, but like Mike she was wondering what was taking so long.

"I'm checking her Samuraizer…"

"Serena, let it go," Mentor placed his hand on the table, over the sensor that would pull up the map. "I trust Dr. Fletcher. I'd trust him with my life in any situation. He hasn't called yet, I'm sure your sister is fine."

"You have no idea what this is like, do you, Mentor?"

Mentor pointed over to Jayden, "You forget, I watch him go into battle every day."

Serena realised he had a point and crossed her arms over her chest. She took a seat.

"That's different."

"I think Dr. Fletcher had a point with you, though," Mia said, "And it applies to all of us. Remember that first time Dekker took Emily. He trained her because we protected her too much. We all realised he was right when Emily argued with us the day after, but we only let go in training."

"She's improved since. We all have," Jayden smiled happily. "Our team's only as strong as our weakest link."

"Emily's not weak," Mike growled.

Jayden shook his head, "I didn't say she was. We were. All of us. By holding her back, we've held ourselves back. We need to lean on her just as much as she leans on us."

"Or we should all stand up straight," Kevin said. All eyes turned to him. He held his hands up, "Not a perfectionist thing, I swear. It's just, if everyone's leaning on each other all the time, then if one person falls, we all fall. But if we all stand up straight, and on our own, then if one falls, the others are still standing. We'll still be strong enough to help them up."

"Wise words, Kevin. Maybe you're a better leader than you let on," Jayden smirked.

"Don't rub it in."

"How many of you have gotten an okay from Dr. Fletcher?" Mentor asked. The boys and Mia raised their hands and all eyes turned to Serena when they saw she was the only one missing.

"Obviously," she gestured to herself, shaking from nervousness, "I'm still a wreck. Where the hell is she?"

"You got the all clear?" Kevin turned to Mia.

"I talked to him a bit before bed last night. He says I'm keeping up on my own well enough that I'm good to take care of myself from here on out. You?"

"I just needed a good talking too," Kevin nodded. "Once I realised he had a point and he was right, I just let go and acceptance was pretty easy."

"We got cleared right away," Antonio bragged. He pointed to himself, Jayden, and Mike.

"I put his number on the fridge," Mentor smiled, "If you ever need him, day or night, he's just a phone call away."

"I guess when he's done helping Emily, he'll be going back to work," Mike sighed. "Damn, now I kinda wish she failed."

"Watch it," Serena growled. Mike looked to her and chuckled.

"Do you need a drug or something? I'm worried too, Serena, but you're going make a hole in the floor if you keep pacing."

"Shut up."

"Serena," Mentor called. Serena looked at him. With a smile, he told her to breathe.

She inhaled and exhaled, "Didn't help."

"Take a seat. If your sister is not well, you'll give us all a round of _I told you so_s and we'll trust your judgement over Timothy's. Not take a seat. You're making me nervous."

"I don't want _I told you so_s," Serena muttered, "I want to be wrong."

"Knock, knock!"

Heads whipped up as everyone turned to the hallway when they heard Dr. Fletcher call. He walked into the common room casually, as if there was nothing to report, "How was your day?"

"No one cares," Mike answered, "Tell us what happened. Why did it take so long?"

"You should have told me Emily had an addiction. I could have worked on that, as well as her fears."

Strange looks flew around the room as the Rangers, Mentor, and Serena tried to figure out what the doctor was saying.

Suddenly, Emily bounced into the room with a cookie in her hands the size of her face.

"Giant cookie!"

"That addiction," Mike laughed and shook his head. He pulled Emily into a hug, "You don't seem traumatized to me."

"The magic of cookies," Timothy chuckled. Emily broke off pieces of her cookie and started passing them around the room.

"I passed," she smiled.

"You're not afraid of fire anymore?" Kevin asked.

Emily shook her head, "Fire's still scary, but I promise I won't freeze to death or drown anytime you guys want to light a candle. And if the house does catch on fire, I know how to stay calm."

"That's good enough for me," Mike smiled and kissed her, "I'm glad we have the old Emily back."

"Me too," Emily nodded.

Serena was relieved to see Emily was okay, and happy to know things had worked out, but she needed to be sure. She had promised she would let go, and was doing her best to live up to her promise, but she would never break away completely. She noticed a mark on Emily's wrist. It was almost covered up by her sweater (another sign that Emily was recovering. She was wearing warmer clothing), but Serena could just see it.

When Emily came over to give Serena her piece of the giant cookie, Serena pulled up Emily's sleeve. She glared at the mark.

"What's that?" she asked Emily.

"Serena," Timothy said, "Let go."

"I'm fine, Serena," Emily assured her sister, "I'll tell you about it later, I promise. Just eat your cookie."

Emily held up the cookie to Serena's face and smiled. The older sibling sighed, took the cookie, and then pulled Emily in for a hug.

"I'm happy you're okay."

"Did you doubt me?"

"I doubted the doctor," Serena laughed. "Never you."

Timothy smiled and walked back to the front hall. He collected his bag, which he had packed up in the morning. He was sad to go, but honestly, he wanted to get out and get far enough away so the Samurai wouldn't be able to find him when Emily told them her story of what happened. He wanted them to let go, for the sake of Emily's confidence, but he knew he would be a dead man if he stuck around. The Samurai were very protective of each other, and they needed to be. This was one profession where it was important, if not necessary, to look out for the well-being of one's teammates.

Happy to see things were better than when he first came in, he gave Mentor a quick glance and a nod. He put on his jacket and slipped out of the house. There was no more work that needed to be done.

Besides, he wanted to get out of there before Emily told her story.


	165. After Therapy

Emily's achievement had earned the Rangers the rest of the night off. Mentor thought it was a good enough reason to celebrate and no one, not even Kevin argued with a few hours of relaxation. Mentor enjoyed it too. As strict as he was when it came to the Rangers training schedule and their dedication, he loved giving them time to unwind and let themselves go.

"Are you sure it's not bugging you?" Mike teased Kevin, "You know, usually we would be…"

"Mike, stop it," Emily gently pulled him away from Kevin, "So how was your day as leader? Did you kick butt?"

"Mine," Mike answered. Emily nudged him. She had heard Kevin announce in the morning that he had been told by the doctor to take the position as leader for the day, and she was bummed that she had to miss out. She was happy she didn't have to train under Kevin's eye, for he had a habit of working her so hard her arms felt like noodles for days, but she wanted to see him step up and accept whatever happened, god or bad.

"I wouldn't say I failed it," Kevin smiled, "but it is a lot of hard work. I don't think it's a job I'm made for, so I backed down and I'm okay with that. I'm never going to stop trying my best but now I know there's a difference between trying my best and being perfect. A line's been drawn, and it's not to be crossed."

"I'm happy for you," Emily said and she gave the blue Ranger a quick hug. As she wrapped her arms around him, her sleeves came up slightly from the stretching. Serena, again, noticed the mark around her wrist and finally decided to ask where they had come from. She had put it off long enough and trusted Emily when she said everything was fine, but her sister was also good at keeping secrets. Sometimes, Serena couldn't let go.

"So what happened to you, Emy?" she asked. "What did Dr. Fletcher do to cure you?"

"Do you guys really want to know?" Emily asked and the entire house nodded their heads. Even Scruffy, who was sitting in the corner chewing on dog treats Mentor brought out for him, seemed eager to hear Emily's story. Emily took a big breath and started.

"He took me out to this really, really big house. A castle, almost. He said he owned it and we were going to burn it down."

"A castle?" Mia asked.

Emily nodded, "Your dream home. He took me inside and we walked up to the third floor. I've never seen a house so big. Then he attacked me."

"He what?"

"I'll kill him," Mike and Serena growled. Emily took Mike's hand and she looked to Serena.

"Guys, it's okay. He basically recreated exactly what happened when Amanda and I were trapped in the fire. He overpowered me and tied me to a chair and he said the house was going to go up in flames, and he wasn't kidding."

"I'll still kill him," Serena muttered.

Emily ignored her sister and continued, "He told me there was stuff in the other room I could use to get out and that the room I was in, and the ones below, were fireproof, so nothing would happen to me if I stayed in there, but I knew I needed to get out. He took my Samuraizer when he left and he locked the door behind him."

"How are you not traumatized for life?" Antonio asked. He switched seats and sat next to Emily. He pulled her into a big hug, "It's okay, Em, you're safe from the big, bad therapist."

"Guys, you're being silly," Emily squirmed out of Antonio's arms, "I made it out. The Ape Zord helped me out, but I found my way out of the house. As soon as she cut the ropes, I took control. I figured out how to get the tools from the other room into mine. I figured out how to unlock the door. I figured out how to get to the second floor, and then, once the Ape showed me there was a window I could use to get out, I figured the way out of there and down onto safe grounds. I did it. I stayed calm, I didn't panic, and I didn't get hurt."

"Badly," Serena said. She came over to Emily and inspected her wrists, "He tied you up tight, didn't he?"

"A little," Emily nodded. "There was no way I could have made it out of the room on my own. But with a little help, I figured it out, and we're a team, so I'm always going to have a little help."

"All the help you'll need," Mia nodded her head with a smile, "You can always count on us."

"Dr. Fletcher said I might still get nightmares from time to time, and I might be uncomfortable on really hot days. After that drowning incident I might be uncomfortable on cold days or in cold water, but I just have to remember to look around and see if there's anything I can do to fix my own problem. If I get too hot, I can always take off a layer or get a fan or something and once I'm cool I can stop trying. And if I feel overwhelmed, there's no shame asking for help."

"I still can't believe he helped you get over your fear by leaving you in a burning house," Jayden said.

"It's exactly like what Dekker and Dayu did to me," Emily said, "He explained it in the car on the way home. I was trapped in a cage, there with no way out and I panicked. Amanda did the same. Because that experience ended badly, I got scared it would happen again and I would panic and lose control. So after I learned how to calm myself down when I panicked, thanks to Mike, he decided to make me relieve it again so I would have a better ending."

"Thanks to me?" Mike asked. He knew he had a big hand in Emily's treatment, but he was surprised to hear just how big.

"You and Serena," Emily nodded. "You helped me calm down and realise I don't have to panic whenever they're fire. I have to calm down and look for danger. If there is none, I don't have a reason to be scared. In the house, I learned that if there is a danger, I need to find a way to make it safe, or I need to get out."

Emily turned to her sister, "And that talk we had last night, about you letting me go; if you hadn't of told me that, I never would have thought I was strong enough to save myself. You did hold me back, I guess, but thanks for letting go."

Serena reached out and squeezed her sister's hand. Following doctor's orders was still hard, but hearing that made it all worth it. Letting go was making a difference, and even if Serena couldn't feel it, and even if it scared her half to death, it was working for Emily. It was making her stronger. Serena could see it now.

Mentor walked into the room at this moment, a bright smile on his face.

"With all this excitement I've almost forgotten," he said and looked to Serena, "The school you're working at tomorrow just called me to remind you that you start tomorrow."

Serena groaned, "Dammit."

"Work?" Kevin asked. Serena nodded her head. She hadn't exactly come out with the fact that Mentor Ji had gotten her a real job so she could earn money, but the other Rangers had started to clue in, if they didn't already know, that she had something lined up.

"Going around schools and talking to kids about bullying," Serena leaned back in her seat and tried to think, "With everything going on, I forgot all about that. I don't think I'm ready to start tomorrow."

"It's not good calling in sick on your first day," Kevin shook his head. "I'm sure you can come up with something."

"Not if they ask me to do a speech or anything."

"You'll be doing speeches?"

Mentor took a seat and looked Serena in the eye, "Serena, I chose this job for you because I knew you could handle it."

"I know. And I can… it's just…"

"I was bullied for years," Emily smiled, "You couldn't stop it, but you did help me through it. Just imagine where I would be if someone hadn't stepped in for me."

"My guess is," Mike smirked, "that school you're going to tomorrow probably has plenty of cases of bullying, in all shapes and sizes. There are probably dozens of kids just like Emily who just need a hand."

Emily nodded her head. She looked over at Serena with a big smile, "You told me I was always strong enough to fight my own battles. So are those kids. But they aren't going to do it if they don't have someone's support. They need to know they'll have something to fall back on if they feel overwhelmed. That's why you should go. Give those kids support first, and then work on bringing the bullying to an end."

Serena grinned as an idea stirred in her head. She jumped up to her feet and gave her sister a kiss on the head.

"I won't use your name, I swear."

"My name for what?" Emily frowned, but Serena was already out of the room. Emily huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, "Not fair."

"C'mon, Sparky," Antonio laughed as he got up and signalled for Emily to follow him, "While we waited for you to get home we made you a special cupcake. Would you like us to put a candle in it?"

Emily thought for a moment then nodded her head. She followed Jayden, Antonio, Mentor and Mike into the kitchen.

Mia and Kevin stayed behind and smiled to each other.

"Things are peaceful again," Mia whispered. She scooted over onto Kevin's stool.

"For now," he wrapped his arms around her. "Can I apologize again for being an ass?"

"Apologize as many times as you want," Mia smirked. "Though, you'll have to be specific. You've been an ass a number of times since we've met."

"About not seeing the therapist. He really helped all of us, in different ways. You're usually right about stuff like this, and when you've got the whole team backing you up I should have listened."

"Kevin, it's over with. I know it's not easy admitting you need help, especially when there's no reason why you should. I shouldn't have pushed you. You were right, you're not responsible for Emily. Just because she wanted everyone to see the doctor before she did, didn't mean you had to. And I'm sorry I tried to blame you for her drowning herself."

"You were probably still in shock," Kevin shrugged his shoulders, "If I heard my best friend nearly drowned like that, I'd probably try to blame anyone but them."

"So, Mike? He is your best friend, right?" Mia asked teasingly and nudged Kevin in the ribs. He had openly admitted that Mike was his best friend, but he hated to be reminded of it.

"Yeah, yeah."

Mia leaned her head on Kevin's chest, "You know what I'm noticing?"

"The guys are probably eating all those cupcakes without us?"

"Yeah," Mia nodded her head. She pulled away from Kevin and looked him in the eye, "A lot of our fights involve them. Emily especially."

Kevin shook his head, "No they don't. You usually overreact and I'm usually an ass."

"Think about it, Kevin. I mean, that's true, but lately it's because of them you turn into a real ass and I overreact."

"Mia…"

"I mean, we couldn't even agree on what to do with Emily, and she's not even our kid."

"Whoa," Kevin pulled away from Mia slightly, "What are you saying?"

"You didn't think she needed therapy. You thought she'd be better off without it. I disagreed but instead of letting it go, we got into a fight. I spent one night on the couch and you spent one night on the couch. I mean, I love her to death, and I love the guys and Serena to death, but they aren't worth us fighting."

"Mia…"

"What are we going to do when we have our own kids and we disagree on something like that? What if our son needs therapy or our daughter gets sick and we need to make a big decision?"

"Mia…"

"Are we going to fight?"

"Are you asking if we're going to break up because of one decision? Because we slept on the couch for a couple of nights because we let something come between us?" Kevin asked. Mia nodded her head. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight, "We haven't broken up yet."

"We kind of did," Mia shrugged. "When you told me about that girl back home…"

"Forget about that."

"Dr. Fletcher said I take my mommy role too seriously sometimes," Mia looked down at her hands. "I take care of people, especially when I think they need taking care of. If I have kids, if we have kids, I'm actually going to be a mommy and I'll have to make those decisions with… well with you. If we fight over our friends decisions, what are we going to do with our kids?"

"It's a little early to talk about kids," Kevin shook his head, "Don't worry about it, Mia…"

"It's not too early. We're getting married. You know I want kids, I know you want kids, so it's going to happen. We need to be on the same page."

"Are you saying you don't want to marry me because we can't decide right now whether we should send our kids to catholic school or public or private? I'd say boarding school. By the time they're the age to start, I'll be sick of them anyways."

Mia chuckled and gently slapped Kevin on the chest, "Be serious."

"We'll work it out, okay? We always do," Kevin kissed the side of her head then gestured to the kitchen, where he and Mia could see the others celebrating the end of their therapy with what seemed to be a food fight with the icing from the cupcakes, "I won't deny, we've kind of turned into mommy and daddy, but if this is our trial family, we've done pretty well up until now, and we're still together. And this is a messed up bunch. If our relationship can survive them, it can survive a baby."

"Two," Mia whispered. "I've always wanted at least two."

"You're pushing them out," Kevin shrugged, "If you can handle it, we can have as many as you want."

"As many as I want?"

"My limit is three," Kevin frowned when he saw a grin on Mia's face. She laughed and leaned into him.

"Two. A girl then a boy."

"I don't think you can plan it."

"It'll happen that way."

"Whatever you say," Kevin smiled. "But we don't we focus on Xandred and the Nighlok first. Let's get them out of the way, then the wedding, then we'll talk about kids… after the wedding. Long after the wedding."

"We'll name the girl after my grandmother…"

"Mia, now you're just being mean on purpose."

Mia smirked, "When I went out shopping with Serena the other day, we stopped by the baby store and you wouldn't believe how many cute dresses there were."

"In like, twenty years, we'll go back and see if they still have those dresses."

"Are you starting to freak out?"

"A little," Kevin answered truthfully. "I can only handle so much baby talk in the engagement stage. Truth be told, I doubt I'll like it when you're actually pregnant. Hell, let's just be completely honest, baby talk will still scare me even when our kids are all grown up and out of the house. Have you not see the size of baby shoes? How can a human being be that small and how the hell am I supposed to keep it alive?"

"Do you want to go see if the others left us any cupcakes?" Mia laughed.

Kevin jumped out of the chair, "I've never loved cupcakes more."


	166. First Day

As the bell rang, Serena felt like it was _her_ first day of school.

And technically it was. It was the first day back from the holidays and Serena had set foot in a high school. She hadn't even seen a High School since before her illness and was quite intimidated by… well everything.

"How the hell am I supposed to do this?" Serena looked down at Emily. She had asked her sister to drop her off and stay with her for the first little while just to help calm her nerves. They had met with the principal of the school, who told Serena what he expected (though he didn't seem to care much that she was there) and sent her off into the halls.

"I remember kids having spares," Emily whispered. "Maybe if you roam the halls, you can observe them."

"I feel creepy," Serena muttered. She removed the pass from around her neck, "Here, you do this."

Emily shook her head and backed away, "No way. I'm already doing a job for you. Personally, I'd rather jump through a ring of fire or be eaten alive by a Nighlok then have to stay here a full day. The best thing about being called for my Samurai duties was leaving school and everyone inside it behind."

"Why?" Serena asked, looking down. Emily shot her a look and she remembered, "Right… Abby and her followers."

"And that was just one crowd," Emily nodded, "The jocks also picked on me. And the regular kids! I even had a nerd shove me into a locker once."

"Alright, alright," Serena sighed, "You've faced enough fears. Go on, find the others, get out of here and leave me alone to suffer."

"You'll do great," Emily offered her sister an encouraging smile and a kiss on the cheek, "Bye!"

Serena watched as Emily literally ran right out of the school so she could find the others who had stopped at a coffee shop to wait for her. They had taken Scruffy on a walk and were going to walk home with Emily, leaving Serena behind.

The earth Samurai decided she would walk the halls and see what happened.

-Samurai-

Emily found her dog tied to a pole outside the coffee shop and took his leash. She looked through the window and waved for the others to come out and join her.

"How was she?" Kevin asked.

"Terrified," Emily chuckled.

"She'll get over it. It's not like she ever lets anything intimidate her," Jayden said with a shrug.

"Yeah, as soon as one kid tries to push her over, she'll stand her ground," Antonio smiled. "So are we headed home, or can we stop by the new electronic store down the street?"

"I guess we can make a stop," Jayden nodded his head, "We have nowhere else to be."

Antonio smiled and led the way over to the new store, which he had been dying to check out since he saw on the internet they opened up a month ago. There was a store in his father's city just like this one, but it didn't seem to be as big.

As he approached the store and looked into the window, his jaw dropped. The store had everything a techy like Antonio needed. Computer parts, upgrades, games, anything and everything he would need to build his own computer, use or upgrade the computer he had, or, based on the look of some of the stuff in the store, build the computer of the future.

He shed a mock tear and wiped it from his cheek, "It's beautiful."

"We'll give you ten minutes," Jayden said, "We'll be out here with the dog."

"Ten minutes?" Antonio sighed in disappointment. It was going to take him ten minutes to soak in the amazingness of his new favourite store, "C'mon, guys, you're killing me!"

"We'll make it half an hour if," Kevin smirked and pointed to the sales rep walking around the store, "You can do as Dr. Fletcher instructed you and flirt with him for five, maybe ten minutes."

Antonio's jaw dropped, "Seriously? But what if he's not gay?"

"Is he not gay?" Kevin asked.

Antonio looked through the window again, "I… I don't know… I'm still sorta new to this."

"Mike can go in with you," Kevin said and he gave Mike a pat on the back, "Right Mike?"

The green Ranger shoved a doughnut from the coffee store into his mouth and nodded his head, "Oh, right. Yeah, sure, dude. I'll be your wingman," he said with his mouth full.

Emily gave Mike a slightly disgusted look, "Don't worry Antonio, compared to that, if you flirt with anyone, your odds of getting their number goes up by about… everything. Gay, straight, married… engaged."

Mike shot Emily a look, "Hey!"

"Swallow."

He gulped down his food and continued the look, "Hey!"

Kevin turned to Antonio, "C'mon, subtle flirting, what's the worst that can happen? He rejects you, you come home with us and nothing's different."

Antonio let out a heavy sigh, "Well, if Jayden's pathetic flirting can get him a girl like Amanda; I don't see why I don't have a shot. C'mon, Mike."

"I could get any number I wanted," Mike said to Emily as he wiped cream from his lip. Emily laughed and pushed him in after Antonio.

"Then go get that guy's."

As the two boys walked into the store, Jayden turned to Kevin with a smile.

"Nice stepping it up," he said. "I had completely forgotten about Antonio's treatment."

"Stepping it up?" Kevin asked.

"Maybe full time leader isn't your thing," Jayden nodded, "But you definitely have your moments."

Kevin smiled proudly, "Thanks."

"Don't encourage him," Mia laughed, "Tell him he's horrible and let him deal with it."

Kevin pulled Mia into his arms, "I don't have to be bad at stuff, I just have to understand I'm not perfect. If I were, I would have been leader of the Samurai Rangers by now."

"We'd have defeated Xandred by now," Emily muttered. She had her eyes glued on the window to watch Antonio flirting. Just before he walked up to the sales rep, he looked back at his friends and she gave him an encouraging smile. Mike then gave Antonio an _encouraging_ push towards the man.

-Samurai-

Serena had wandered the halls back and forth so many times, she felt dizzy, so she decided to walk around outside to see what was going on there. It was the middle of winter, and most kids were in class, but she was sure she could find a few in the field or some students walking to school late because their first period was a spare.

As she was about to round a corner, she heard some laughing and poked her head around to see what was going on. There were five, maybe six giants, all wearing sport's jackets, standing around the dumpster. Serena found this a little odd, but remembered a story Emily told her of the time the jocks got together and dumped her in the dumpster on a hot day, then locked her in.

She turned the corner and, just as she expected, she noticed a younger, smaller student, standing in the middle of the circle, right next to the dumpster. He was clutching onto his backpack and books, and trembling like crazy.

"Alright, guys, lift him," one of the jocks called out and two of his friends made a move to grab the younger student. Serena cut in at this moment.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," she called, getting in the circle between the giant athletes and the young student, "It takes two of you to lift this kid?"

"Who the hell are you?" the jock at the head of the circle asked. "Are you a new student?"

"Do I look like a student?" Serena crossed her arms over her chest.

"You look like my next girlfriend," he smirked and stepped in closer to Serena, "How about…"

"You're my sister's age," Serena lightly pushed him away, "That's disgusting."

"Disgusting?"

"Besides," she gestured to her stomach, "You don't want to take care of this."

"Adoption?"

"Hardly," she rolled her eyes. She turned to the young student behind her and eyed him carefully. She looked back at the jocks and shook her head in disappointment, "Well, at least you understand the concept of teamwork."

"What do you mean?"

"C'mon, you're twice his size," she gestured to the young student, "it only takes one of you to lift him. Why waste manpower?"

"They squirm," another jock piped up.

Serena turned to the student, "Head inside."

"Thanks, Miss," the student said. He stumbled a bit, but took off running for the doors. The jocks all groaned as they watched him get away.

"Good going," the leader rolled his eyes, "Now who are we going to dump?"

Serena stood confidently and looked the jock right in the eyes, "Me."

"Pfft, no way," he shook his head, "C'mon, guys, we'll get him at lunch."

As they walked away, Serena shook her head and chuckled to herself, "Classic."

She made her way back to the doors and headed inside to find the young student.

-Samurai-

Outside the electronic store, the four Rangers and Scruffy were sitting on a bench, waiting for news from Antonio on the success of his flirting. His half an hour of shopping time was almost up and he had flirted with the sales rep for five minutes of that time.

They heard an alarm beep and turned around. They saw Antonio walking out of the store. He threw his hands in the air with a smile.

"Flirting, check."

"Phone number, check," Mike grinned, holding up a business card with the man's number.

"Did you get that, or did Antonio?" Kevin teased.

Mike laughed mockingly and threw the card at Kevin, "Ha-ha. For your information, it was Antonio," he turned his look over to Emily, "but, the woman by the cash registers couldn't stop eyeing me the entire time."

"She didn't see you eat that doughnut," Emily rolled her eyes. Mike nudged her playfully and wrapped his arm around her.

Jayden smiled at Antonio and placed his hand on his shoulder, "So he gave you his number, huh?"

"Well, kind of," Antonio nodded and bit his lip. "I tried flirting and not only did it not work… but he's straight."

"That sucks," Mia sighed sympathetically and rubbed Antonio's arm, "but how did you get his number."

"He didn't reject me," Antonio smiled. "He realised what I was doing and told me he was flattered. He gave me his number in case I ever need help with computers. He's a genius, and that's coming from me."

"So this wasn't a total fail?" Jayden asked.

Antonio shook his head, "Not at all. Thanks for making me do this, Kevin."

"One step at a time," Kevin smiled and nodded.

Emily suddenly moved away from the window of the store and started pushing Mike along the sidewalk. She gestured for the others to follow.

"Flirty cashier lady's still staring at you," Emily said to Mike, "We need to go."

"Need to go?" Mike turned around and cocked an eyebrow. "Are you jealous?"

Emily frowned and shook her head, "Am not! But next time someone has to play wingman, Jayden or Kevin is going in."

"You're so jealous," Mike teased.

"Am not…"


	167. Crush

After getting the jocks to leave the kid alone, Serena wanted to find the young student and have a talk with him to see what was really going on.

She found him by his locker, trying to shove his bag inside. He was carrying a big bag, a little too big for him, maybe, and with all his winter clothes he couldn't get the back to fit inside the locker properly.

She walked up to him with a smile and offered a hand. With a quick shove and a forceful slam, she got the bag in and the locker closed. The boy looked up at her.

"Thanks."

"I remember hating my locker in the winters," Serena laughed. "They don't plan them very well, do they?"

"I have to go to class," the boy flicked his thumb over his shoulder. Serena shook his head.

"Look, I'll clear it with your teacher later… I hope," she pointed to the floor, "Wanna take a seat?"

"There's a bench down the hall if you're more comfortable," the boy said and he glanced nervously at Serena's stomach. "You'll have an easier time… uh…"

"Getting up?" Serena laughed. "I can't wait to see myself in a couple of months."

"So you're actually…"

"Pregnant? Yeah," Serena nodded and walked with the boy down the hall, "but that's not important right now. I want to talk about what happened out there. Why are those guys trying to throw you into a dumpster? Did you take their lunch money?"

"They took mine," the boy shook his head. When they reached the bench he took a seat. "I'm new. I started here in December and they've been picking on me since day one."

"Throwing you into a dumpster is more than just picking on you."

"I guess I just have to get settled in," the boy shrugged his shoulders. "All the other ninth graders did."

"You're in grade nine and you think you're the only one who's new?"

"I'm the newest kid here," the boy nodded. "My dad got transferred here for work and mom and I had to follow. I don't even want to be here. I want to go home."

"Where is home?"

"Ontario," the boy muttered.

"So this isn't just a new school," Serena sighed. "It's a new everything. But that doesn't mean you have to take the bullying."

"It's not bullying. Those guys say…"

"Don't listen to them. They're jerks," Serena shook her head, "Look, kid, anytime someone does anything to make you feel bad, that's bullying. You don't have to sit back and take it."

"Right, so next time they dump me in the garbage, I'll hold my fists up and tell them to take a piece of me?"

"You could work on confidence for starters. Those jerks are cowards. It was obvious the minute I saw them. I mean, c'mon, if I wanted, I could dump you in the trash myself. It doesn't take two of them, and it shouldn't take a full crowd of them to intimidate you."

"So I should only be scared of one?"

"Of none. Can I be honest with you?"

"Why not?"

"Those guys are never going to be scared of you, and as long as you keep doing this to yourself, no one's going to help you out."

"You're really bad at this…"

"I know what it's like to be in your shoes," Serena said. The kid looked up at her.

"Please tell me you were bullied when you were my age but now it's stopped, you have a wonderful life, you're free and independent, and you're happily married."

"Uh…" Serena looked down to the ground, "I was never bullied… I was the most popular girl in my town. And I wouldn't call this a wonderful life. I live with my kid sister and her friends, I'm pregnant and the father's not going to be around, and I'm working here. Freedom and independence? Not so much."

"Oh…"

"But, kid, if that's not inspiration for you, I don't know what is," Serena smiled. "I was popular. I was cool. Everyone loved me, and look what happened to me. Just because life was good for me when I was your age, that doesn't mean anything."

"So how do you know what it's like to be me?"

"I was popular. My little sister? Not so much. She broke a crayon in kindergarten and never heard the end of it. She was picked on, teased, called names. Kids didn't let her play with them, they pounded her with balls during gym class, tripped her, tied her shoelaces together. They stuffed her in her locker more time than I can count. They kicked sand in her eyes, locked her in the janitor's closet…"

"I get the point," the kid said, turning green, "In a few months, I'm sure that'll be me."

"You'd be lucky to be my sister," Serena smiled. "She's got a better life than I do. Good friends, a really, really good man in her life. She's the one everyone loves."

Serena lightly touched the young student's arm, "You can't bring yourself down. Kids like those jerks, they feed off that. It's going to take a little time, and I can't guarantee the bullying will stop right away, but I can help you turn things around. Do you want my help?"

"I guess. I have nothing else to do at lunch and after school."

"Great," Serena smiled and got up. She looked down at the boy, "I'm Serena."

"Mitch," the boy shook Serena's hand just as the bell ran and classes let out. "And now it's time for math so I've got to go."

"Smile," Serena told him, "you make friends by smiling."

Mitch gave her a small smile as he set off for class.

-Samurai-

"Want the ball? Do you want the ball?" Mike teased the dog as they approached the Shiba House. Mike waved a ball in Scruffy's face. "Here's the ball. Get it; get it, ooh, so close."

"He's drooling, Mike," Kevin laughed. Scruffy was eyeing the ball like it was a treat, and following even the smallest of movements in hopes he could win the ball and chase it around.

"He loves this," Mike smirked and finally released the ball, throwing it across the yard and into the deep snow. Scruffy didn't hesitate. He jumped right in, throwing snow everywhere to search for his beloved ball.

"He's like the Godzilla of the winter wonderland," Antonio commented. In his hands, he proudly twirled the business card. It wasn't easy flirting for the first time in public, but nothing bad had happened. He hadn't been called out or rejected. At worse, all that could happen now was Antonio slip right back into his normal day to day life. At best, he had made a new friend. There was nothing he had to lose.

Scruffy found the ball and brought it back. He dropped it at Mike's feet for the green Ranger to throw again.

"He'll never get tired of this," Mike smiled. "You guys should head inside and warm up. I'll play with him."

"Don't lose him," Emily called. He stuck his tongue out playfully until she was inside the house. He looked down at the dog and launched the ball across the yard.

"We're not going to lose you, right Scruffers?" Mike smirked as Scruffy brought the ball back. Scruffy then dropped down and rolled over, exposing his stomach. Mike laughed and rubbed the dog's belly.

"Don't lose that charm," he told him, "It'll help with the ladies."

-Samurai-

Inside the house, Jayden was getting started on some hot chocolate for the Samurai when Antonio walked into the kitchen.

"I flirted."

"I saw," Jayden chuckled.

Antonio took a seat in his chair, "So, you're not jealous? Not even a little bit?"

Jayden shook his head, "Antonio…"

"It's a fair question. I didn't know I liked you until I saw you flirting. And you can be honest, Jay, I can handle it."

"I'm happy for you," Jayden looked Antonio in the eye, "You're going to meet someone great one day and he's going to love you the way you deserve to be loved."

"He's just not going to be you?"

Jayden shook his head, "My mind's still set on Amanda. You could be a girl who's my friend and you could be flirting with everyone we meet, I don't think I'd be jealous. Worried, but not jealous."

"Still miss her, huh?"

"I wonder how she's doing," Jayden sighed.

Antonio glanced over his shoulder into the common room. Mia, Kevin, and Emily were playing a board game. His eyes fell on Emily, then he turned back to Jayden, "It must not have been easy breaking up with her and then watching Emily go through all that. Amanda was in a similar state."

"She's got a supportive family. I'm sure they're taking care of her," Jayden said, "But I feel like a dick."

"You are kind of a dick," Antonio nodded.

"Those guys have it easy," Jayden leaned against the counter and looked into the common room. "They have each other. Any time one of us tries to date, it's got to be outside the Rangers, and we end up getting hurt. Serena with Dekker, me with Amanda."

"I don't have anyone," Antonio shrugged. He looked across the room at Jayden, "Here's an idea. I'm screwed… or not screwed, but you and Serena…"

"No."

"Is it because she's pregnant, because you're in that baby's life either way. Might as well…"

"No."

"You're not even going to…"

"No."

"Okay," Antonio held his hands up, "You can't say I didn't try."

-Samurai-

Later in the day, Serena sat in the cafeteria. It was before lunch, but she was hungry, and she didn't think she would get much of a chance to eat if she was helping Mitch. She explained this to the cafeteria people and they kindly let her take some food.

The food was gross, though, and she was sitting alone. Now she was really starting to understand what it live the other high school life. There was no one else in the cafeteria that she could eat with, but she still felt very lonely.

Suddenly, a tray fell in front of her, and she looked up to see a man smiling down at her.

"You're new, aren't you?"

Serena nodded nervously. The man seemed to be about her age, maybe a little older. There was a whistle around his neck, and he was dressed in a sweatshirt and shorts.

"Gym teacher?"

"Physical education. I'm Coach Smith, or James if you prefer."

"Serena."

"Can I take a seat?"

Serena looked around the cafeteria, "Up to you. It's not like you don't have a choice."

James grinned and sat down across from Serena. He poked at his food, which seemed to be just as disgusting as the food on Serena's plate. He shoved a big forkful in his mouth and Serena looked disgusted.

"How do you do that?"

"It's a trick you'll learn. The faster you eat it, the faster it disappears and then we can go to the snack machine and pick something out. Something edible. Fortunately, I have enough change in my pocket for two."

"I've got snacks, but thanks."

"So why are you eating this crap?" James laughed. "C'mon, I'm the Phys. Ed teacher and I'm telling you to eat from the snack machine. What does that tell you?"

"That your sweatshirt is hiding something," Serena smirked.

"Speaking of stomachs…"

"Is that all everyone notices here?"

"Schools and pregnancies don't mix together very well. Even the married teachers get talked about when they start showing. Rumours are vicious."

"Rumours don't bother me. Most rumours this kids can come up with will be better than what actually happened."

"Damaged, huh?"

"I wouldn't say that."

"So what brings you here? I don't remember hearing rumours about us getting a new teacher midway through the year."

"I'm more of a counsellor. I was hired by the school board and I'll be working in here to stop and prevent bullying."

"Ah," James smiled, "Hopefully you can help."

"It happens a lot here?"

"Discipline is kind of lacking," James nodded. "Three years in a row we've had counsellors come in to help students. All of them walked away."

"Really?"

"Our principal, he doesn't care. He comes in, plays solitaire all day, does the bear minimum, and goes home at three o'clock. The teachers aren't supported so they can't do anything, and the students, they pick up on everything. They know they're in charge."

"And the people who've come into to help, they just walked away?"

"No one cares," James sighed, "There's nothing you can do. When you have no support, you're standing alone. If you make it a week here, I'll buy you dinner."

Serena furrowed her brow, "You'll buy me dinner if I do my job?"

"You'll have earned it."

"And if I refuse your invitation?"

"Why would you do that?"

"Other plans, maybe?"

"What other plans will you have on a Friday night?"

"Are you saying I can't have plans?"

James shook his head, "No, I'm just asking," he shovelled the last little bit his food into his mouth and got up, "So, if you're still here on Friday, I'll take you out. Wherever you want to go. Deal?"

"Deal."

"Great," James smiled, "It's a date."

He grabbed his tray and got up, leaving Serena to finish her meal on her own. As he walked out, she lowered her head and blushed.


	168. A Horrible Reunion

Serena was sitting with Mitch in front of the school at the end of the day. She wanted to help him the way she should have helped Emily, but to do that, she was going to have to get to know him first.

Over lunch they had spoken quite a bit. She knew about his childhood in Canada and she compared his life in the city of Toronto with her life on the farm.

Another reason she was sitting with him was to ward off the bullies. For now, she wanted Mitch to be able to feel safe at school. It was, after all, supposed to be a place where he felt safe and where he would be able to grow and make mistakes without judgement. Not a place where he came and was put down and attacked every day.

Finally, a car pulled into the parking lot and Mitch got up. He gave Serena a smile and walked to the car. He dumped his bag in the back seat and crawled into the passenger seat. As his mother pulled out, Mitch looked out the window and waved at Serena. She waved back, a smile on her face.

"Well, you've reached one of them."

Serena turned around, "James."

"That little boy's in my second period class," James said with a smile, "He doesn't talk much and only participates when he has to. I've never seen him smile."

"I only need to change one life to make this worth it," Serena said, "He's a good kid. It's just a shame he doesn't believe it."

James looked down at his watch, "Well, that's one day out of five you've survived. Think you can make it through the next four?"

"You promised me dinner," Serena answered with a smirk, "That's huge motivation for me. I'm always hungry because of junior, and I'm low on cash."

"Glad I could be of service, then," James nodded and bowed playfully. "Do you need a ride home, or is that covered?"

Serena saw a car pulling into the school parking lot and smiled. It was Jayden's car, but she knew who was driving it. Mentor had promised to pick her up so they could talk about how her first day went before the others attacked her with questions.

"My uncle's here," Serena smiled and walked over to the car as Mentor Ji pulled up, "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"I'll bring lunch," James promised. "No one should have to eat the cafeteria food two days in a row."

Serena beamed brightly and got into the car. She closed the door and waited for the car to start, but it didn't. She turned to Mentor Ji. He was staring back at her, "What?"

"You made a friend?"

"I think he's flirting with me," Serena said. "He's already promised me dinner and lunch."

"Are you ready for this?" Mentor asked with a look of concern on his face, "You and Dekker…?"

"If he pushes me too far, you know I'll push back," Serena smiled, "but so far, I think I can handle it."

Mentor nodded and started the car, "So, your first day went well, I guess."

-Samurai-

Mike was still outside with the dog. He was playing around, teasing Scruffy, throwing the ball, and hiding it. On his last throw, the ball went over the fence.

Mike and the dog exchanged looks. Scruffy seemed to be begging Mike to go retrieve the ball. Mike didn't feel like walking all the way around, but he found he couldn't resist the dog.

"You win," he said and walked over to the gate. Scruffy followed him loyally until he thought he heard something. His tail wagged, he barked, and he set off in the opposite direction.

Mike grumbled and followed Scruffy. He wasn't on a leash, so he could go anywhere and the last thing Mike wanted to do was lose him.

Scruffy disappeared into the forest but the leaves had all fallen so whenever he rushed out from behind a tree, Mike could spot him.

Just as he started to get closer to the dog, he heard a whimper. It was Scruffy's.

"What did you do, boy?" Mike stepped around the tree and looked down. Scruffy was whimpering, but he hadn't hurt himself. "Holy shit!"

In the snow, which was stained with blood, was Amanda. Mike had no idea what she was doing this far away from the city, especially after the break-up, but he knew she needed help. He couldn't move her because he wasn't sure what had happened. He wanted to see if he could wake her up first.

"Where's Emily?" he asked the dog. Scruffy gave him a look that told him he didn't want to leave, but Mike pointed to the house, "Scruffers, where's Emily? Get help!"

Scruffy barked and hurried over to the house to help Mike. With the dog going to get help, Mike could focus on Amanda. He knelt down beside her and gently tapped her cheek.

"Amanda. Amanda, wake up! It's Mike."

Mike didn't get an answer. He checked her breathing and checked for a pulse. She barely had any clothes on and looked like she was freezing cold. He pulled off his jacket and laid it on top of her. He had felt a pulse, though it was faint.

"You're going to be okay," he told her. "Jayden's coming."

-Samurai-

Scruffy pushed the big door open; happy the Samurai hadn't closed it all the way. He pushed his way into the house and ran as quickly as he could into the common room. As soon as he saw Emily, Kevin, and Mia he barked. He barked loudly and bit down on Emily's sweater.

"Scruffy!" Emily pulled him off, "No!"

Scruffy tried to bite again but Emily put her arm in the way. He knew better than to bite her so he jumped back. Emily glared at him.

"No," she repeated.

Scruffy didn't give up. He tried to bit Emily's sweater again so he could pull her outside. Emily didn't see this coming and moved her arm, so Scruffy bit her. He didn't bite hard; he wasn't trying to hurt her. He didn't break her skin or cause her any pain, but he had her arm in his jaws.

Emily felt him bite her and frowned at the dog. She kept her arm still so he wouldn't hurt her and grabbed the top of his mouth.

"Let go," she demanded.

Scruffy let her go and knew he had her attention now. He hadn't bit her since he was a puppy and didn't know any better. She wasn't going to let this go and he knew it.

He raced off to the door. At first Emily didn't follow. He ran back to the common room and barked and growled.

"I think he's trying to tell you something, Em," Kevin said. He could tell Scruffy didn't seem to attack out of anger. He kept pulling on Emily.

Emily got up and walked over to her dog. She tried to grab his collar but he avoided her and ran for the door. He turned back to her and barked.

"Dog on a mission," Mia muttered. She and Kevin had left their game and were now standing behind Emily as she glared at her dog.

"This isn't funny, Scruffy," Emily said.

Scruffy turned around and started clawing at the door. Emily knew Mentor would be angry at her if her dog destroyed the house. She walked up to Scruffy and grabbed his collar. She opened the door to let him out. As soon as the door was opened, Scruffy ran, pulling himself free from Emily, who fell face first outside.

"Emy!" Mia and Kevin rushed over to help her up, "Are you okay?"

"Peachy," Emily growled and chased after her dog. Kevin and Mia exchanged looks then followed her.

-Samurai-

Jayden was washing his dishes from a late lunch and thinking. The team had been through quite a bit lately, even if it had little to do with the Nighlok. He wanted to do something special.

He always felt guilty about what he was asking them to do. He knew they had trained for this, and they had known about it their entire lives. When he gave them their morphers, he told them to take up their responsibilities because they wanted to, not because they felt they had to, but it was still a lot to ask.

From strangers. They had been strangers when he first met them, and the first thing he had said to them, the first thing he had done, was ask them to throw their lives away and fight against the Nighlok. And they had done so. They had put their lives at risk for him so many times. They had been caught in rough battles, in explosions, in fires, underwater. They had fallen from cliffs, they'd been sliced to pieces, they did it all, and they always came back with smiles on their faces. They were always willing to do more.

So when something shook them up, Jayden liked to give them a little down time. Some time to do something fun. It was a chance for them to feel normal again, like they weren't just friends because they were Rangers, they were friends because they cared for and loved each other, and they had fun together.

Just as an idea came to mind, he heard the front door slam against the wall.

"Jayden!" he heard Mike scream. A thousand thoughts raced through his head. Mike never screamed like that unless someone was hurt. Could it have been him? Mike had been outside alone. If it was Mike, he was still strong enough to call for help, but it was still an unnecessary injury; one that could have been prevented.

Maybe it was Emily. She was always getting into trouble and Mike was right there with her.

Or maybe it was Mia. After he had served the hot chocolates she could have gone out to tell Mike his was ready and something could have happened.

Maybe it was Antonio, who wanted to join Mike and play with the dog.

Or Kevin, who followed Mia when she went to call Mike inside.

Maybe it was Serena or Mentor. They were on their way home by now. Maybe they were hurt. What if there had been an accident?

He sprinted to the hallway and his heart stopped. Mike and Kevin were carrying someone, he couldn't tell who, into the house on a thick wooden board. Only Mike could have made a board like that, and if Jayden wasn't so distracted trying to figure out who was lying on the board, he would have complimented Mike on a job well done.

But he didn't. His eyes and his mind were focused on the person on the board. It was a girl. That meant Kevin, Mike, Antonio and Mentor were safe, but Emily, Serena, and Mia were all still in danger.

Until Mia and Emily walked into the house. Emily was pulling Scruffy in and praising him endlessly for his help.

Mia rushed over to Jayden while Kevin and Mike carried the girl and the board into the common room.

"We'll get whoever did this, I promise."

Jayden was really starting to panic now. Mia was comforting him. Unless it was really something to worry about, she tended to stick more towards the generic: _"Everything's okay."_ Now she was touching his arm, her eyes brimmed with tears and filled with worry and a promise. He wasn't sure what kind of promise exactly, but a promise that something was going to happen.

She took his hand. She never took his hand. She gently guided him into the common room. Jayden looked around. Antonio was there. He felt a little better. He already knew his best friend was fine, but it was good to see it with his own eyes.

"Come on," Mike muttered as he leaned over whoever they had brought inside. "Wake up. Wake up."

Jayden couldn't bring himself to look just yet. He needed to figure it out first. He glanced around the room again. Mike seemed panicked, but Emily wasn't distressed. Obviously she was worried, but she wasn't the one freaking out the most. Jayden could narrow it down to Serena being injured, but Emily's reaction didn't match what it normally did.

And if Serena had been injured, Mia wouldn't have been comforting him. She would have been all over Emily, getting the youngest Samurai anything and everything she needed.

He worried it was Mentor. That would explain Mia's behaviour and Emily's lack of extreme panic, but he had already seen the body and it didn't match Mentor Ji's at all. The body belonged to a woman.

"Her eyes are open," Mike suddenly shouted and everyone crowded around him and the mystery girl. Mike shook his head. "No, guys, get back, let her breathe! Where is Jayden?"

"Here," Jayden finally decided to step up. He was obviously needed and he wouldn't let his team down. He made his way over, gently pushing them out of his path and knelt down. "Who is she?"

Mike looked at Jayden curiously, then brushed her hair out of her face. Jayden looked down and his heart stopped. He reached for her hand. He took it. He held it tight. He brought it up to his mouth and kissed it softly.

"Amanda…"

She gave him one look and then her eyes closed. Kevin jumped right in, taking Mike's spot. He pressed his fingers against her neck and then her wrist.

"There's barely anything."

"Rangers!" there was a call from the door. Mentor and Serena were finally home.

Emily jumped up and sprinted to the hallway. She ignored her sister completely and grabbed Mentor's arm.

"Help!"

"Emily…"

"We need help!"


	169. Tell Her To Fight

Jayden sat by his bed while Amanda rested. He could not, and would not, be moved from her side.

Mentor Ji had done all he could. He had set up a machine to help her breathe, he was monitoring her heart, warming up her, and he had tended to all her injuries to the best of his abilities. Now all he and the others could do was wait.

This was killing Jayden slowly. Someone had done this to Amanda. She never would have done this to herself. Someone had come after her and she had tried to find him for help. It was the only explanation he had and the only thing that could make sense. Mike said he and Scruffy had found her near the house, so she had to of been coming here for a reason.

He had offered to let Amanda recover in his bed. He didn't know how long it would take, but it was the least he could do for her after putting her in so much danger. Antonio had been kind enough to follow up and he had offered to let Jayden sleep in his bed, while he slept on the couch. He knew it was the only way Jayden would get some rest.

Jayden wished she would open her eyes and tell him what had happened. If this was some random attack, he wanted to know. He wanted to teach the punk what happened when he messed with a Samurai's girlfriend.

If it was a Nighlok, the monster was as good as dead.

But she wouldn't open her eyes and she couldn't tell them, so Jayden had to wait.

There was a knock at his door. He ignored it.

Emily walked in anyways. She had a tray of food for Jayden. She set it down on his night table and looked at him.

He looked back at her, "Serena was like this once," she nodded her head slowly. Jayden looked back down at Amanda, "Tell me it gets easier."

Emily lowered her head, "I'm sorry…"

"Dammit, Emily," Jayden pounded his fist on the night table. Emily jumped.

"I'm sure eventually…"

"I don't care about eventually. When I wake up tomorrow, how am I going to feel? When I look at her, what am I going to think?"

"I don't…"

"Tell me!" he grabbed her arm. Emily flinched.

"Worse. You're going to feel worse."

Jayden let her go and pointed to the door, "Get out."

"Jay…"

"GET OUT!" he picked up his glass from the tray and threw it at her. Emily jumped out of the way just in time and bolted for the door.

Jayden took his seat and gently took Amanda's hand. He sat in silence for a few moments until there was another knock on the door. This time, his visitor didn't even wait for an answer before walking in. Jayden looked up and saw Mentor Ji seemed angry.

Mentor pointed to the floor where the broken glass rested, "Pick it up."

"She told on me?"

"Pick it up," he growled.

"I'm kind of busy here…"

"Shut up and pick it up."

"No."

"Then get up and go apologize. Your friends worked hard on that meal. They made your favourite. Kevin even ran out to the store to get your favourite juice. Clean it up or go apologize."

"My girlfriend…"

"You broke up with her a long time ago," Mentor corrected Jayden, "I know you care for her, but that is no excuse to turn into a thoughtless monster. When the others found themselves in this position and you were on the outside, you were worried and upset too. Do not forget that."

"Shut up, Mentor."

"We all care for Amanda," Mentor said, "but your friends will be here long after she is gone."

Jayden squeezed Amanda's hand tightly and screwed his eyes shut. That was the last thing he wanted to hear.

"Clean up and apologize," Mentor turned and left the room. Jayden clasped Amanda's hand tightly and watched the older man leave. He looked back down at Amanda. He didn't want to lose her, but he couldn't afford to lose his friends either.

He got up. He brushed her hair away from her forehead and kissed her softly. It wasn't fair that he had to be strong, but it wasn't fair that the others had to endure this with him. It wasn't fair that Amanda was hurt. She had done nothing.

He picked up the shards of glass from his cup and set them down on the tray Emily brought in. He took a few bites of the food she gave him. He wasn't hungry, but they had gone through all that trouble.

When he had eaten enough he picked up the tray and walked back to the kitchen. There had been chatter in the room until he walked in.

He set the tray on the counter and turned to his friends.

"Thank you."

"Next time, try not throwing a…"

"Mike," Emily slapped his chest. She looked at Jayden, "You're welcome."

"I'm going to train for a little bit," Jayden said and gestured down the hall, "Clear my head. Does anyone want to join me?"

"No."

"Mike," Emily snapped again.

Kevin got up. He was always ready to train.

"I'll meet you in there," he left to get changed. Jayden looked over to Antonio and the girls. Mike was angry so he doubted he could ask for any favours from him.

"Would one of you mind sitting with her?" he asked. "I don't want her to feel alone."

Antonio and the girls exchanged looks. Antonio signalled for one of them to go. While Antonio and Amanda had nothing against each other, he didn't feel comfortable sitting in there alone with her, especially now that his feelings for Jayden were open.

Mia finally got up from the table, "I'll sit with her. Just don't beat Kevin up too badly. I like his face the way it is."

"I'll try not to," Jayden whispered and walked out. Mia followed, but turned in the opposite direction to head to his room.

Emily glared at Mike, "Be nice."

"He could have killed you. What if…?"

"That's a little extreme. Besides, I'm sure you've done a lot of stuff you regret when I was sick. Be nice."

"It's his fault she's like this."

"And that's punishment enough," Emily got up from the table. "Let it go. I'm fine. He's hurting and he needs you."

"Stop being right," Mike muttered. He got up and followed her to their bedroom, "I hate when you're right."

"You hate when you're wrong."

"Stop it," Mike smirked.

-Samurai-

Serena was just getting ready for bed when there was a knock at the door. She grumbled and thought about ignoring it. Now that she had to work, she had to be up early in the mornings and didn't want to go to bed too late. She always knew balancing work with the Samurai life was hard, but with recent events things were harder than she ever imagined. All she wanted for herself was a decent night's sleep.

"Sorry to disturb you," Mentor said as he stepped into the room, "I was looking to talk."

"Now? Mentor, I'd love to help, really, but I've got to…"

"I won't take up much time," Mentor gestured to the bed, "besides, from what you told me in the car, it seems your boss doesn't care much about when or if you show up."

"But Mitch does."

"Please?"

Serena found it hard to say no. Mentor had helped her out so much she owed him something. Serena tapped next to her on the bed, inviting Mentor to sit. He accepted the invitation then looked to her.

"How is Jayden feeling?"

"Excuse me?"

"His Samurai duties seem to have put another in danger," Mentor said. "I feel it every day as a Mentor, watching those Rangers run off into battle, but there is nothing I can do to stop them. I do all I can to help them prepare and I hope it's good enough. What Jayden's feeling… I can't imagine."

"And you think I can?"

"The yellow Samuraizer was yours first but because you let your illness progress too far before seeking help, you put your sister in danger."

"The yellow Samuraizer always belonged to Emily. I stood in the way. Fate made me sick on purpose."

"Still, had you sought help earlier, you would be here and Emily would be safe at home," Mentor said, "Fate dealt you a hand, it's up to you how you choose to play."

"He's probably frustrated," Serena said. "He probably hates himself. Whoever did this, he's going to want to go after him."

"How can I help him?"

"You can't," Serena shook her head. "Like him, you can only watch and hope for the best."

"He can only watch?"

"She's in there fighting for her life. I'm sure he'd love to breathe for her, but he can't. He'd love to go back in time and save her but he can't. He's waiting on her and he's got to hope she'll come back. Every day, he has to hope she'll come back."

"How did you get over it?"

"Get over it?" Serena laughed, "I still have nightmares, Mentor. At least once a week I have to get up in the middle of the night to make sure everyone's still here and still alive. You don't hear me walking around, but I do it. I'll do it until Xandred's defeated. I'll do it after he's defeated. I'll do it until there's no more danger left on Earth that could take the people I love away from me."

Serena turned to Mentor and looked him in the eye, "Patience. He needs your patience."

Mentor nodded. He got up and kissed Serena's forehead.

"Thank you. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Mentor. Call me if anything happens."

-Samurai-

Kevin gasped for breath. He was doubled over and hoping he would remember how to breathe sometime soon.

"I'm sorry," Jayden said.

Kevin held his hand up, "I'm fine," he managed to say. In and out; in and out. Slowly it came back to him. He took a big breathe and was finally ready to stand up straight. He held up his sword, "Do you need to go again?"

Jayden tossed his sword aside, "No."

"Jayden…"

"I shouldn't have even spoken to her on that first day. I should have paid for my stuff and walked out."

"You didn't know."

"I should have."

"Really? Are you psychic? You fell for her, Jay. You can't stop that. If it was meant to happen, it'll happen."

"You have no idea what I'm talking about."

"I love Mia."

"She's a Samurai," Jayden growled. "If a Nighlok attacks her, she can defend herself."

"That doesn't mean I want to see it happen."

"Whoever went after her attacked her because of me."

"How do you know?" Kevin asked. "How do you know she wasn't just walking along, minding her own business, when some asshole tried to take advantage of her? Maybe he wanted what was in her purse? Maybe he just felt like beating up the next person he saw?"

"Shut up."

"Look, Jayden, it's hard. We all know it's hard. And you're hurting. But you have to be strong for her. If someone did do this because of you, they'll be back. You can avenge her then."

"Avenging her won't make her wake up. It won't keep her safe," Jayden wanted to punch a hole in the wall as he walked over to the bench and grabbed his water bottle.

"She'll be safer…"

"Not if she doesn't wake up."

"She will wake up," Kevin nodded. "You have to believe. Serena woke up."

"She's a fighter."

"Amanda's a fighter too. She survived that fire…"

"It killed her," Jayden shook his head. "I revived her, just like you revived Emily. If we hadn't of been Samurai, she would have been dead."

"We could have only revived her if she was still alive in the first place. Even just a little," Kevin said. "We're Samurai, we're not gods."

"She's not strong enough to… OW!"

Kevin had slapped his stick against Jayden's arm, "And I thought I was an asshole. Amanda's tough. Your girlfriend or ex-girlfriend is plenty tough. I'll let you think and say a lot of things about this, Jayden, but I won't let you give up on her. I won't let you put her down because right now she's counting on you. It's up to you to be a man and keep her safe. You can't do that if you think she's as good as dead. So man up, Jayden or you won't be worth it and she'll have gotten hurt twice for some loser who decided he wasn't good enough for her."

"Shut up."

"It's the truth."

"Shut up. If it were Mia…"

"If it were Mia I would be by her side day and night to encourage her to keep fighting. I'd believe in her and I would believe in myself. I've see her die, Jayden. I know how you feel. That's why I can tell you to man up."

"You don't know…"

"Mia would tell you the same thing. Mike, Emily, Antonio, Serena, they would all tell you the same thing."

"Just shut up, Kevin," Jayden slammed his water bottle down on the bench. "I'm going to see her."

"Tell her she needs to keep fighting," Kevin said, "and tell her you'll protect her."

"I'll tell her what she wants to hear."

Kevin rushed after Jayden and grabbed him roughly by the shoulder. He slammed him into the wall.

"Tell her what you mean or don't say anything at all," he growled. "If you can't encourage her, I'm sure we can do a hell of a good job watching over her without you."

Jayden shrugged Kevin's hand off his shoulder and stormed off.


	170. Making A Difference

Serena was back in school, picking at her food. It wasn't that she wasn't hungry; she just had so much on her mind she couldn't think about eating.

James looked at her from across the table. He knew he didn't know her very well but he had made her something for lunch, as he promised, and she didn't seem to be eating it so he worried it was because she didn't like it.

"Just say something," he told her. Serena looked up. She seemed to snap out of her thoughts.

"Oh, no, it's not that. It's good."

"Little Mitch, is he okay?"

"Yeah, he and I are going to walk around a bit during his lunch period and we're going to look for teams or clubs he can join."

"I'm doing a few try-outs," James smiled, "If he's interested in any, he can try out. I'll give him a fair shot."

"I'll keep that in mind," Serena nodded.

James looked to her curiously, "So if things with your little student aren't bad, what is it? The school's bad, but I thought your welcoming committee was a little nice."

"It's home stuff."

"What kind of home stuff?"

"My brother's girlfriend, or ex-girlfriend, isn't doing very well. I'm just worried, that's all."

"What happened?"

"We don't know."

"If she's an ex-girlfriend, how did you…"

"It's complicated."

"Oh. Like what's happening with you?" James looked down at Serena's stomach. She noticed he did this often. Whenever he'd start up a conversation he would always redirect the conversation to her baby, even just for a moment. Serena was starting to pick up on the hints that he wanted to know a little more. Deciding her son and Dekker would do as a distraction away from Amanda, she set her fork down and smiled.

"Five questions about the baby, the baby's father, and what I'm going to do with the kid: go."

"Whoa, okay," James leaned back in his seat, "Uh, is the baby's father going to be… around?"

"Not much," Serena shook her head. "I'm sure once in a while he'll stop by, but I'm looking forward to single parenting."

"What's the sex?"

"Boy."

"Um, what happened?" James felt a little awkward asking that one. He had only just met Serena and he was starting to like her. He was a little uncomfortable with the pregnancy, which was why he had been asking so many questions, but he still thought she was worth getting to know.

Serena leaned forward and rested her arms on the table. This was a tricky question. Not only was her relationship with Dekker complicated, but it was also secret. She couldn't answer truthfully without revealing her identity and later on, if something happened between her and James, the identity of the actual Rangers.

She decided to play generic. The truth, but not too brutally honest. Most would call it sparing the details.

"I got involved with a guy I thought I could change," she said. "He was a total ass around everyone except me and whenever he was with me he was a different person. We fell in love and it was too late when I realised I couldn't trust him. So I left. I found out I was pregnant after the break-up."

"Does he know?"

"He knows," Serena nodded. "You have one more question left."

James thought for a moment then reached for his brownie. He pushed it forward and smiled at her, "Did you know not all guys are dumbasses?"

Serena smirked, "I'm starting to figure it out."

-Samurai-

Emily was studying the map in the common, trying to look back over the last twenty-four hours to see if she could detect any Nighlok activity. The entire house was wondering what happened to Amanda, and Emily worried that the worst had happened.

Antonio found her sitting on her stool staring down at the map. He could only assume she was deeply worried. She didn't know Amanda very well, and didn't care for her like Jayden did, but both girls had been kidnapped and almost died together. Surely there had been some connection that had formed in that time; some kind of bond or care for each other.

He sat down next to her and rubbed her back comfortingly, "Let's just focus on her getting better."

"What if Dayu told Xandred?" Emily asked. "Xandred would do anything to destroy Jayden. He could have gone after Amanda."

"We can worry about the what ifs until the cows come home. Amanda's here and she's safe with us. We'll just have to wait and see if she can pull through."

Emily sighed and turned off the map. She reached for the TV remote, hoping to distract herself. But when she turned on the TV, she saw the last person had been watching the news. She was about to change the channel when Antonio grabbed the remote from her hand.

"Em…"

Antonio and Emily watched as the reported passed the microphone over to a man and his name came up on screen. The gold and yellow Ranger turned to each other; it was Amanda's father. He was crying publicly, obviously very upset over what happened to his daughter.

"That son of a bitch killed my daughter," he said. "My baby girl is dead."

"He thinks she's dead?" Emily asked, turning to Antonio.

"Given the state we found her in, I would think she was dead too," Antonio shrugged.

The woman standing next to Amanda's father led him away. She too was in tears and seemed to be Amanda's mother. Antonio and Emily watched the screen, biting their lips.

"The young woman's body hasn't been found, but if there's one thing we know, it's that the monsters that attack our city take no mercy on human lives. We hope that if Miss Johnson is alive, she can find her way back home. If anyone sees her, please call…"

Antonio shut off the TV and rubbed his face with his hands, "It was a Nighlok."

He heard footsteps on the floor and looked up to see Emily leaving the room. He got up and ran after her. He caught her arm, "Where are you going?"

"We have to tell her parents we found her."

"And tell them what? We have no idea what's happened or if she'll survive?" Antonio shook his head, "She's safest here, with us, and she's safe under the radar. If we bring her back, everyone's going to know…"

"Her family's upset."

"Bringing her back won't cheer them up. We can't do anything, Em," Antonio pulled her into his arms. "If she wakes up we'll take her home so she can be with her family. If not… we'll return her body and we'll… we'll say something like we found her already dead or…"

"That's lying. If they figure it out… We can't lie. We have to tell her family."

"Emily, we can't do anything. Why don't you go sit with her and Jayden? You can tell her all about…"

"I want to see them."

"Em…"

"Please come with me," Emily looked up. "If I can't tell them the truth, at least let me help them. Jayden and Mentor can take care of Amanda. Someone has to take care of her family."

Antonio sighed loudly then nodded his head, "Alright. But you can't say a word. We need everyone to think what they think. This will settle down and the Nighlok might forget about her. She'll be safer."

"I know."

-Samurai-

Serena was looking at the bulletin board in front of the gym. It had all the announcements for the school teams Mitch could try out for. James had invited him and Serena thought it would be nice to get Mitch feeling like he was part of a team. Teams had worked miracles for her little sister, so she thought it could help Mitch.

"You said you were from Canada, right? What about hockey? Junior tryouts. You could be the best player on the team."

"I'm not into hockey," Mitch shook his head.

"Okay, uh, there's something here for basketball."

Mitch shook his head again.

"Volley ball?" again, Serena's offer was declined. She looked at the board and then to Mitch. She wanted to find something he was good at. "C'mon, kid, let's pick something. Coach Smith seems really nice, and not all the jocks are idiots. These kids will be your age, too."

Mitch's eye were fixed on one sheet, then he turned away and shook his head, "There's nothing. Let's go see if the chess club is taking in new members."

"Chess club?" Serena stuck out her tongue. But if that was what Mitch wanted to do, he would do it. Before she walked away with him though, she turned back to the board. She looked to see what it was he had his eye on. Maybe it was just something that had caught his attention for a minute. Maybe it was something he liked, but was too afraid to say.

"Cheerleading?" she double checked the list and called for Mitch to come back. He walked over to her and she pointed to the signup sheet, "You were looking at cheerleading?"

"It's for girls," he shook his head. "The entire team is full of girls, and only girls have signed up."

"So?"

"I'm already being bullied," Mitch said, "Do you want me to get beat up every day too? Besides, what can I do to help them? I'm no better than any of the girls that have signed up, and it's not like I'm a big, strong guy who can stand at the bottom of the pyramid and hold up all the other girls."

"You're still growing. I think you're taller than yesterday."

"Don't bother trying," Mitch shook his head. Serena wasn't going to give up there.

"Why do you want to be a cheerleader?"

"It looks fun," Mitch shrugged his shoulders, "And I've always kind of liked gymnastics and dance and stuff… but it's for girls. It's… hey!"

"Relax," Serena chuckled as she finished writing on the signup sheet, "I put Michelle down."

"Who's Michelle?"

"You."

"It's Mitchel."

"Whoops," Serena smirked. She let go of the pen then placed her hands on Mitch's shoulders, "Think about it tonight and talk to your parents. Tryouts aren't until tomorrow after school. If it's still something you want to do, even just a little bit, we're trying out, if not, no one knows it was you who signed up. They'll think Michelle didn't show."

"We're trying out?" Mitch shook his head, "Seriously? What are you going to do? Bounce that basket-ball you ate?"

"Watch it," Serena laughed and ruffled his hair, "You didn't think I was going to throw you in there alone. I'll be watching you try out from the stands. I'll be cheering you on."

"You're new here too," Mitch said, "Do you really want to be the teacher who backed up the girly boy in his cheerleading failure?"

"I want to be the personal coach for the man who made a difference in his school. The man who wasn't afraid to do what he loved. If you want to dance and cheer, I want you to go for it. No one's going to do it for you. You're going to try-out, you're going to give it your best shot, and you're going to be proud of yourself, no matter what happens."

"You really believe in me?"

"Do you?"


	171. Amanda's Family

Absolutely nothing had changed with Amanda. She wasn't getting any worse, but she wasn't getting any better. She was stuck in a limbo, trapped between life and death.

Jayden looked to her sadly. Maybe she wasn't. Mentor Ji had hooked her up to machine that would keep her alive. They were the same machines he had used for Serena when Dayu beat her up. They had worked for her, but they seemed to be doing very little, if not nothing, for Amanda.

He could pull her out of her limbo. He could turn off the machines and let her die. She doubted she would survive for long without oxygen. He could pull out the IVs, the tubes, and all the wires connected to her body.

But he couldn't bring himself to do that. It was murder, for starters. He had no say in her health, he couldn't decide what to do with her, even in the direst circumstances, and he had no idea what she wanted him to do. He had no idea if she had come out all this way, injured, so he could bring her back to life and save her, or if she had been beaten so badly she wanted to die. If she had told him to put her out of her misery and to let her go naturally, he would do so in a heartbeat. He loved her too much to let her suffer. But he didn't know. He couldn't do anything but wait.

A hand fell on his shoulder but he didn't react. He continued to look at Amanda.

"Antonio and Emily are going to see her family," Mike said. "We're all going to do what we can to help."

"She should go home," Jayden nodded his head slowly.

"It's not that simple, Jayden," Mike pulled up a chair and had a seat, "According to the news, a Nighlok did this."

Jayden felt the tears sting his eyes. The only thing worse than some stranger taking advantage of Amanda was knowing that she was hurt because of him. If it was a Nighlok, surely they knew of his connection to her. They did this to her because of him. He did this to her.

Mike gently squeezed Jayden's shoulder, "We can't take her home. She's safer here. The Nighlok can't come here and hurt her again."

"Her parents…"

"According to Antonio and Emily, they think she's dead. Keeping her out here will hurt them, but what can we do to help them? Tell them we know where she is but we don't know whether or not she'll live? That's torture. That's not giving them an answer, that's rubbing the truth in their face."

"But we can't…"

"I'm sorry, Jayden," Mike gave his friend a hug, "I'm sorry you're going to have to watch this. But we're going to do all we can for her. If we can't bring her back, we'll make her comfortable. Just let her know she has friends who will take very good care of her."

Mike turned to Amanda and touched her hand gently, "Whether you're an ex or not, we're going to treat you like family and we don't disappoint family. You can count on us."

"Thanks," Jayden whispered as Mike got up. The green Ranger was about to leave when he heard his name being called. He turned around and saw Jayden looking at him sadly, "Emily said it gets harder."

"And harder and harder," Mike nodded. "I'm sorry, Jay, but at least if she were dead, you would move on. Right now, you're just as stuck as she is."

-Samurai-

Just before they rang the doorbell, Antonio turned to Emily. He took her hand and sighed.

"Are you sure you can do this? You're a horrible liar."

"But excellent secret keeper. I'm not lying to them; I'm just keeping the truth from them so they don't hurt any more than they already do."

"What are we going to say to them? We're on Jayden's side of the break-up and from their perspective, it's an ugly break-up. He dumped her right after she was kidnapped. I love him, but he's a douche."

"They took care of my sister," Emily said. "Even if we had no idea where she was, I would have to do this."

Antonio nodded his head and rang the doorbell. He stood there with Emily nervously until the door opened. A woman, maybe only a couple years older than Antonio, answered the door.

"Go away," she was about to slam it shut but Emily stuck her foot in the door.

"We just want to apologize…"

"So does everyone in this damned city," the woman rolled her eyes. "How about, instead of apologizing and baking us casseroles, you go out there and you look for my sister."

Antonio looked to his feet. Emily bit her cheek.

"We're not here because we feel bad," she said. "We're friends of Jayden's…"

"That son of a bitch broke my little sister's…"

"We're also friends with Amanda," Emily said, "Please, let us in. We want to help."

"A friend of Jayden is not a friend of Amanda's…"

"You helped my sister," Emily said just as Amanda's sister was about to close the door. The older woman looked down at Emily, inspecting her closely.

"You're Serena's kid sister?"

"My sister was in a bad place and your family took her in. I know we're on different sides of the break-up, but we both care about Amanda…"

"Emily was also kidnapped by Da… the monsters with Amanda," Antonio added, trying to build a stronger relationship so Amanda's sister could trust them. "They nearly died together. Emily doesn't care about the break-up, neither of us do. We care about Amanda. "

Amanda's sister opened the door, "Come in."

"If there's anything you need…" Emily was interrupted when Amanda's sister pulled her into a tight hug. It was obviously something she was missing, something that hurt deeply about her sister's disappearance and likely death. Her parents were so distraught and so focused on Amanda, the rest of the family had to take care of themselves.

"Jessie?" a voice called. Antonio looked over to the stairs and saw a young boy, about twelve years old, standing at the foot of the staircase.

"Hey buddy," he smiled.

Amanda's sister, Jessie, pulled away from Emily and wiped her eyes, "Our… my brother, Max. Maxie, these are some of Amanda's friends. They came here to help."

"I don't want help. I want Amanda home," Max shook his head and ran up the stairs, "I want everyone to come home!"

"Max!" Jessie called after him but he wouldn't stop until he was in his room. He slammed the door and the house fell silent. Jessie sighed and turned to Antonio and Emily, "Sorry about that. He's upset."

"It's fine," Antonio nodded his head, "He has every right to be. Do you mind if I go talk to him? Man to man?"

"Be my guest," Jessie said. Antonio went upstairs and she took a seat on the bottom step. She held her head in her hands and sighed.

Emily walked up to her. She didn't say a word. She didn't have to. Jessie sighed again then looked up at Emily, "Mom and dad have barely been home since Amanda went missing. Our grandparents walked out to look for her too. When they have been home they go to their room and we can't bug them. Any of them. Mom, dad, grandma, grandpa… it's like they're never home."

"How long ago did she go missing?" Emily asked. From what Jessie was describing, it seemed like this had been going on for more than a day.

"You didn't hear?" Jessie asked. Emily shook her head. "Amanda's been gone since New Year's Day."

"What?"

"She went out to a party to celebrate. She was supposed to call us when she was on her way home, so we knew when to expect her. She called at about two in the morning and then never came home. Security cameras saw her walking by a store, she was going to the bus stop, when a monster came out of nowhere and grabbed her. She tried to run, but the monster hit her and… hit her…"

"I get it," Emily whispered. She sat down next to Jessie and took her hand, "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," Jessie shook her head, "It's not like you could have done anything. It's not like you know where she is," Jessie looked Emily in the eye, "It means a lot that you came. Emily, right?"

"Yeah."

"Amanda liked you after the break up. She wouldn't tell us why, she just said you could be trusted."

It took all Emily had not to tell Jessie where to find Amanda. She leaned into the older girl as Jessie started to cry again.

-Samurai-

"Max, I'm Antonio. I just want to talk, buddy, can you open the door."

"Find my sister!" Max screamed from the other side of the door and kicked it. Antonio stepped back.

"It's not easy, I know it's not," Antonio said. "Look, bud, I have a few sisters too. Three, actually. I know they drive you crazy sometimes and it's really tempting to annoy the crap out of them, but you love them and you don't want anything bad to happen to them. Open up the door, we can talk."

"No!"

"You know my older sister. She stayed with you for a while. Serena," Antonio said. There was silence on the other end. A calm silence. Apparently Serena was well liked in this house. "Buddy, my older sister gets in a lot of trouble."

Max opened the door a crack, "Serena only has one sister. No brothers."

"Family's subjective."

"What?"

"Family's people you care about. I care a lot about Serena. I don't have any real siblings like you do, but my friends are my family. Serena is my sister. Next time you see her, you can ask her. Can I come in?"

"Does Serena ever disappear?"

"Yep," Antonio nodded his head. "All my sisters have disappeared at some point."

"Has she ever died?"

"Almost. I know it hurts."

"Did she get better?"

Antonio bit his lip, "She did, but it's not that easy."

"Amanda's not coming home, is she?"

"Probably not anytime soon," Antonio shook his head. He sat by the door and looked at Max, "It's okay to be upset. It's okay to cry."

"I don't cry."

"You don't?"

"No."

"Do you scream?" Antonio asked.

Max shook his head, "I'm not allowed to scream in the house."

"That's fine," Antonio pulled himself up using the doorknob and stepped into Max' room, "because we're not going to scream in the house. We're going to scream into the pillow. I bet I can scream louder than you."

He walked to Max' bed and picked up the pillow. He pressed it against his face and screamed. Max smirked and took the pillow from Antonio. He screamed into it loudly. His body shook. When he pulled the pillow away from his face, Antonio saw he was red. There were tears in his eyes, but Antonio didn't say anything. He took the pillow back.

"Punch it," he said. "Pretend it's the monster that took your sister and show him who's boss."

Max grunted as he pounded his fist in the pillow. Antonio shook his head.

"C'mon, amigo, harder! He took your sister. No one hurts your sister except you. Punch it!"

Max screamed and punched the pillow. Antonio felt him hit his stomach through the cushiony shield and smiled.

"Atta boy."

"What's an amigo?"

"It's Spanish for friend," Antonio said.

"I'm an amigo?"

"You're my amigo. Now hit the pillow again, I barely felt that one. Beat it up, do your worst."

Max set upon the pillow in a rage.


	172. Jayden's Outburst

Serena couldn't get much work done without Mitch. This was a high school, not an elementary school. Whenever the students weren't in class, they were in the halls trying to get to their next class. She had seen a few kids getting shoved into their lockers, some who had their books knocked out of their hands, but aside from getting the bullies (still the jocks who had picked on Mitch on her first day) to get to class and leave the kids alone, she couldn't do anything.

It was only at the lunch period where she had her real challenge, but even now, after only her second day, the students were beginning to notice her and recognise her. She hadn't done anything memorable in the school yet but her insistence for a hostile free environment was beginning to sink in, at least when she was around.

Still, she was only at the start. She didn't want the kids to stop what they were doing only when she was near. She wanted the bullying to end completely. She wanted to be able to sit back at home and not have to worry about Mitch or any of the other kids. She wanted her job to be easy.

But first it had to be hard. Very hard.

She saw the jocks pounding their fists into what appeared to be Mitch's locker.

"Where's your little fairy whore-mother now? Huh, ass wipe?"

"HEY!" Serena shouted as she stomped over. She pulled the leader away from the locker and glared up at him, "Say that to my face."

"Jackson overheard you talking to Coach Smith," the leader said, flicking his finger to point to his friend, "Daddy's not in the picture, huh?"

"And what does that mean to you?" Serena crossed her arms over her chest, "My personal life has nothing to do with my work here. Now get your things, you have a bus to catch."

"Fucking slut."

Serena turned around, "Tomorrow, meet me in the gym at lunch."

"Yeah, right."

"Meet me in the gym or I will come and find you," Serena growled. "And if I have to waste my time and energy coming to get you, I will drag you by the ear in front of the whole school."

Serena turned around and looked down at the lock on the locker. The leader and the other jocks scoffed and walked off to catch their bus.

"Help!" Serena heard Mitch yell from inside. She glanced at the number of the locker.

"I'll need the combination."

"32-45-9."

Serena tried the lock and it opened. She was happy she still remembered how to work them. She gently helped Mitch out of his locker and brushed him off.

"Are you okay?"

"I don't want your help," Mitch shrugged her away.

"Don't listen to them."

"No. You're only going to make things worse. I'm going home and I'm asking my parents to switch schools."

"Mitchel…"

"And I'm not trying out for that stupid team!"

Serena groaned and leaned against his locker. She knew this was going to be hard. She let out a deep sight and straightened up. She walked back to the staff room and grabbed her things.

At least it was the end of the day and she could go home.

-Samurai-

Mia and Kevin exchanged looks and then turned back to Antonio and Emily.

"What do you mean you need to help them?"

Antonio turned to Emily. This wasn't his plan, but he was on board with it. After getting Max to punch the lights out of the pillow, he managed to sit down and have a talk with the boy. Max was deeply troubled, and if someone didn't come in to help him soon he would never bounce back. His sister was missing and his parents and grandparents were too caught up in their search and their own pain to comfort their two other children. Fortunately, his oldest sister hadn't left him, and she had been doing her best to take care of him, but things were bad.

Emily let out a deep breathe, "Please can we bring them here?"

"Her brother and sister?" Kevin shook his head, "No, Emily. It's already dangerous enough you're going to see them. Too many people know and if we tell them our secret, they'll be open for attack just like Amanda was."

"I agree with you, Kevin," Antonio said, "but… you weren't there. Max and Jessie need someone. Their parents aren't around, they're on their own. If we brought them here, they would have… you know…"

"Nothing," Kevin said, "We can't give them anything. Nothing they can't get at home. Nothing your occasional visits won't give them."

Emily looked to Mia sadly, "They're hurting, a lot. All they have is each other and that's not enough. It's really not enough."

Mia wanted to agree with Kevin, but Emily was on the verge of tears. The yellow Ranger had spent the entire afternoon by Jessie's side, comforting and helping the older sister. She listened as Jessie voiced her fears and worries, she had dried Jessie's tears and she understood just how worried Jessie was for her little sister and how she didn't have anyone to lean on. She needed to be strong for Max and for Amanda, but she wasn't sure how much longer she could hold up. Emily remembered what it was like for her when her mom ran away, and while the circumstances were different, and Jessie's parents hadn't actually left, the end result was the same. The kids were on their own and they were falling.

Mia took Kevin's hand, "Kevin…"

"I'm not doing this to be an ass," Kevin groaned. "I want to help, I really do, but it's safer if…"

"Fucking morons!" the four heard Serena shout from the doorway. Emily immediately jumped out of her chair and ran to her sister. She jumped into Serena's arms.

"I love you!"

Serena looked down curiously at her sister, "I didn't mean you, Emy. Just the kids at school. But I can't say that to their face or anywhere on school grounds…"

"Not that," Emily looked up at her sister, "I saw Jessie."

"Jessie who?"

"Amanda's sister."

"Oh. Is she okay?" Serena asked. Emily shook her head. "Should I go talk to her?"

"I already did," Emily hugged her sister again, "I love you."

"I… you already said that."

"I mean it," Emily said, "And if something happens to me, I don't want you to worry about me. I want you to be happy, okay?"

Serena frowned and guided her sister to the common room. She sat her down, "Emily, what's going on? Are you okay?"

"Don't worry about me…"

"Emily, I'm your sister. It's my job."

"Jessie and Max are suffering," Antonio said and cast a glance over at Kevin, "They need something to hold onto or they're both going to lose it."

"Why?" Serena asked.

"They think Amanda's dead. Her entire family thinks she's dead, but her parents and grandparents won't stop looking for her body. Jessie and Max are home alone to fend for themselves. They're barely getting by at best. We need to help them."

"I can go talk to them…"

"Can we bring them here?" Emily asked.

All eyes turned to Kevin and suddenly the pressure was on. Mia seemed to be siding with Antonio and Emily, and Serena had looked into her sister's eyes, so there was no arguing with Emily. He did admit, their arguments made a lot of sense. Remembering the last time he refused to go with his team, he nodded his head.

"I hope you know what you're getting into," he said. "Jayden's going to be pissed."

"Mentor too," Serena looked to Emily and Antonio, "Are you sure you want to do this? Are you sure this is what they need? We don't have anything to offer them…"

"Family," Antonio whispered. "We have a family."

"Does Mike agree?" Kevin asked.

Antonio smirked and nodded his head, "I played the Emily card."

Emily giggled, "It works on everyone, except you."

Kevin smiled, "It can't work on me when I don't look at you. I learned that trick a long time ago, you can't… dammit, what do you want?" Kevin sighed as Emily looked up at him with her puppy face.

"Gotcha."

"I'll go call Jessie and Max. I'll see if they even want to come over," Serena said.

-Samurai-

Mike walked into Jayden's room. He didn't know how this had happened, or when things turned around, but he had turned into Jayden's support group. He was still mad at Jayden for throwing a glass cup at Emily, but he understood the red Ranger was under a lot of stress. He wanted to help, if anything, to avoid of repeat of what happened.

He took a seat in his usual spot. Jayden didn't react to his entrance. He didn't anymore.

"How is she?"

"Go away."

"Jay…"

"Just leave me alone."

"You have to get out of here, man," Mike looked around the room. The curtains were closed to prevent any Nighlok from seeing Amanda had been rescued and the lights were dimmed. It was dark, it was lonely, and it was depressing, "You need to see the light."

"Don't talk about light. Don't talk about anything. Go away."

"Jayden..."

"Go away!" Jayden screamed. He grabbed Mike by the collar of his shirt and lifted him out of his chair. He dragged him over to the wall and slammed him against it. Part of him was hoping this would wake Amanda up. She would somehow know he needed to hear her voice and she would tell him to stop.

"Jayden, don't do this," Mike said. He couldn't move. He didn't want to fight. He was certain Jayden wasn't in control of himself. Mike had lost control before. He struck out in anger, and it didn't help him at all when others fought back with more anger. "Take a breath, walk away. I'll keep my eye on her. She'll be fine."

"Don't talk about her like that," Jayden shook his head. He slammed Mike into the wall again, "Don't you dare talk about her like you know her. Don't make promises to me you know you can't keep."

"Jayden…"

"Shut up!"

"You need to take a break."

"Don't tell me what to do!" Jayden yelled and threw a punch. Mike caught it. He wouldn't fight back, but he would defend himself. He pushed Jayden away.

"Dude, stop and think."

"Shut up!"

"No, Jayden, I know you don't want to hear it, but you have to listen to me."

Jayden glanced over at Amanda. Still no changes.

Mike saw Jayden calm slightly. He reached out to his friend, "Just five minutes, Jay…"

Jayden shook his head, "Let's see how you like it."

"What?" Mike asked. Jayden didn't answer. He stormed out of the room. Mike looked over to Amanda. He knew she would be okay on her own for five minutes, but Jayden wouldn't. Jayden needed help.

"He's a good guy, Amanda," he whispered to her. "He does care about you. He cares a lot. He's hurting bad, though, so if you can wake up, please do."

He rushed out of the room and found Jayden standing by the wall, his back pressed up against it. Mike watched for a moment. He wanted to see what Jayden would do. He wanted to know what was going through his friend's head before he jumped in again.

Kevin walked down the hall and passed right by Jayden. The red Ranger hardly moved, he just stepped into the shadows and passed unnoticed. Kevin nodded as he walked by Mike. Mike nodded back.

"Sup," he said and let Kevin go on his way. He looked over to Jayden. The red Ranger was looking back.

"You want to watch?" he whispered.

"Watch what?" Mike asked but it dawned on him when he saw Emily was making her way out of the room. She would walk right by Jayden. "Son of a bitch," he grumbled and pulled out his Samuraizer. As Emily walked by Jayden he traced a symbol and hit Mentor's bonsai that sat in the hallway. Two branches grew and shot out. One hit Jayden and pinned him into the wall, while another wrapped itself around Emily and pulled her away. Mike tucked his Samuraizer away and walked over to Jayden. He grabbed the red Ranger by the shirt and slammed him into the wall.

"Think about it!" he shouted. He slammed Jayden again, "What the hell were you doing to do?"

Jayden struggled for a moment, but the branch was strong, and Mike's grip was stronger. Finally tired, he gave in. He lowered his head, took a breath and let it all sink in. Suddenly, and even he didn't know this was coming, he heard a sob escape his lips.

Mike recalled the branch from around Jayden and pulled his friend into a hug, "Dude, you're beating yourself up about this. When that Nighlok comes back, you need to be ready to think."

"I'm sorry."

"Scruffy needs a walk," Mike said. "That usually helps me. Take him out, walk him around or just play fetch with him in the yard. It's great therapy."

"I'm sorry…."

"Forget about it, dude. You didn't do anything," Mike gave Jayden a pat on the shoulder, "I'll call you right away if there's any changes with Amanda, okay? So take all the time you need. She's safe with me."

"Thanks," Jayden nodded his head slowly and walked off to find the dog. When he walked by Emily he whispered a soft apology.

Mike smiled to himself and flipped his Samuraizer in his hand. He was getting much better with his symbol power. A year ago, he could have done that, but it may have been too late. Jayden may have gotten the chance to do something he would regret.

In need of a little pick me up, he struck a pose and started to dance. He was proud to himself and he wasn't afraid to admit it.

Until he heard giggling. He turned around and saw Emily was still wrapped up in one of his branches.

"Do you do that every time you use symbol power, or just when you forget someone's watching?"

"How much did you see?"

"Considering I can't move, all of it?"

"Am I a good dancer at least?"

"You'll be a better one if you let me go."

"Admit it, Em, I'm a good dancer and that was hot."

"No."

"No?" Mike smirked and approached Emily. He tucked his Samuraizer away, "Well then, we'll just have to see what your answer's going to be after my fingers dance all over you."

"No," Emily giggled and leaned back, but she couldn't go far because of the branch. Fortunately, it was wrapped around her waist so she could use her arms to defend herself. Mike reached out to her and tried to tickle her. She grabbed his wrists but he was stronger.

"Say it."

"Let me go."

"Say it, Emily. I'm irresistible."

"I'm irresistible," Emily laughed. Mike tickled her sides and glared playfully.

"You want to play like that, huh?" Mike smirked and leaned in to kiss her. Emily smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck.

They were interrupted when someone cleared their throat. Mike pulled away and recalled the branch from Emily with his Samuraizer. It returned to normal back in the bonsai and Emily was free to recompose herself.

Mike gulped, "Serena…"

"I'm sure you've done worse to her so relax," Serena held up her hand. What she had seen had been tamed, but she still didn't like seeing it. She tried not to make eye contact as she turned in Emily's direction, "I called Jessie anonymously and set up a meeting."

"That sounds… professional."

"You got them to agree?" Mike asked. Emily nodded her head with a smile.

Serena sighed, "I figured they should know what they're getting into before they get involved. You and Antonio are going to meet Jessie and Max at their place as Rangers. You're going to explain what happened without revealing our identities. You're going to tell them we have Amanda, and you're going to explain why we haven't taken her home or to a hospital. You're going to explain the risks and then you're going to ask Jessie if she's willing to take that risk to see her sister. You're only going to ask Jessie, you aren't going to ask Max. He's not old enough to make an informed decision. Whatever Jessie wants, you do. Am I clear?"

"Crystal," Emily said and saluted her sister, "But that sounds like a lot."

"It's dangerous, Emy," Serena nodded. "That's why I did it this way. Now go."

"Now?" Emily asked.

"As soon as possible as long as it gets you away from Romeo."

Emily pulled out her Samuraizer. She smiled at her sister as she walked by, "You know I'll be married to him one day and we're going to do whatever we want, right?"

"It's called denial. Let me live in it for a few more years."

Emily rolled her eyes and laughed. She walked down to the door, "Antonio! C'mon!"


	173. Do You Accept The Risks?

Antonio gulped. For the second time he was walking up to Amanda's house, this time from the back. He and Emily were already morphed to protect their identities, and they were sneaking in the back because they didn't want to draw any unnecessary attention to the Johnsons. They had been through so much that the last thing they needed was more people from the press bombarding them with questions they would never be allowed to answer.

It was late. Unacceptably late for visitors. All the lights in the house were turned off. Emily looked to Antonio.

"We're not getting in easily," she told him."

"Breaking and entering isn't recommended, but it's just entering if we don't break anything," he smirked behind his helmet and tried the door, "Besides, Serena set up a meeting, right? They should be expecting us," When Antonio tried the door, it was locked.

Emily grumbled, "Really? Their sister's been kidnapped and killed and you think they're going to leave the back door open?"

"Okay, well we're Samurai Rangers. We're above the law in this case, right?" Antonio asked. Emily shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know. Are we?"

"We're going to find out," Antonio hopped off the back porch and walked over to a window. He pushed it open; surprised to see it was unlocked. He climbed in and signalled for Emily to follow. "Entering's not against the law."

"It's called trespassing. Serena really should have thought this through. Subtlety is not our strong suit."

"Why do you say that?" Antonio asked as he offered Emily a hand inside.

"We're the two brightest Rangers on the team," Emily giggled. "You're shiny gold and I'm yellow. Who won't notice us and call the cops?"

"So far so good," Antonio smiled. He closed the window and just for good measure he locked it. He didn't want anyone else coming in behind him.

"We can check upstairs. They might be in bed," Emily said and led the way upstairs. Once on the second floor they went their separate ways. Antonio went to check up on Max while Emily tried to find Jessie's room.

She opened the first door she saw and quickly realised it was the master bedroom. She bit her lip nervously and tried to close the door before she woke anyone up. Then a thought occurred to her. She opened the door again and checked the bed.

It was empty.

She didn't know what to think. On one hand, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson loved their daughter so much they weren't going to rest until they were sure she was at peace. On the other, they had two children who were at home suffering that they had forgotten about.

Antonio rescued her from her thoughts before it became too much, "Pst, Em, they're both in here."

She followed him to Max' bedroom and saw Jessie and Max were sharing a bed, too upset and too in need of comfort to be alone.

"Jessie," Antonio whispered. "She's the adult. She'll know what to do."

Emily nodded her head and walked over to the side of the bed where Jessie was sleeping. Gently, she shook the older woman awake. Jessie opened her eyes and gasped. She grabbed her brother and held him tightly.

Antonio turned on the light, blinding Jessie and Max for a moment, but Max had seen all he needed to see.

"Power Rangers!"

"What the hell?" Jessie rubbed her eyes as they adjusted to the light. "How did you get in?"

"Open window," Antonio answered.

"We're here to talk about what happened," Emily said.

"It's about damn time," Jessie muttered. "My sister was killed by monsters over a week ago and now you decide to show up to help. You're not heroes, you're monsters!"

"The gap sensor didn't pick up any Nighlok activity," the yellow Ranger said. "They snuck right by us. It happens sometimes. But that's why we're here. We're here to fix things… at least a little."

"Get out," Jessie pointed to the door.

The gold Ranger stepped up behind Yellow, "Your sister was found by our pet dog not too far from our home. We didn't know what happened to her, but we knew there was a risk she had been attacked by Nighlok, or as you call them, monsters. We took her into our home and our Mentor is taking care of her."

"Take her to a hospital," Jessie shrieked. She hugged her brother tightly, tears streaming down her face, "You've had her all this time and you…"

"Only about a day and a half," the yellow Ranger said. "We're keeping her alive and safe, I promise."

"She's… she's alive?" Max asked. "She's really alive?"

The gold Ranger nodded his head. He smiled behind his helmet, though Max couldn't see it.

"For now. She's not doing so well but we're keeping her alive and we're keeping her safe."

Max hugged his sister, "Jessie, they have her! The Power Rangers have Amanda."

"What do you want with her?" Jessie growled. "Why didn't you bring her home? Why aren't you getting real help for her? I'll do anything, please just give her back to us."

"We can't," the yellow Ranger said sadly, "We figured out it was a Nighlok who attacked her and we're sure it was a threat against our red Ranger. If we bring her back to the city, we risk putting her in danger again. If she's at home with us, she's safe. No Nighlok can get to her without getting past the six of us."

"We promise you," the gold Ranger added, "We have her best interest at heart. We feel terrible about what happened and we're going to do all we can to ensure she not only survives this, but makes a full recovery."

"Jessie, they're Power Rangers," Max smiled, "They'll keep her safe, they're the good guys."

"This is complicated, Max," Jessie hushed him. "Let me handle it."

"But…"

"Let me handle it."

"He's right," the gold Ranger said, "We are the good guys. We're going to find who did this and we're going to destroy him. You can count on us."

"Give me back my sister," there was a fire burning in Jessie's eyes. A fire they had seen before and knew it meant trouble. It was a fire that lit up any time one of the Rangers felt the need to protect someone they cared for. Obviously Jessie felt her sister's life was in danger and she was ready to do anything.

"We can't give her back," Antonio said, "but we can take you to her, if you want."

"If I want?" Jessie growled. "You're holding my sister hostage and you think I don't want to see her? Comfort her? She's probably terrified!"

"You have to understand, if we take you home with us, the risks are huge. You're going to know our identities, you're going to know our secrets," the yellow Ranger said. "You're going to know so much, you're going to be a target for the Nighlok. They could do to you what they did to Amanda. They could do worse. We'll take care of your sister, I promise, but you have to…"

"I'll take the risk," Jessie nodded her head. Max' eyes lit up.

"I'm going to meet the Power Rangers?"

"You're going to stay here," Jessie shook her head. "You heard them, this is dangerous. You're staying with the neighbours. They'll take care of you."

"What?" Max cried. He clung onto his sister, "No! Don't leave me!"

"I don't trust them, Max," Jessie said. "I don't trust them with Amanda, what makes you think I'd trust them with you? Go ring on the neighbour's bell. I'll watch you to make sure you get inside safely."

"No. If you leave I'll have nobody."

"Maximillian…"

"Don't leave me! You can't leave me."

Emily took a deep breath and stepped back. This was all too familiar to her. Antonio took her hand and looked at her.

"Are you okay?"

"I know what we're supposed to do… but he doesn't want to be abandoned. He's scared and hurting and she's all he has."

"You know this is for the best," Antonio told her. "We're keeping them safe. It hurts but…"

"We're splitting them up," Emily shook her head. "He'll be in one place, Amanda's with us, Jessie… we don't know what she's going to do. Their parents are somewhere else, they're grandparents are gone as well…"

Antonio nodded and took a deep breath. He looked over to Jessie, "We'll keep you both safe."

"You're holding my sister against her will," Jessie growled, "How can I trust a word you say?"

"Are you coming with us?" Antonio asked.

"You have my sister. Of course I'm coming with you. I'm taking her back."

"Jessie," Antonio whispered and suddenly he powered down. Jessie gasped. Max stopped crying and his jaw dropped.

"No way! This is awesome!"

Emily was about to power down but Antonio held up a hand. He didn't want her revealing herself just yet. He was sure Jessie and Max could put the pieces together, but there was an element of doubt still, and that could be the difference between danger and safety for them.

He looked Jessie in the eye, "Amanda knew who I was and she figured out the rest of my team," he said. It wasn't a total lie. She had figured out Emily first and then learned about the rest, but the details didn't matter, "She knew the truth and she got in trouble for it. When she was kidnapped with Emily, the other girl, we went to her rescue. That's when she found out."

"She said Jayden…"

"She couldn't tell you who we were. The less people who knew, the better," Antonio said. "I'm only telling you this because I want you to know the danger you're putting yourself in. If you know our real identities, you're a target for the Nighlok. They will come after you and they will try to kill you."

"I just want my sister," Jessie said. "I'll do anything. Please just let me see her."

"I want to go too," Max tugged on Jessie's arm. "I don't want to be alone, please, Jess. I'll stay safe, I promise. I'll do anything you ask. I'll listen. I won't get into trouble."

Jessie nodded her head, "You can come with me, Max."

"Yes!" Max smiled and jumped out of bed. Antonio caught him by the arm and signalled for him to be quiet. They were alone at home, but he didn't trust the Nighlok.

He pulled Max up onto his back, "We're going to need you to keep up, buddy. We'll have to get home fast."

Emily walked over to Jessie, "I'm sorry," she whispered.

Jessie looked down at her, "Who are you?"

Emily pulled off her helmet and looked nervously at Jessie, "It's my fault she knew."

"Emily…"

"Em, you keep an eye on Jessie," Antonio said as he raced for the door, Max on his back, "I've got Max."

-Samurai-

Jayden was still outside playing with Scruffy in the middle of the night. He couldn't bring himself to leave the yard. He didn't want to go too far from Amanda, and he was scared that if he wandered off, he would encounter the Nighlok who hurt her. As much as he wanted to destroy the Nighlok, he was scared that he would kill him, and Amanda would still be hurt. Every time before, as soon as the Nighlok was destroyed, anything they had done would reverse and things would go back to normal.

This wasn't the case. Not with Amanda. At least if the Nighlok was still alive, Jayden could pretend all he had to do was defeat him and things would get better.

He heard the gate opening but assumed it was just Emily and Antonio coming back from their errand. He threw the ball and Scruffy chased after it.

"My sister was dating the red Ranger!"

He turned when he heard an unfamiliar voice on Shiba grounds. He had been right, Emily and Antonio were home, and they had brought Max and Jessie with them. If Jayden didn't want to hurt Emily before, he certainly did now. He wanted to hurt her, and he wanted to hurt Antonio.

Scruffy returned the ball and Jayden picked it up. He launched it at Emily and Antonio.

"Are you fucking nuts?"

"Jayden…"

"You're going to get them killed!"

"Jayden…"

"Hand me your Samuraizers. You're both done!"

"Yeah," Antonio stood up to Jayden, "because that's the smartest move to make."

"Antonio…"

"Shut up, Jayden. You're too involved in this. You can't lead. Kevin's in charge and he said yes."

"Kevin?" Jayden scoffed, "I'm red Ranger; I'm leader! You did this. You brought them here and put them in danger intentionally. You're jealous. You're trying to kill them all. It won't work!"

"Jayden…"

"The Nighlok's going to come back, he'll kill them all and you think I'm going to fall into your arms. I won't, you stupid…"

"Jayden!" Emily screamed. "Stop it!"

"Emily…"

"We're running all around town for you, trying to keep the people you love safe," Emily stomped her foot. "We're doing all we can but you keep getting mad at us! You've thrown stuff at me, you argued with Kevin, you yelled at Mike. You tried to attack me earlier today. None of that is helping Amanda so stop it or get out!"

"Emily…"

Emily turned around and tried to smile for Jessie and Max, "I'll show you where she's sleeping… but it's not going to be easy to see."

"Just take me too her," Jessie whispered, nearly silenced by what she had seen.

Emily nodded and led them away. When they were gone, Antonio turned to Jayden.

"For your sake, and for Amanda's sake, I'm going to pretend none of that just happened."

"You're putting them in danger."

"I know," Antonio nodded, "And I know we told you we can't contact them, but things change. While Amanda's recovering they're going to stay here, protect by us."

"They're parents, won't they…?"

"They're parents aren't home. They don't know," Antonio shook his head. "They're looking for Amanda; they've forgotten they have two more kids at home. Jessie and Max need a family right now. We put them in this position, the least we can do is help them out."

"Antonio, I'm sorry…"

"Save it," Antonio walked off, "I'm acting like that never happened, but it still hurts."

"Antonio…"

"I know I made things complicated, Jay, but I thought I made it clear, too. I'd do anything for you because you're my best friend. Did I have a crush on you? Yes. Do I still? Not after today."

"I'm sorry…"

"We're still friends, Jay just… not right now," Antonio said. He headed off to Serena's room. She had been kind enough to offer him a place to sleep while he let Jayden stay in his bed so he could be with Amanda, "I've had a long day."


	174. To Find Who Did It

Serena wasn't going to get much sleep tonight. Now that Jessie and Max were in the Shiba House she had too much to worry about. Everyone needed to keep a constant eye on Amanda, Jayden was a wreck and it was affecting the entire team, and after everything Amanda's family had done to help her, Serena needed to go the extra mile for her family now that they were in need.

And those were just the stressors at home. Work was another matter altogether. After the locker incident, Mitch hated her, and the jocks around the school weren't standing down. They were standing against her. The principal wouldn't do anything. When another student threatened to beat up a younger student after school and Serena cut in, she threatened to tell the principal. The students laughed at her and said he wouldn't do anything. And he had been right. Serena asked around the school and the principal didn't care. The principal didn't care so the teachers didn't care. A minimal amount of discipline happened in the school and the kids knew they could go wild.

Serena had to fix that, but unless she was willing and allowed to use her fists, she had no idea how to get the kids in line.

She shook her head while she sat at her desk, looking on the internet for some tips for cheerleading. She had never been a cheerleader and never wanted to be one. If she was going to help Mitch, she needed to know what he was doing. It was a long shot, considering he had given up on her, but she would never give up on him.

"Serena!"

Serena jumped up and spun around in her chair. She glared at Mia, "What the hell are you trying to do? Send me into labour three and a half months early?"

"Sorry," Mia muttered and offered Serena a plate, "You missed dinner."

"I'm not hungry."

"Maybe junior is," Mia suggested. She set the plate down next to Serena and sat on the bed, "How's school?"

"You know prison?"

"It's that bad?"

"Can I transfer there instead?"

Mia chuckled and shook her head, "Okay, c'mon, it can't be that bad."

"I was called a slut and a whore."

"Kids are mean."

"The only help I'm getting is from James."

"Who's James?"

Serena blushed, "Gym teacher."

Mia noticed Serena turning pink and smirked, "Is he cute?"

"Maybe… not that it matters to you. You have Kevin."

"He's cute, isn't he? You like him."

"No. Shut up. He's a good guy."

"You didn't say friend."

"He's a good friend."

"Cover up!" Mia laughed, "You have the hots for the gym teacher."

"Alright fine. I have a crush. Whoop-di-do. I don't just get turned on by Nighlok. I'm attracted to real men too."

"Has he asked you out?"

"Mia, I've been to school twice."

"Has he asked you out?"

"You're pathetic," Serena rolled her eyes and turned back to the laptop. Mia bounced over to her excitedly. She wrapped her arms around Serena's shoulders.

"You're hiding something."

"You want to know everything? He and I ate lunch together. He's got some time to eat before the school lunch period and so do I. We talk between classes and yes, he's asked me out to dinner if I can survive until Friday at school, but it's not a romance thing."

"Are you sure?"

"Mia, I'm carrying someone else's child. Who wants to get involved with that? I'm not dating again until junior's in middle school, at least."

"Really? You don't think you'll be able to date for years? You don't think there's some man out there who can love and care for you no matter what?"

"I hate to burst your bubble, but fairy tale endings are a lot harder when you already got your happy ending and that blew up in your face."

"Flirt with him. Let him know you're available."

"No," Serena shook her head. "Jayden flirted and look what happened. His girlfriend is in a coma. I'm not doing that to James."

"It's one date."

"And if Dayu sees…" Serena trailed off. She slammed her laptop shut and jumped out of her chair, "Dayu."

"What?"

"That bitch knew."

"Knew what?"

"About Jayden and Amanda," Serena said. She raced to the door and grabbed her jacket. Mia followed her.

"What are you…?"

"Think about it, Mia. A Nighlok attacks Amanda and we have no idea about it until we find her fighting death on our doorstep. What Nighlok can pass undetected and what Nighlok in her right mind would target only one victim?"

"Maybe there were more? Maybe the Nighlok didn't trigger one of the gap sensors in the city."

"There are at least a hundred, Mia, and if the Nighlok went on a rampage, he would have triggered one."

"But it's possible."

"It's not possible. It's Dayu," Serena raced out the door.

"Someone needs a shot of cowardice," Mia muttered as she followed Serena.

-Samurai-

Max was distracted by all the Power Rangers in the room, but Jessie no longer cared for the mysterious heroes everyone idolised. She cared only for her sister.

She had seen the footage of the Nighlok hurting her sister, but there was only a few seconds. Now that she and Amanda were somewhat reunited, she could see the full extent of her sister's torture. She was beaten and bruised. There were injuries from a blade that were so deep that Jessie was sure they would never heal properly. There were tubes and wires all over her body and they were connected to machines that were keeping her alive.

Jessie didn't need to ask. She knew the chances her sister survived were slim, and the longer she stayed like this, the less likely she would ever wake up.

Emily looked over to Mike. He and Kevin were keeping Max entertained. They were showing him the disks and their Zords. Despite everything, Max seemed to be having the time of his life. He was grinning from ear to ear and bouncing with excitement. It was heartwarming for Emily to watch.

Then she turned to Jessie and sighed. She took Jessie's hand.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you," Jessie whispered. "You're trying to keep her safe. You seem to know what you're doing."

"To be fair, if I thought my sister was dead and I realised someone else had her in secret, I would probably snap too," Emily said. "It's okay."

"Amanda and I grew up together," Jessie whispered. "Max came along so much later that for most of my life, all I had was Amanda. She's two years younger, but she was my best friend. You probably know what that's like."

"I…"

"At one point we were both in High School and there was this really cute guy who just transferred in. He was a grade younger than me and a grade older than Amanda. We both had a crush on him and when we found out we liked the same guy, we were mad at each other. We didn't talk for weeks. It drove our parents crazy."

"What happened?"

"He didn't even know either of us existed. He had his eyes on another girl his age and asked her out to the Valentine's Day dance. We were both upset and we realised we had been mad at each other for nothing. We decided then and there we would never fight over a boy again."

"I share my fiancé," Emily muttered and glanced quickly at Mike, "He takes care of Serena too. I know he loves her in a different way, so it's okay, but… how do you fight over a boy?"

Jessie looked to Emily, "I guess having a sister was different for you. You're younger than Amanda and Serena's older than me. That's a big gap."

"I was kind of an accident," Emily shrugged her shoulders. "Mom and dad didn't want a second kid but… whoops."

"That's what happened with Max. Whoops. Dad was happy though. He finally had a boy."

"My parents were happy too, I guess. They thought Serena was going to be a Samurai so they raised me a little more normal. It was a different experience for them."

"Whoops kids are fun," Jessie smiled, "If Max weren't here right now, I have no idea what I would do. I'd lose my mind, probably. I can't believe this happened."

"Amanda's tough," Emily said. "She'll be okay. And we'll find who did this."

On the other side of the room, in a corner, Antonio and Jayden were watching, but keeping their distance from each other. Jayden wanted to be with Amanda, but knew it was best to let her siblings have some time with her.

He looked to Antonio nervously. He didn't know what kind of argument he was having with the gold Ranger but he had done something wrong. He had hurt Antonio's feelings and he felt terrible.

But Antonio wouldn't talk about it. He insisted that the past was the past and he would move on eventually.

So Jayden decided on another approach: "You guys really pulled through."

"We do what we can," Antonio nodded.

"Kevin and Mike are great with Max. He seems to really be having fun. He probably hasn't had that chance in days. It's good for him."

"He was really hurt when I first met him," Antonio said, "But I think he just needed to get away."

"I guess."

"He's just a kid. He shouldn't have to worry about his sister's health or whether or not his parents are going to come home. Those should all be guarantees."

"Emily's really coming through, too," Jayden turned his focus over to the girls. "This can't be easy for her."

"It's close to home," Antonio said. "It's not easy, but it's not easy for any of us."

"Look, Antonio, about what happened…"

"What did happen, Jayden?" Antonio finally looked at the red Ranger, "What the hell happened between us? Ever since you found out I liked you you've been acting… different with me. Are you uncomfortable? Do I make you uncomfortable?"

"No, it's not…"

"Liar," Antonio scoffed. "I can handle the truth, Jay. If me liking you made you uncomfortable that was okay. We could have talked about it. It's not something I expect anyone to get used to right away. I'm still not used to it."

"It's just…"

"Don't make excuses, Jay," Antonio got up from his chair, "You accused me of putting people's lives in danger. I know I barely know Jessie and Max, but I would never do anything like that."

"Antonio…"

"I gave up my bed and my room for you, Jay. I've been running back and forth with Emily trying to keep your girlfriend's family safe. Does that sound like a possessive murderer to you? Does that sound like something a guy would do if he was planning on killing off the entire world just so he could be with you?"

"I'm sorry."

"Me too," Antonio walked off, "I'm going to bed."


	175. The Nighlok's Appearance

Mia took a seat on a rock. She and Serena had been searching the forest pointlessly for Dayu after it occurred to Serena that she may have been the one behind Amanda's attack. It had been a Nighlok who hurt her, and the Gap Sensor hadn't gone off. They weren't programmed to detect half-Nighloks so Dayu could slip right into the city without the Rangers ever knowing. It was dangerous but it had to be done that way. Serena's son was half-Nighlok and he was strong enough to set off the sensors. If they set the sensors to be even just a little more sensitive, they would be blaring constantly.

Serena had rushed off to find Dayu, without putting much thought into what she was doing. Mia knew it was dangerous but she couldn't let Serena wander off on her own. They were both at risk, but they were safer in pairs.

"Dayu's not going to turn up just because you're looking for her," Mia muttered.

Serena stopped in her tracks and turned around, "If she did do this..."

"Dayu has nothing against Jayden," Mia said, "She hates you, me, and Mike. Amanda's not her target."

"Emily is," Serena sighed. She leaned against a tree, "And Dekker's treats against Dayu are keeping her safe."

"If Dayu had any part in this plan, all she did was tell Xandred Jayden had a girlfriend. I think it was Xandred. We should be looking for a Nighlok."

"Well, whoever attacked her would be out here."

"And what are you going to…" Mia suddenly trailed off. She had heard something moving in the snow. She signalled for Serena to be quiet and the two girls ducked down. Mia crept over, closer to the source of the noise, and tried to sneak a peek. When she saw what had caused it, she waved Serena over.

Serena's jaw dropped, "Holy shit…"

-Samurai-

Amanda, as expected, wasn't going to wake up anytime soon, and Jayden had given up his room so Jessie and Max could stay with their sister. He would sleep on the couch. It was the right thing to do. He was just the ex, after all. He did love Amanda, but he wasn't sure how she felt about him and if she even wanted him. Her family was the best choice.

He made up a bed on the couch but he couldn't sleep. His eyes kept drifting down the hall and he looked to Serena's bedroom. Antonio was sharing with her until the sleeping arrangements were back to normal. With a heavy sigh, Jayden pushed himself out of bed and walked down the hall. He knocked on the door.

"It's no excuse," he said to the door and he hoped Antonio was awake and could hear him, "but I was mad and I wasn't thinking straight. I appreciate what you've done and I never should have accused you of doing anything."

Jayden leaned his back against the door and took a seat, "You're my best friend and… I guess I'm not comfortable with the fact that you have a crush on me. I don't know why but I just… I can't let it go. I can't forget about it. It's not like it bothers me all the time. You have every right to be mad at me, Antonio, and every right to ignore me and… I was a dick. Amanda means a lot to me, but she's just a girl. You're my best friend. She might not come around, but I hope you do. I'll need you."

Inside the room, Antonio heard the full speech. It killed him to be angry with Jayden, but he felt the way he felt, and he wasn't going to let it go. He knew Jayden was hurting a lot. He knew he likely didn't mean anything he had said, but that was no excuse. He had still said it and he was still hurting.

He heard a silence and assumed Jayden walked away. He rolled over in the bed, trying to stick to his half for when Serena decided to come in. He didn't want to be a bed hog.

He sighed, and then smiled. At least his friendship wasn't ruined.

-Samurai-

"Serena, come on. Before they see us," Mia whispered and pulled on Serena's arm, desperate to get away.

"That's not good," Serena muttered.

"So then let's go…"

"That Nighlok isn't a good sign."

"Octoroo never is."

"Not squid face," Serena shook her head, "the one standing next to him. The one with the really, really big sword."

"The sword that looks like it can cut my eyes out of my head if I just look at it?"

Serena nodded her head and turned to Mia, "Didn't your grandmother ever tell you the stories of the Sanzu River?"

"I liked fairy tales," Mia answered. "You know, happy endings, princes, princesses…"

"Tears fill the River," Serena whispered. "Mom used to tell me that it was okay to cry but when you cried because you were scared, truly suffering, or truly miserable, you put more water into the River."

"I know," Mia nodded her head, "I've read all the books."

"The reason for your tears determines how high the Sanzu River rises. A kid who had a bad dream or a widow who lost their spouse to natural causes wouldn't do much, but truly pained cries of terror or hopelessness, like the cries the Nighlok cause, send water pouring into the Sanzu River. That's why it takes so long to fill up."

"So?"

"Let's put it this way. You can cry because your leading female character thinks she'll never find the man of her dreams in that movie you always watch. Maybe, at best, one drop will fall into the Sanzu River. Crying because you're feeling trapped or hopeless or scared? The water's going to rise."

"I don't want to sound like we're a bunch of babies, but we're crying all the time. If the Nighlok aren't causing pain, we've done something to hurt ourselves."

"And we're only going to hurt more," Serena whispered. "Xandred doesn't have enough water to come back into our world yet, and there's no way the Nighlok can stay in our world for too long without drying up, but he can."

"Big, sharp sword guy?"

Serena nodded her head, "The last time he was seen was at the Tengen Gate, only a year before the River came through and the Nighlok all showed up. According to my mom's stories, and the archives at the Tengen Gate, he's trouble. He's the Nighlok that's really going to get the ball rolling. Everyone we faced before… child's play."

"You're kidding?"

"Do I look like I'm kidding?" Serena growled. She gave Mia a light shove, "You were right, we need to…"

"Ooh, ah, ooh, what are you two up to?"

"Going somewhere?" a deep, dark voice asked.

-Samurai-

Emily studied the book of baby names. Mike had noticed she had been under a lot of stress and suggested she try again to come up with a middle name for her nephew. It was still months before the birth, but junior was still nameless.

The baby names did a good job of taking Emily's mind off of Amanda and her family. A lot of what they were going through was personal for Emily. They're parents had all but abandoned them, their sister was beaten badly and they weren't sure she was going to live. They didn't know how long she had.

What made it worse for Emily was that she wasn't just reliving these experiences. She was reliving them from another point of view. Amanda was Jessie's little sister. Amanda was Emily. Jessie, whom Emily was spending a lot of time with, was Serena. She was the older sister; protective and caring.

But Emily was strong, and a distraction, even for five minutes, was all she needed.

"Forrest," she giggled and pointed to a name in the book. Mike turned to her. She had to have read it wrong. But when he looked down at the book he saw she was right.

"Seriously?" he chuckled. "You're going to give junior the middle name Forrest?"

"It would be funny. Besides, my middle name is Mae. Payback."

"Mae is cute," Mike sat down next to her, "Besides, Forrest isn't a payback name. Fitzroy. Junior Fitzroy."

Emily read the meaning of the name carefully, "Uh, that means son of the king. No thank you. I'm not giving Dekker any credit."

Mike nodded in agreement and flipped to the back of the book, "What about a 'Z' name. Those are always cool. Oh, Zebulon."

"You're lying."

Mike shook his head and pointed to the name in the book. He smirked proudly, "Zebulon."

"No. Besides, he's my nephew. I get to name him."

"The yours, mine, and ours fight, huh?" Mike smirked playfully. "Well, then, if he's your nephew, you get to change all the poopy diapers when you babysit."

"Our nephew," Emily cuddled into Mike. "Please don't leave me with stinky baby."

"Zebulon."

"Okay, compromise," Emily said, "We'll both go through the book and pick out five names we love. If there are any that match, that'll be the middle name."

"Deal," Mike nodded. "What if there are no matches?"

"We look at the ten names we have and pick the best one."

"We'll be biased. I'll like mine, you'll like yours."

"We'll pick our favourite name from the other list and have Serena decide."

"Deal," Mike nodded. He grabbed a piece of paper from inside his night table and wrote something down.

"If you're writing Zebulon…"

Mike slowly erased the name, "C'mon, Em, give me more credit than that..."

-Samurai-

Kevin was sitting in the chair in Jayden and Antonio's room. He was keeping quiet and keeping to himself, but he didn't want to leave Jessie and Max along. Not when there was this much danger and not when they were this upset.

Jessie finally managed to fall asleep, but Max was having a hard time. He tossed and turned until finally he had enough. He sat up in bed and looked over at Kevin.

"The beeping bothers me."

"I know. But it's telling us your sister's still alive."

Max let out a sigh, "You're going to find the Nighlok who did this, right? You're going to kill him."

"That's the plan."

"Will it help Amanda?"

"Probably not. But that Nighlok's not going to hurt anyone else."

Max crawled out of bed and reached into his bag. He pulled out his phone and walked over to Kevin.

"I have footage," he said. "Mom and dad recorded the attack when they aired the footage on TV. Jessie didn't want me to see, but I did."

"You shouldn't be watching that…"

"I want you to watch it. Maybe it'll help you find the Nighlok."

Kevin took the phone from Max, "I'll watch it later and I'll give you your phone back."

"You can watch it now. It's okay. I've already seen it."

Kevin sighed and gave the phone to Max so he could get the video started. When he got it back, he wrapped his arm around Max comfortingly and started the video. He could barely make anything out, but he could tell it was a Nighlok who attacked Amanda and he had taken her into a gap."

"You see the people on the streets?" Max said, pointing to the background, "They confirmed it was Amanda who was attacked."

"I don't recognise the Nighlok, little man," Kevin sighed and handed the phone back, "but I promise, when I see him, I'll give him a good punch for you."

"Just don't let him hurt anyone else's sister, okay?"

Kevin nodded, "I promise. Now get some sleep. You're safe here. If anything happens with Amanda I'll wake you up, okay?"

Max crawled back into bed with his oldest sister and laid his head into his pillow.


	176. A Bad Way

The last thing Mia remembered was Octoroo finding her and Serena. Nothing more.

When she came to she was still in the forest and the sun was up. Given how long it took the sun to rise in the winter, Mia assumed it was mid-morning.

She groaned loudly and tried to move, but her entire body hurt. Just opening her eyes had been a feat. She knew she wouldn't make it home on her own and tried to reach for her Samuraizer to call for help. Her hands were shaky and moving caused agonizing pain. Her vision faded in and out as her body worked overtime just to reach to her waist. She felt her pockets. There was nothing there. She tapped them again but cried out in pain. Simply touching herself hurt like hell. Tapping was a bad, very bad idea.

It didn't take her long to realise her Samuraizer was gone, and by then her body was already failing her. The last thing she heard before she passed out again was a dog barking.

-Samurai-

Mike and Kevin had woken up with a bad feeling in the pits of their stomachs that they couldn't ignore. They thought it had been related to Amanda, but still decided to check around the house. When they ran into each other and realised they were both feeling ill at ease, they knew something was up.

Kevin was worried because Mia hadn't been in bed when he went to say good morning. At first he hadn't thought much of it. She was hardly sleeping with Amanda in the house so he assumed she was somewhere else training. But he couldn't find her. He found nearly everyone else, but not Mia.

Mike had woken up and just had a sense there was something wrong. There usually was when he woke up before Emily. He had shut off the alarm, hoping to get to the bottom of his bad feeling before she woke up. Like Kevin, he searched the house and decided to check up on the others. When he got to Serena's room he saw Antonio sleeping like a baby. Serena was nowhere in sight. She was likely at school, but her getting out of bed would have woken up Antonio. Something wasn't right.

When the boys traded stories, they decided it was time to search. Scruffy had a knack for tracking people down, especially the Rangers. They woke him up and asked him to find Mia and Serena. He ran around the house several times, but to no avail. He started to whine so Mike took him outside.

Once on the porch he set out on a hunt. It didn't take a dog to notice someone had left the house. There were prints in the snow that walked all the way to the gate and beyond. Scared the girls had gone for a midnight walk and hadn't come back, Mike and Kevin set off after the dog and hoped he had seen a squirrel.

And Scruffy had, or rather, heard one on the other side of the fence, but when the squirrel got away his ears picked up a moan from a voice he recognised. Then he heard a pained sob and he took off running and barking. Mike and Kevin were right on his heels.

Then Kevin saw her: Mia lying beaten and bloody in the snow and barely able to move. He saw her head fall before he could reach her and she was out.

He fell by her side and touched her back, scared he would hurt her, "Mia! Mia, wake up!"

"Now it's really personal," Mike growled as he whipped out his Samuraizer. He turned to the forest, "You hear me, Nighlok? Come out and fight, coward!"

"Mike, stop it," Kevin said, already on the verge of tears but he wouldn't let himself cry until they were home. Mike looked down at him and nodded. He traced a symbol and created a wooden board. He placed it down and, very carefully, he and Kevin moved Mia onto the board.

"She'll be fine."

"But…"

"She'll be fine," Mike repeated. As he helped Kevin lift Mia he turned to Scruffy and whistled, "C'mon, boy. Home."

Scruffy didn't want to leave. He could hear something else in the distance. But Mike whistled again, catching his attention.

"Home."

For once, Scruffy wouldn't obey and he set off running. Mike cursed then looked down at Mia. Getting her home was more important. He nodded to Kevin, "Let's go."

-Samurai-

Jayden was sitting in his room with Jessie and Max. They were looking over Amanda, hoping there would be some sign from her that she would be okay but still nothing had changed.

There was a knock on the door before it opened and Emily walked in.

"How is she?"

"Don't ask."

Emily nodded and pulled up a chair, "It took Serena a while to wake up too, but she's here."

"I'm thinking of letting Amanda choose," Jessie whispered and looked around the room sadly. Her eyes fell on her brother, who knew what she was saying and seemed very upset by it. Jessie reached out and took his hand, "This is cruel, Max. For us and for her. She's not making any progress and it's not like she's ever going to get worse. She's as low as they can go."

Jayden pushed himself up from the chair and walked out of the room. He was strongly against letting Amanda die, but at the same time, he agreed with Jessie. She didn't have to suffer.

But it wasn't his choice to make, and if Jessie was going to make a decision, he didn't want to influence it. He didn't want to be a part of it in anyway.

Emily looked to Jessie sadly, "Give her a few more days. Her heart's still beating and there's some activity in her brain."

Jessie turned to the machines, "Not much."

"You can't play God…"

"Emily, that's exactly what these machines are doing. I'm starting to get the feeling we're delaying the inevitable. We already thought she was dead once…"

"A few more days, please," Emily begged Jessie, "If nothing changes by then I'll shut up, I swear."

"Please, Jessie," Max begged, "Don't give up on her."

Suddenly, the door was almost broken down as Kevin charged into the room and started grabbing everything medical he could; if it wasn't tied down or being used to keep Amanda alive it was coming with him.

"Kevin!" Emily cried but he ignored her. He raced out of the room just as quickly as he had come in. Jessie, Max, and Emily exchanged looks.

"Max, stay with Amanda," Jessie ordered as she and Emily got up to follow Kevin.

They found almost everyone in the common room. The Rangers and Mentor were huddled around one point in the room. Kevin pushed his way through the crowd and disappeared in the middle.

Emily ran over to Mike and touched his arm, "What's…?"

"She needs room," Mike pulled Emily away and signalled for Jayden and Antonio to back up as well. That was when Emily and Jessie saw what was happening.

"Mia!" Emily screamed and her knees buckled. Mike caught her and held her tight. He looked across the room at Antonio and Jayden.

"It's the same Nighlok. We're sure of it," he said.

Antonio looked down sadly. Jayden turned to the wall and pounded it with his fist.

Kevin suddenly let out a relieved breath and fell back onto the floor while Mentor took over. He took Mia's hand and began to whisper.

Jessie watched this, then turned to the boys, "You mean the Nighlok that attacked Amanda?"

"He got Mia," Mike nodded his head. "I don't know how, but he got her."

He felt Emily shifting in his arms and looked down at her. She was trying to push him away.

"Serena's going to walk home from school alone," she whispered. "I have to… I…"

"I'll go with you to pick her up," Mike promised, though he wasn't even sure Serena was at school. He couldn't tell Emily that, though.

Mentor moved away from Mia and Kevin scooped her up in his arms. She was conscious, but only just. It was better than nothing for Kevin, who held her comfortingly.

"It's okay," he whispered in her ear. He felt her sobbing uncontrollably in his arms and it made him cry even more. "It's okay. I'm here."

-Samurai-

Things were getting worse at the Shiba House, and the school Serena worked at was doing no better.

At least, not for Mitch. He hadn't seen Serena at all in the morning. The day before, she had greeted him first thing in the morning. It was only supposed to be her third day, and there was no established routine, but Mitch had hoped she would be waiting for him again.

Instead he found himself alone, and the jocks took advantage. They stuffed him in the garbage pail and left him there. No one bothered to help him out. No one cared. So he had to get himself out and he was late for first period.

He thought she was mad at him because he had yelled at her. He had been upset with her, but he didn't want her to leave. Still, he hoped she would be around for second period. She didn't go into class with him, but she walked with him in the halls and asked him how his previous class had gone. It wasn't much, but it made him feel like someone cared.

But she wasn't there.

He sat in the gym, alone on his bench. Everyone else was playing basket-ball and he had opted to sit out.

Coach Smith noticed this and sat next to Mitch on the bench.

"I've seen that smile. I know you've got it in you," he said. "C'mon, today's a good day for you. Serena told me you were thinking of trying out for a team."

"She's not here," Mitch muttered.

"She's not here?" James frowned. Mitch nodded his head.

"I yelled at her yesterday and today she doesn't show up. Even she thinks I'm not worth it. She's probably at another school, helping some kid who'll have a better shot at being special. I'm nothing."

"Mitch," James called after the boy as Mitch got up and started to make his way over to the change room. There was no changing Mitch's mind, though. He went in and didn't come out until the end of the period.

James was disappointed. He had thought there was something different about Serena. He thought if anyone could make a difference with these kids it would be her. But he was getting the impression he had been wrong.

Maybe she was just like all the other counsellors that had come to the school. A quitter.

As he let the students go to his next class he shook his head and sighed. Now what were these kids going to do?


	177. Desperate

Kevin sat by Mia's bed and was counting his blessings. She had been beaten up badly by, what he assumed was, the same Nighlok that hurt Amanda, but fortunately Mia was alive and awake. She wasn't in way capable of telling the others what had happened or why she was even out of the house in the first place, but she was recovering on her own. Right now, that was all Kevin asked for.

Outside her room, Jayden was pacing back and forth. He felt like scum. He felt like the worst of all scum. The only way he could feel worse was if he had caused Mia's and Amanda's injuries with his own hands.

He was still convinced the attacks were because of him. There was no other reason why Amanda would have been targeted. She meant nothing to the Nighlok. She had no powers; she couldn't defend herself against them. All she really had was a connection to Jayden, the red Ranger, the only Ranger the Nighlok believed who could use the sealing symbol and lock them away for good.

He hadn't cried this much since he had been a little boy and Mentor Ji told him his father had died in battle. But even back then Jayden knew he had to be strong. He shed a few tears the first night, was upset the following morning, and then continued on with his life, training and dedicated to be not just a Samurai, but the best Samurai and the best leader he could be.

He was letting his father down. His team was hurt and he had put a civilian in danger. His father never would have done that.

"Hey, Jay," he heard someone call and turned to see Mike and Emily were headed for the door, "We're going to pick up Serena."

Jayden turned to Mia and Kevin's door and then he thought about Amanda. He shook his head and pulled out his Samuraizer.

"Hold on," he said. He rushed past them and out the door. Mike and Emily watched as he cast a symbol. Suddenly, a wall, almost like a force field, surrounded the entire Shiba yard. Jayden fell to his knees to catch his breath then pushed himself back up to his feet and turned to Mike and Emily. "I'm coming with you. If that Nighlok thinks he can attack again, I'd rather he not hide behind any of you. He'll face me and only me."

Mike glanced at the force field, "Jayden, this'll drain you if you keep it up, especially from the city. There are two of us and when we pick up Serena there'll be three of us."

"Go talk to Amanda," Emily whispered. "She can hear you. Maybe it'll help her wake up."

"I…"

"Jayden, you're in no condition to fight," Mike said. "You're frustrated, you're tired, and you're draining yourself. Emily and I will be fine. We'll call when we're at the school and when we're halfway home. Promise."

Jayden looked sadly at Mike and Emily. He had a feeling this was the last time he would see them alive, at least one of them. He nodded his head and pulled them both into a hug.

"We'll be fine," Emily whispered to him and rubbed his arm, "Love you, Jay."

"Yeah, love you, bro," Mike smiled and bumped fists with Jayden. Jayden nodded, wiped the tears from his eyes and let them leave. As he walked to Amanda's room to talk to her, he counted the minutes.

This was tearing him apart.

-Samurai-

Mia had drifted off to sleep but was waking up again. She was so tired she couldn't stop herself from closing her eyes, but then she would shift to get comfortable and the pain would wake her up.

Kevin was right by her side the entire time, holding her hand and stroking her hair gently.

"It's okay," he told her. There was really nothing else he could say. He could tell her she was okay, but it was obvious she wasn't. He could tell her things would be okay but he wasn't sure and didn't want to give her false hope. He could tell her he would find the Nighlok who did this, but he wasn't sure he ever wanted to leave her side. A loud voice in his head was telling him to let the others handle this while he stayed with her.

He could only tell her about now. How right now things were okay. There was no more danger and he was here with her.

Tears started to drip down her cheeks. She couldn't say anything, but she told Kevin she was hurting. He gently stroked the back of her hand with his thumb and caught a glance of his Samuraizer. He remembered the last symbol he had learned. The painless symbol. Mia wasn't dying, he knew that much, but in her state, she wasn't going to get any better until she got some rest.

He pulled out his Samuraizer and kissed her forehead as he traced it. He closed his eyes and the symbol hit her. He felt her hand relax around his and he knew it had been done. He knew she would be safe and comfortable now but it still killed him.

"You'll wake up soon," he promised her.

-Samurai-

The school was almost completely empty when Mike and Emily got there but they were sure Serena was still there. They had walked the path that she would walk on her way home and hadn't seen her. They then remembered hearing her say something about coming home late today, which put them at ease just a little.

"Maybe she's down the hall finishing something up," Mike suggested to Emily. She nodded her head and they started down the hall.

They heard laughter and looked to see jocks, they could tell from the sport's jackets, carrying a small kid down the hall against his will. Emily leaned into Mike instinctively, trying to hide as the jocks walked right past them.

Mike couldn't let that happen.

"Hey!" he shouted and the jocks all turned around. They set the boy down but one held onto him tightly.

"What do you want, punk?"

"Let the kid go," Mike growled. The jocks were slightly bigger than he was, but he wasn't afraid of them. He knew they couldn't do anything to him.

"Are you kidding?" the jock asked Mike, "Man, this kid thought he was good enough to try out for football. Jackson, do it."

"No, no…" the boy screamed as he was lifted again and the jock, Jackson, carried him to the garbage and dumped him in head first. The jocks all laughed and walked away. Mike clenched his fists in anger but he couldn't do anything. Not unless he wanted to get arrested.

"Mike, help me," Emily whispered. Mike walked up to the kid and pulled him from the trash. He picked some food from his hair and brushed him off.

"Are you okay kid?"

"If you two are the new counsellors, you can get the hell out of here," the kid said. "You've ruined my life."

"New counsellors?" Mike and Emily exchanged looks, "What does that mean? We're just here to pick up Serena."

"She's a no show," the kid said, "and I don't want her coming back and I'm not trying out for stupid cheerleading."

Mike frowned. Emily looked to the boy curiously.

"Those guys said you tried out for football."

"Guys play sports, they don't dance in short skirts," the kid walked to his locker and grabbed his stuff. "Just tell Serena or whatever not to waste her time anymore. I'll take care of myself."

He stormed out of the school. Mike and Emily exchanged glances again. Because of Amanda they had almost no idea what Serena did in the school when she worked, they hadn't had time to ask her, but they could only assume this was one of the kids she wanted to help.

Suddenly, they heard someone walking up behind them.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help but overhear," a man asked. Mike and Emily turned around and noticed, based on the way he was dressed, that he was the gym teacher, "You're here to pick up Serena?"

"She's my sister," Emily nodded. "Don't tell me she already left."

The teacher shook his head, "I haven't seen her at all today. She wasn't even with Mitch, and she didn't show up to encourage him in try outs like she promised she would."

"She didn't show up?" Mike asked, taking Emily's hand.

The gym teacher shook his head, "Nope. She probably quit. Most counsellors do."

"She wouldn't…"

"We'll talk to her," Mike said, interrupting Emily before she really let the teacher have it. No one accused Serena of not being responsible, not in front of Emily.

"Hopefully she comes back by Friday," the gum teacher said, "I was going to take her out to dinner if she survived the week."

"Like a date?" Mike asked.

The gym teacher shrugged his shoulders, "Up to her, I guess, but that's only if she comes back. I don't waste my time with quitters."

"She'll come back," Mike promised, "Soon, she'll come back. C'mon, Em."

Emily glared at the gym teacher, "My sister's not a quitter."

"I'm sure he gets it," Mike said, pulling on her arm.

"You'd be lucky to date her you…"

"C'mon, Em," Mike dragged her down the hall, "No need to offend the kind gentleman."

He pulled her outside of the school and sat her down on a bench. He took a seat next to her and let his head fall in his hands.

"What do we do?" he asked.

"He's a dick."

"Forget about him, Emily, what about Serena?"

"I don't want to think about that," Emily muttered.

Mike held her hand softly, "Mia's not stupid. She never would have gone out on her own…"

"Shut up, Mike," Emily whispered.

"We have to go back to where we found Mia."

"No we don't. Serena's at home."

"Emily, come with me."

"She's at home," Emily muttered. "Can we check home first?"

"I… yeah, Em. We'll check home."

-Samurai-

Scruffy had his nose in the snow and barely any idea what he was doing, but he had heard something and he was starting to pick up on a smell.

He had run away from Mike the night before and searching up until now for the source of the noise. He had found Mia in the snow, but there was more. He knew there was more.

A horrible smell suddenly reached his nose and he covered his face with his paws. He knew he had to keep going because he was getting closer.

He heard talking, like what the humans did back home and ran between the trees to figure out who was in this forest.

He stopped when he saw monsters. He growled and thought about backing away and running home. But then he saw Serena tied to a tree and the monsters were doing something to her. His growl deepened before he suddenly barked. The bigger monster he wouldn't take, but the smaller one was perfect. He snapped at the tentacles coming down from the monster's face and pulled on them.

"Ooh, ah, ooh, stupid animal, that hurts!" Octoroo cried and kicked Scruffy but the dog didn't let go. "Ooh, get him off, get him off."

Scruffy managed to bite off a part of the tentacle and carried it with him as he raced over to Serena's side. He set the tentacle down and cuddled up with her. He nuzzled her and tried to get her to respond. He noticed she seemed different somehow. The big stomach she had seemed bigger.

Octoroo was about to swing his staff to beat the dog but the other Nighlok stopped him. He held out his sword in front of Octoroo.

"Animals are just like humans," he said. "We can make them do whatever we want with a little… coaching."

Octoroo rubbed his tentacles and watched the Nighlok walked over to a well. He pulled out some water. It was red; blood red almost.

Scruffy saw the monster was bringing the bucket over closer to Serena. He got up and growled. The Nighlok splashed him and Serena with water. Scruffy whimpered. The water burned and stung.

The Nighlok grabbed Serena's face and forced her to look at him, "Won't be long now, huh, human?"

Serena's eyes rolled back and she slumped down. The Nighlok slapped her cheek, waking her back up.

"You'll want to be awake for this."

Scruffy shook himself off, trying to get dry. The water, unlike any water he had ever played in before, was hurting him. He whimpered and cried and started running around. The Nighlok turned to Octoroo, "Grab him, before he gets away."

But Scruffy didn't want to be touched. He snarled and snapped at Octoroo again, who didn't want to lose another tentacle so he backed away. Scruffy snapped at the small Nighlok again and did manage to snag a tentacle. He ripped it right off and then took off running for home with the tentacle in his mouth.

"You stupid beast!" Octoroo screamed out in pain, "Those take forever to grow back!"


	178. The New Nighlok

Jayden was just coming out of the bathroom and drying his hands off on his shirt when he saw Antonio sitting alone in the common room. Mike and Emily were still out to pick up Serena from school and Kevin was in his room watching over Mia. Mentor Ji was going back and forth between Mia and Amanda, and Jayden, Jessie, and Max spent all their time in Jayden's room. For now, Antonio was alone.

Jayden looked to his room and then back at Antonio. He wanted to be by Amanda's side but he couldn't leave his friend. He had hated it when Mentor said it, but he now understood what Mentor meant. His friends were going to be around a lot longer than Amanda likely would. He needed to make sure they were okay.

He had a lot of apologizing to do. Trusting Amanda was in good hands he took a seat across from Antonio.

"It's not that I'm uncomfortable with what you are…"

"Say it," Antonio muttered.

"I don't care that you're gay," Jayden said. "That isn't what makes me uncomfortable. What does make me uncomfortable and probably shouldn't is… the fact that you like me and you're a guy. I know it sounds the same, but it's different, I promise."

"Why shouldn't that make you uncomfortable?"

"If Serena or Mia or Emily told me they had a crush on me, I don't think I would have accused them like I did you. I don't think I would have judged."

"So it is a gay thing?"

"Antonio, no. I was mad and scared and… this is my biggest nightmare and I took out all those feelings on you but it's not because you're gay, I swear. That's not a problem for me. It's just… you like me and I thought, only for a second and I know I was wrong, but I thought maybe this was revenge or something. I thought you thought Amanda stole me and… yeah."

"I heard your apology last night," Antonio said. "I wasn't asleep."

"I meant every word of it," Jayden smiled. "You are my best friend and nothing's going to change that. I don't want to lose Amanda, but if I had to choose…"

"Don't," Antonio shook his head, "I get it. You love both of us, just differently. I'm your friend, she was your girlfriend. That's two different things completely and unless you really have to, like Amanda and I are both hanging off a cliff and you can only save one of us, I will never ask you to choose. The girls won, the gays didn't so I should just back off, let you be happy, and appreciate your friendship. But you've got to do the same with me."

"I do appreciate it, Antonio," Jayden nodded. "Without you I wouldn't be here. How about, when this is all over, no matter how it ends, you and I do something special, just the two of us. Dinner and a movie?"

"Are you asking me out?" Antonio teased with a playful smirk.

"As a friend," Jayden nodded, "What do you say? I'll even let you flirt with the waiter if he's a guy. I'll be wingman."

"I like that," Antonio smiled.

Jayden was about to get up and go back to his room when he heard something scratching at the door. He and Antonio exchanged looks and went to see who it was. When they opened the door they saw Scruffy. He was moving around, shaking his head from side to side and seemed to be in pain. He had been bitten by fleas once before and had done everything to scratch himself, and it looked like it was happening again, only worse.

There was something in his mouth that he dropped by Antonio's foot. He growled, barked, and cried as he scratched himself and rolled on the ground.

"How long have you been out?" Antonio asked, reaching for Scruffy's collar to pull him in while Jayden picked up what Scruffy had dropped.

Antonio noticed something odd. The dog was frozen, but he wasn't frozen as in he had been outside for too long and his body temperature dropped. He was literally frozen. It was as if he had found a river or lake and jumped in, and then came out and let the cold weather turn his wet body into ice.

"Is everyone trying to freeze to death?" Antonio asked. "First Em, then Amanda, now you."

Scruffy barked and snapped at Antonio as he was pulled inside the house to warm up. Antonio avoided the dog's bite but now he was really concerned. Something had happened and it was affecting Scruffy.

Jayden set the mystery object down and went to pat the dog to feel the cold for himself. The ice melted slightly when it touched his hand, and when Jayden looked at his hand he saw the water was tinted red. He looked down at the mystery object and suddenly recognised it.

"Octoroo's tentacle!"

"What?"

Jayden didn't answer. He didn't have time. He rushed to the closet and grabbed a towel, "Dry him off, Antonio, I'll be right back."

"He's trying to bite me!" Antonio said as he caught the towel and turned to Scruffy. Fortunately he wasn't foaming at the mouth, but he was becoming more and more aggressive, like he was losing his mind. Antonio held up the towel and tried to grab the dog. Scruffy jumped away, snapped at Antonio, and barked.

"It's okay," Antonio whispered calmly, "Scruffs, it's me. I'll warm you up, I promise."

He wrapped the towel around the dog. Scruffy fought him at first, but when Antonio started to rub and scratch, Scruffy calmed down. He seemed relieved. He let Antonio finish up. He wasn't completely back to normal, Antonio noticed. He was still twitching and itching, but he seemed to be a little better.

Suddenly Jayden came running back with a bucket in his hands. Just as Antonio pulled the towel away, he dumped the contents of the bucket onto Scruffy, soaking him with water. Scruffy yelped because the water was cold, then stuck his tongue out and wagged his tail. He rolled around in the puddle, making sure to get every inch of his body covered in water.

Antonio frowned and looked up at Jayden, "I wouldn't have dried him if…"

"Sanzu water," Jayden explained. "It got into our world. Our water's not the purest, but it seems to have helped block out the poison."

"We'll have to figure out where it's coming from," Antonio said. He got to his feet and sighed, "Something tells me the Sanzu water coming through and Amanda and Mia getting attacked are all linked together. We already know a Nighlok attacked Amanda."

Jayden picked up the tentacle and showed it to Antonio, "It's got something to do with Octoroo."

"Squid face? So master Xandred is behind this, then?"

"Octoroo couldn't have done this on his own. He maybe could have hurt Amanda, but Mia?"

"You're saying he had help?" Antonio asked but Jayden's assumption made sense. So far, none of the Rangers had seen Octoroo in action. If anything, he was the brains behind all of Xandred's plans. As strong as the brain could be, unless Octoroo was hiding his skills for fighting beneath his tentacles, there was no way he could have hurt Mia as badly as she was. "But a Nighlok would have triggered a gap Sensor by now. Amanda doesn't look like she's been in the Netherworld at all, so a Nighlok would have had to stay with her, and she's been missing since New Year's."

"When we get an answer for that, I doubt we'll like it," Jayden said, "But we're going to find out. We owe it to Amanda."

"Think Scruffy can lead us to the water?" Antonio asked but he didn't get an answer. Jayden didn't have time to reply in any way. The front door swung open again and Mike and Emily came in.

Emily looked to Jayden and Antonio, "Is Serena home?"

Antonio and Jayden looked to each other and then shook their heads, "Isn't she at school."

"No," Mike sighed and adjusted his hat. Apparently he was going back outside to do a search. "She must have gone out with Mia. Neither of them would be stupid enough to run off on their own."

"That means whoever got Mia…" Antonio trailed off. He didn't want to say it.

"Let's hope they let Serena go," Mike said, "Right now I think we're better off finding her in the snow than anywhere else."

Scruffy stopped playing in the water. He was feeling much better. He looked up at the four Rangers and remembered why he had run home. Not only for relief, but for Serena as well.

He jumped up to his feet and grabbed Emily's pants in his mouth. He pulled her feet right out from under her and then took off outside.

"Not again," Emily muttered as she tried to catch her dog but he was too fast. He did rush back for Emily though and she tried to grab him a second time. He caught her arm by the jacket and pulled again.

Emily got to her feet, "I'm coming, I'm coming," she said. Scruffy ran down the yard. Emily watched him and the looked to the boys. "I'm going."

"We're going with you," Jayden said. He gently pushed the others out the door and closed it behind him. The four of them set off running after Scruffy.

They raced through the forest, jumping over rocks and stumbling over roots covered in snow. They ducked under branches and ran around the trees. Scruffy seemed to know where he was going, but occasionally he would lower his nose to the ground to try and pick up a smell. He knew what he was looking for, he just needed a little help.

As he got closer and closer to the spot where he last saw Serena, a strong smell hit his nose and he stopped running. He looked around and could sense there was danger. He began to growl and stood defensively.

The rangers ran up behind him and stopped. Emily looked down at her dog. She had never seen him so furious and was thankful he was on her side.

"Ooh, ah, ooh, it was only a matter of time before you Rangers showed up," Octoroo said as he stepped out from behind a tree. Jayden smirked slightly as he saw the squid Nighlok. Two of his tentacles had been destroyed by Scruffy and after everything he had been through with Amanda, it was nice to see the other side suffering, even a little.

"Where's my sister?" Emily shouted. Mike pulled her back and stood in front of her. He didn't want to protect her. He had learned she was strong enough to look after herself. However, he wanted to stop her doing something stupid.

"Your sister is with a new friend of mine."

"You were right, Jay," Antonio whispered, "There is another Nighlok."

Jayden drew his sword, "You attacked Amanda, didn't you?"

"We needed some way to get your attention," Octoroo nodded his head, "When we heard you had a girlfriend, we knew we had our target. Sometimes, Dayu can be useful for more than just music."

"I'll kill you," Jayden drew his sword, "I'll fucking kill you."

He rushed at Octoroo but didn't get far before something jumped up, out of the blue, and got between Jayden and Octoroo. Jayden's sword met with the blade of his opponent before he was kicked in the stomach and sent flying back to his friends. Antonio and Mike caught Jayden and steadied him back on his feet.

"Who are you?" Emily asked, looking up at the big Nighlok who had interfered.

"That is none of your concern," the Nighlok growled. He looked over his shoulder at Octoroo, "She is almost ready. Go to her."

Octoroo bowed and set off running, or hobbling, deeper into the forest. The Rangers glared at the Nighlok who was standing in their way and hoped he wasn't talking about Serena.

The Nighlok pointed his sword at Jayden, "From what I hear, you're the only Samurai worth my time. Without you, the Nighlok need not worry about imprisonment in the spirit world."

"You can tell Xandred whatever he's up to ends now," Jayden growled and stepped forward, "No one threatens the people I care about!"

The Nighlok laughed, "You want to challenge me now?" he asked. He looked Jayden in the eye, "Perfect."

"Jay! Don't!" Antonio shouted but his cries fell on deaf ears. Jayden charged the Nighlok and swung his blade in full fury, morphing as he did. The Nighlok didn't seem intimidated at all. He blocked all of Jayden's attacks before launching one of his own. He disarmed the red Ranger and struck him in the chest. Jayden powered down instantly and fell to his knees, clutching his chest tightly with his hands. When he looked down there was blood seeping through his fingers. He gasped for breath and fell face first in the snow.

"Too easy," the Nighlok smirked and was about to bring down his sword when three others stopped him and he was suddenly struck by a bright symbol. He staggered backwards but aside from that showed no pain. He laughed as the three Rangers stood around Jayden. Even the dog seemed to be ready to defend the red Ranger. "This is pathetic," he said and turned to leave.

Scruffy wouldn't let him go and jumped forward for another attack. He bit the Nighlok's leg and shook his head, trying to do as much damage as possible and it seemed to be working. The Nighlok fell to his knees and cried out in pain as the dog's teeth tore through his thick skin and threatened to rip him apart. He turned back and glared at the dog as he pulled out his sword again, but a storm of leaves blinded him.

Antonio lifted Jayden up. He couldn't stay here. Jayden was losing a lot of blood and fast. He needed to get home, but he didn't want to leave Mike and Emily with what was obviously a very powerful Nighlok.

But as Mike's attack on the Nighlok ceased, he looked over his shoulder and nodded to Antonio, "Take him home. We'll be fine."

"But…"

"Take him home," Emily said.

It went against everything Antonio believed in, but he turned his back on his team and helped Jayden run away.

"This can't be happening," he muttered.

The Nighlok watched the red Ranger and his friend retreat and chuckled. If he had his way, this battle would be the last the red Ranger survived, and that was if he didn't bleed to death on his way home.

As Mike and Emily attacked, he took a step back, "I'm done here. I'll collect my prize and head back to the Netherworld."

"Give me back my sister!" Emily screamed and with her Samuraizer she launched a boulder at the Nighlok. He brought down his sword, slicing the boulder in half. As Mike and Emily stared in shock, he laughed loudly.

"It's not your sister I want," he said. "It's interesting. Had I know humans could birth Nighlok Samurai, I would have kidnapped the female Samurai a long, long time ago. I would have raised my own, unstoppable army."

"No!" Emily and Mike screamed as it dawned on them what the Nighlok wanted. His prize was Serena's baby.

"It's just unfortunate this Nighlok will be a yellow Ranger. Had he been red, we wouldn't have to worry about the sealing symbol."

"You're not getting Jayden and you're not getting my nephew!" Mike screamed. He charged forward, ready for another attack when something jumped in his way and knocked the Nighlok down for him. Mike skidded to a stop and gasped, "Dekker?"

Dekker looked over his shoulder and nodded before he attacked the Nighlok again. A gap a few feet away from the two opened up and Dekker, slowly through his attacks, backed the Nighlok up until they were both close enough to the portal that they could be sucked in. With one final push, the Nighlok was gone. Dekker stayed behind for a moment.

"Get her home and keep her safe," he said, "and no matter what, do not let any Nighlok near my son. Not even me."

"Not planning on it," Mike nodded his head and Dekker jumped through the gap. It closed up. Mike turned to Emily and she immediately rushed off deeper into the forest. Mike looked back at the gap for a moment, wanting to make sure the Nighlok wouldn't come back through.

He satisfied himself that he was safe for now and started to follow Emily's trail until he heard a loud, pained scream. He picked up the pace a little, hoping to get there faster.

"Mike! Help!" another scream and this time he was sure it was Emily. He took off like a bullet.


	179. A Surprise Addition

Antonio was practically dragging Jayden into the house by the time he got home. He was exhausted from the long walk and carrying Jayden's weight. He slumped to the ground and laid Jayden down.

"Help!" he screamed, hoping someone would hear him. Footsteps pounding against the floor told him people were coming. While he waited, he laid Jayden on his back, ripped off his jacket and pressed it against his chest to try and slow the bleeding.

"No, no, no," Mentor cried as he dropped down next to Jayden, "What happened?"

"A Nighlok," Antonio said, "I have no idea who, but he was stronger than Jayden."

"Apply pressure," Mentor instructed Antonio, "He'll need blood."

"From who?" Antonio asked but Mentor was already gone. Antonio looked down worriedly to Jayden. The red Ranger was still conscious, but only just. He looked like he was about to go any second. Antonio touched his face gently, telling him there was someone with him, "You're going to be okay, just hang in there, buddy."

"What the hell happened?" Antonio heard Kevin call as the blue Ranger rushed down the hall. Antonio didn't take his eyes off Jayden as he answered.

"There's a Nighlok."

"No shit."

"He's out there. He did this."

Kevin looked straight at Antonio, a shocked and serious look on his face, "He's out there now?"

Antonio nodded his head, "Jay needs help."

Kevin looked down at Jayden, "You keep fighting," he told him and then he glanced at Antonio, "From what I can see if doesn't look too deep. If we can stop the bleeding…"

"Let me take care of this," Mentor Ji pushed his way past the two boys and dropped a bag next to Jayden. He shoved Kevin and Antonio out of the way, "Go find the Nighlok who did this. Everyone will be safe in the house with me."

"But…"

"Go find him and kill him," Mentor growled, "That's an order!"

Kevin and Antonio had never seen Mentor so furious, but they had also never seen Jayden in such a bad way. They got to their feet and raced off outside.

"Where was the Nighlok?" Kevin asked but Antonio was already leading the way.

-Samurai-

When Mike found Emily she was in a fight with Octoroo and she was holding her own fairly well. Octoroo was really no bigger than she was, but was much slower, giving Emily a strong advantage as she landed attack after attack.

"That's my girl," Mike grinned and then a scream reached his ears. He turned to the source and saw Serena lying in the snow, crying out in pain. Knowing Emily could take on Octoroo without any help, Mike ran over to Serena, "Are you okay?"

"They did something," Serena muttered. She was in agonizing pain. It was a pain she had never felt before, and never wanted to experience again. Every part of her body hurt. She grabbed Mike's arm tightly as another wave of pain, stronger than before, hit her like a train. She screamed loudly, piercing Mike's ears. Her nails dug into his arm. He whimpered in pain.

"Ow, ow, Serena!"

"He's coming," Serena whispered and clutched onto Mike's shirt. She buried her face in his chest. Mike looked down, puzzled for a moment.

"Who's coming?"

"They splashed me with water," Serena said. She winced in pain again and tried not to scream. It took everything she had. "It helps the baby grow."

"Serena, what's going on?" Mike gently held her face in his hands, "Just say it directly."

"The baby's coming."

"But… but…" Mike stammered, completely frozen.

Emily, meanwhile, wouldn't let Octoroo leave. He tried time and time again to jump into a gap and flee to the Netherworld, but Emily assaulted him with stones, rocks, dust, and attacks with her sword. He could barely get back to his feet before she knocked him down again.

She finally got him pinned to a tree and pressed her sword against his throat, "If you ever touch my sister or my nephew again, I'll kill you," she growled.

"I'm just following orders," Octoroo said, "Please, yellow Ranger, let me go."

Scruffy decided to join the fun. He snapped at Octoroo, biting down on the squid Nighlok's arm. Emily let him go and Scruffy started to drag Octoroo around.

"Ooh, ah, ooh, I don't feel so good," Octoroo cried. Scruffy let him go and tried to go for Octoroo's neck. The squid finally saw an opening and punched Scruffy in the chest. The dog was winded for a few moments and it was just enough time for Octoroo to get up and run to a gap.

Emily wanted to praise her dog but heard another scream from her sister. She turned around and like Mike, froze up in terror. She had no idea what to do.

Serena looked to her help and knew she was on her own. She was going to have to coach the others on how to coach her. She took Mike's hand. She needed him by her side if not for comfort, than for privacy.

"Emily, get over here!" she screamed, "You have to do this."

Emily shook her head, "I'm good here."

"EmilYYY!" Serena screamed again and Scruffy didn't hesitate to run over. He nuzzled up against her, doing all he could to comfort her.

Emily took a big gulp, "I'm officially scarred for life."

-Samurai-

The last time Mentor had tended to this many people with such severe injuries had been after the last generation's final battle.

He gave Jayden the blood transfusion he needed and got his son stabilize. Jayden was no longer awake, but Mentor was sure he would recover. He closed up the wound and hoped that Jayden would be up and about again by the time it healed. One thing he always admired was how strong Jayden was. It was a trait that seemed to be passed down in his family and seemed to grow with every generation. His father had been one of the strongest men Mentor Ji ever met until now.

If Mentor was thankful for one thing, though, it was how well prepared he was for these kinds of emergencies. His own father, the previous mentor, had taught him well, and the many doctors who gave Mentor Ji many lessons in medical procedures had also done a good job training him for this job. The life of a Samurai presented huge risks. Mentor was actually surprised every time the Rangers all returned home from battle. He knew they could handle nearly everything the Nighlok threw their way, but the odds weren't on their side. The Nighlok had a seemingly limitless supply of warriors to send out, each stronger than the last. They could lose countless times without much worry. The Rangers just needed to lose once. All it took was one wound on a single Samurai that couldn't be treated properly or right away, and the Samurai were already weakened. If more than one was hit, they were dead.

As a child, Ji had watched his father mentor the current Samurai's grandparents. He had seen all the cuts, scrapes, bruises, gashes, and one case that nearly required amputation, which could have cost the team greatly. But his father always expected the worst when it came to injuries and was always able to stay calm. It was easier to treat a gash to the forehead when one was expecting his Samurai to come home with a missing limb or worse. And it was easier to treat all injuries if Mentor had the tools to treat them here at the Shiba House.

But with Amanda on life support, Mia needing supervision, and Jayden needing blood, Mentor's supplies were beginning to stretch a little thin. At best, the rest of the Rangers would come home safe and sound and Mentor could focus on Amanda, Mia, and Jayden, but if even one of them came home with anything more than a bruise or a paper cut, and Mentor didn't have time to restock his medical supplies, he was going to be screwed. The entire team was going to be screwed.

He wasn't in complete agreement with Jessie and Max being in his home. He understood the reasons why they were there and didn't protest or make them feel unwelcomed, but he would have preferred to keep them in the dark and keep them safe. But right now, he was happy for the help. Jessie would keep an eye on Jayden and Amanda, and Mia was resting comfortably thanks to Kevin, so Mentor had some time to close his eyes and relax. He was worried for the rest of the Rangers, but he couldn't let that bother him now. He was mentor; he needed to keep a cool head.

-Samurai-

Antonio spun around in a circle as he arrived to the spot where he and the others met the Nighlok. No one was there. The footprints in the snow indicated a fight and a struggle beyond what Antonio had seen.

"It was right here," he said and looked to Kevin, "We were right here."

Kevin looked down at the snow stained in Jayden's blood, "I believe you."

"Mike! Emily!" Antonio screamed desperately. He knew he had no choice but to leave, but if something happened to them he would forever feel guilty. Kevin joined him, crying out for their missing teammates.

After several screams, Kevin grabbed Antonio's arm tightly. Something strange caught his ear.

"Shh, shh," he hushed the gold Ranger and listened closely. Antonio did the same, trying to identify the sound.

"What the hell is that?" he whispered.

Kevin shook his head and then his eyes went wide, "A baby."

"What?" Antonio looked up at Kevin like he was crazy, "We're in the middle of the woods, Kevin. Why would there be a baby…?"

"Listen," Kevin whispered. Antonio rolled his eyes and paid attention to the sound. At first he didn't want to believe it was a baby. That would mean admitting someone had been careless enough to abandon a child in the middle of the forest in winter, but after a few cries he couldn't help but admit Kevin was right.

Kevin pointed down in the snow, "Footprints," he said. Antonio followed where he was pointing and again had to admit Kevin was right. There were fresh sets of footprints and fortunately they matched Mike and Emily's feet, and Scruffy's paws more than the feet of a Nighlok.

"C'mon," Antonio said, pulling Kevin along. They raced through the forest as fast as they could until they finally saw Mike, Serena, and Emily sitting in the snow.

Antonio darted over to Serena and Mike to check them over, but from what he could see, Mike was fine. Mike was comforting Serena, holding her in his arms.

"What happened?" Antonio asked and tried to look around for clues. Serena was covered up by Mike's jacket, but there was some red snow surrounding her, indicating blood, "Serena, are you okay?"

Kevin went straight for Emily. The first thing he noticed about her was that she wasn't wearing her jacket anymore. She was holding it in her arms and shivering madly. He ripped his own jacket off and draped it over her shoulders.

"Em, you'll freeze," he told her, "You can't do this to yourself again."

Emily shook her head and gestured to the bundle in her arms. Kevin looked at her confused and then down at what he thought was just her jacket. He gasped loudly when she gently moved the hood, revealing a small face.

"Where the hell did you get that?" he asked her as he stared down at what looked like a baby, but Kevin refused to believe it was.

Emily leaned into Kevin, "He needs help," she whispered. "Serena says the Nighlok did something."

Kevin wrapped his arms around her and looked over at Antonio. There was shock written all over his face and the gold Ranger was the same way.

Mike looked up, "Serena says the Nighlok used Sanzu water to help the baby grow."

"Is that possible?" Antonio asked.

"The baby's part-Nighlok," Mike shrugged, "Sanzu water makes him stronger."

"What about his human half?"

"He looks fine to me," Mike said. "Though I'm willing to bet his Nighlok half is keeping him alive. We'll have to get him checked out."

"And Serena too," Kevin nodded his head. "If the Sanzu water reached the baby, it's poisoned her again."

Serena clutched onto Mike tightly, "Where's my son?"

Mike stroked her back and hugged her comfortingly, "Emily's going to take good care of him, okay? We have to check you out first," he looked up at Antonio, "Help me get her home."

"Mentor's not going to believe this," Antonio said. He texted a symbol with his Samuraizer and made a blanket. He wrapped it around Serena and helped Mike get her into his arms, "You got her?"

"I've got her," Mike nodded, "Just stay close to her."

While Mike and Antonio took Serena home, Kevin carefully helped Emily up. She had gotten the baby to quiet down and he was finally settled. Kevin didn't want to wake him up again and didn't want to risk him getting hurt.

"Are you okay?" he asked Emily as they started to walk back. She nodded but couldn't take her eyes off her nephew. Kevin had to guide her home so she didn't run into anything.

Scruffy followed Emily faithfully, whimpering curiously at the bundle in her arms. Kevin gently pat the dog on the head.

"It's okay," he whispered.


	180. Bouncing Back

To say Mentor Ji had his hands full was an understatement. He had one patient comatose, hanging onto life by a thread while her family watched. He had another patient who would sleep until a powerful symbol was either removed from her body, or until she was no longer in pain from the beating she suffered at the hands of the Nighlok. The same Nighlok who not only put patient one and two in their conditions, but also nearly killed patient number three with a single swing of his sword and who gave Mentor his patients number four and five.

It didn't take a genius to know there was something wrong with Serena. She had just given birth to a full term half-Nighlok child prematurely in the freezing cold. For that to make any sense, something had to be wrong. When she had been brought home, Mike had told Mentor that Serena had mentioned being splashed with water from the Sanzu River. If that was true, she was poisoned and Mentor needed to get the water out of her system and fast.

As far as he could see, there was almost nothing wrong with the baby, though. He was crying like any baby should and he seemed to be breathing perfectly fine on his own. He had shifted back and forth a couple of times between his human self and his Nighlok self, but was now finally settled in his human form. He hadn't switched back for a few hours. Mentor hoped he would stay this way. If he did they could take him to a real hospital to get him looked after properly.

"Drink it," Mentor said to Serena as he held a glass of water to her lips. She shook her head but was too tired to really argue and had been since she got home. Mentor wanted to let her sleep, he couldn't imagine how exhausted she was, but he needed her awake until he was done looking after her.

As she drank the water, Mentor smiled. So far, the only thing he knew that could dull the effects of the Sanzu water was the water in the human world. The purity of the water determined just how effectively the poison would be purged from a being's system. Tap water had worked for Scruffy, whose fur had absorbed quite a bit of water from only a bucketful, but Serena would need more and she would need something more pure. Mentor knew of a lake nearby and had sent Kevin to collect some water for Serena.

She finished the glass and that was the last. Mentor helped her get comfortable in bed and finally told her she could rest.

"My baby…"

"Emily's watching him," Mentor assured her, "You must rest."

Mike had been sitting in the corner of the room the entire time. As Mentor Ji got up to leave, he approached Serena's bed and took her hand.

"When you wake up I'll bring him to you," Mike said, "I promise. Just get some sleep and you can cuddle with him later."

Serena nodded her head, "Thanks for being there."

"I wish it happened in a delivery room and in a few months from now," Mike said, "Preferably after at least one of us Samurai took a birthing class with you, but it seems it all worked out."

"Is he okay?" Serena asked.

Mike smiled, "As far as we can tell, he's a beautiful and healthy baby boy."

-Samurai-

Jayden woke up but he wasn't in his bed. This was still his room, but not his bed.

He tried to sit up to get a better look at his surroundings, but a sharp pain in his chest stopped him. He cried out in pain and fell back into his pillow. When he opened his eyes, he saw the face of a young boy staring down at him.

"You fought a Nighlok and lost."

He grunted and looked down. Just as Max had said, his chest was wrapped in bandages from a losing fight and he finally remembered why. He had met the Nighlok who had hurt Amanda and hadn't fared too well in a fight against the monster.

"Let me help," Jessie said as she came over and gently helped Jayden sit up in bed, "Are you comfortable?"

"Yeah, thanks," Jayden whispered. He glanced across the room at Amanda. He felt lucky to be alive, but he wanted to switch places with her. She was the innocent party here, not him. She deserved to be home and unharmed.

"Aren't the Power Rangers always supposed to win?" Max asked. "You looked like you got your butt kicked."

"Max, be nice," Jessie said. She walked back to the other side of the room and took her seat next to Amanda's bed.

"It's alright," Jayden assured her. He looked over to Max, "We don't always win the first time."

"Was the Nighlok big and scary?"

"Why don't you go tell someone I'm awake?" Jayden asked. "I'm sure they'll be happy to know."

"Alright," Max slipped off the bed and walked to the door, "but you're going to tell me how the Nighlok kicked your butt, right?"

"Later, buddy, I promise."

"Sweet!" Max smiled and closed the door as he left the room. Jayden glanced over at Jessie. He looked to her sadly.

"How is she?"

"Same. You should be worrying about yourself, though."

"I did this to myself," Jayden said, "Besides, I'll live."

"That's great..."

"We haven't really gotten a chance to talk about… you know."

"The fact that you pursued a relationship with my baby sister knowing you would be putting her and the rest of my family in danger? I don't think we need to talk about it, Jayden. It's pretty clear what happened."

"I didn't mean to…"

"I appreciate that you feel badly about it," Jessie shook her head, "And I guess I'm going easy on you because I got to know you as a human before I realised you were superman, but I don't want to talk about it, Jayden. And as soon as possible, I want Amanda to come home: alive or dead, and I don't want you following."

"I really do care about her."

"That's why I want to take her home. You care too much," Jessie finally turned around and faced Jayden, "The Nighlok who kicked your ass, he's the one who hurt Amanda, right?"

Jayden nodded his head, "Yeah."

"Did you find out why he attacked her? You know, before you oh so valiantly let us all down and fell in battle?"

Jayden decided to ignore the sarcasm because Jessie was right. He did let them all down. He should have been able to at least cause a little harm to the Nighlok. Instead, he fell right at the starting line.

"He wanted my attention. He knew I'd come looking for the guy who hurt her."

"Can you do me a favour?" Jessie asked. Jayden nodded his head.

"Anything."

"Stop caring. Forget about her, starting now. Don't call to check up on her. Don't walk around our house to see how we're doing. Don't go by the hospital to see if she's still there. Just erase her from your mind. You never dated her."

"Jessie, I can't just…"

"If you really care about her, you'll stop," Jessie got up from her chair, "This house is too crazy and you're going to need more room. Amanda's taking up space…"

"She's welcome here…"

"She's going to a hospital. I'll set it all up so no one here gets arrested or accused of anything, but she's going to be found and she's going to get treatment the way any ordinary victim of assault would. At the hospital."

"Jessie…"

"Thanks for all you do, but you've done enough," Jessie opened the door in time to let Antonio and Max into the room. She grabbed Max by the shoulder and pushed him back out the door.

"Jessie! Jayden's going to tell me how he got his butt kicked."

"No he won't."

"But he promised!"

"We're going home, Maxie."

Jessie gently shoved him out of the room and closed the door, leaving Antonio and Jayden alone. Antonio looked over to Jayden, slightly confused, but mostly relieved.

"You scared the shit out of me," he said. "I thought you were going to die."

"Same here," Jayden muttered. He looked up at Antonio, "Can you do me a favour?"

"Are you not comfortable?"

"Can you help me say goodbye?"

Antonio shook his head and chuckled, "You're fine, Jayden. You're not going to die."

"Jessie's taking Amanda away and… I think I screwed up," Jayden sighed, "Jessie won't let me see her again, and I guess her parents are going to be on the same page with her. There's no reasoning with them."

"But you care about her," Antonio frowned, "Jay, you love her. They can't get in the way…"

"Look at it from their perspective, Antonio. I knew the dangers and I pulled Amanda into this life against her will. It's not like I have Samurai written on my forehead. She thought I was normal when we were going out. I doubt she would have loved me if she knew it would lead to this."

"That's her choice to make, though," Antonio said. He took a deep breath, "but I guess right now she's not making many choices."

He carefully lifted Jayden out of bed and helped the red Ranger to Amanda's bed. Jayden didn't have much to say, he just leaned over, kissed her forehead and promised her she would be safe from now on. A few tears dripped down his cheeks as he straightened himself up, trying to stand strong. He only lasted a couple of seconds before he needed Antonio again.

"You can take me back to bed."

"I've got a better idea," Antonio smiled. "Do you think you can make it to the couch?"

"In the common room?"

Antonio nodded, "Yeah. There's a surprise. It'll cheer you up."

-Samurai-

After retrieving the water Mentor Ji asked for, Kevin returned to Mia's side. A part of him wanted to be with Serena, or Jayden, or Emily and the baby, but he belonged here and nothing could pull him away.

He was starting to doze off as he sat by Mia's side. She was still sleeping comfortably and it was putting Kevin to sleep as well. He felt his head bobbing forward and then he jolted back up, trying to stay awake.

"K-Kevin?"

He heard her voice and he was suddenly wide awake. He looked over at Mia and saw her eyes were open. He took this as a sign that she had gotten the rest she needed to feel better and the symbol had worn off. He stood up and leaned over her.

"Hey, Mia."

"What happened?"

"You tell me," he chuckled, "How are you feeling?"

"Sore."

"Just sore? Given had badly beat up you look, that would be a miraculous recovery."

"I remember a Nighlok…"

"It's okay. It's over," he promised her. "He's gone for now and you're safe."

"Serena was with me," Mia said. Her memory was filled with gaps, but a few things were starting to come back, "Octoroo… he was there. He saw she was pregnant and…"

"Shh, it's okay," Kevin gently stroked her cheek, "Everyone's home and they're safe."

"And sound?"

Kevin sighed, "More or less," a smile crept up on his face. He gently began to scoop Mia up in his arms, "I know what'll take your mind off what happened. But you need to promise you'll be quiet. I think Emily just got him back to sleep."

"Did Mike fall asleep with his face against the TV again?" Mia asked with a small laugh. Kevin chuckled and shook his head.

"Better."

-Samurai-

Emily had never held a baby before in her life and now suddenly she was responsible for one. Serena was too tired and sick to care for her son, Mike was looking over her, Mia was badly injured, Kevin was with her, Jayden had almost been cut in half, Antonio was checking up on him, and Jessie had pulled Mentor Ji away to talk about what they were going to do with Amanda. Emily was on her own with a newborn and was completely clueless on what needed to be done.

Fortunately, he seemed to be an easy sleeper. All he wanted to do was sleep. She knew it was impossible, but the baby seemed to be taking after Mike in that sense.

She looked down at his little body wrapped up tightly in blankets to keep him safe and warm. She had never seen something so tiny. She was terrified for the child, and happy that he wasn't actually hers. Keeping him alive wasn't her problem. It was going to be Serena's. She would do all she could to help, but Serena was mommy.

She rocked him gently to keep him sleeping as someone approached the common room. She didn't look up to see who it was but she hoped it was Mike.

"Holy shit."

She heard Jayden's voice and chuckled slightly. It wasn't Mike, but at least she wasn't alone. Jayden had come in with Antonio's help. The gold Ranger set the red on the couch.

Jayden was stunned, "Where did you get that baby?"

"Serena," Emily whispered and then hushed Jayden, "Please don't wake him up. He's loud when he cries."

"But Serena's not due until…" Jayden trailed off when he saw Antonio was nodding his head, confirming Emily's statement. Antonio walked up behind the yellow Ranger and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Believe her, dude. She delivered the baby. If anyone's going to know where he came from, it's her."

Emily looked up at Antonio, "That reminds me. I'm never having kids. I'm adopting. Someone else can do that for me."

"You're too young to think about having babies," Antonio gently tapped the top of her head.

Two more people walked into the common room. Emily smiled brightly when she saw it was Kevin carrying Mia.

"You're up," she smiled and whispered.

Kevin set Mia down next to Jayden on the couch, "She just woke up and needs a distraction from what happened."

Mia stared at the bundle of blankets in Emily's hand. She could figure out what it was, but she didn't want to believe it. She stared in silence at her little sister.

Emily got up from her stool and walked over to the couch. She sat between Mia and Jayden to give them a closer look at the baby. Mia gasped in shock.

"That's what the Nighlok did!"

"Shh!" Emily hushed her but it was too late. The baby boy opened his eyes and looked up startled. "Mia…" Emily grumbled as the baby started to cry.

"Sorry…"

"Now you whisper," Emily said. She got up from the couch and started to rock the baby gently in her arms, trying to sooth him.

"Wait," Jayden looked around the room, "If the baby's here…?"

Mia had the same thought. It wasn't shocking that Emily was taking care of her nephew, but the baby should have been with his mother, not his aunt, "Where's Serena?"

"She'll be fine," Mike smiled as he walked into the room. He went straight for Emily and the baby but looked up at the others, "she's doing better than when she first got here. Mentor thinks she'll be fine within a matter of hours."

Mike turned down to the baby and then glanced up at Emily, "Want me to take him? You can go lie down?"

Emily shook her head, "Lying down will involve closing my eyes and every time I close my eyes I see him… coming into the world. I'm good where I am."

"At least you didn't nearly lose your hand," Mike looked down at his hand, which Serena had been holding the entire time she gave birth to her son.

"Are you really going to compare?" Emily looked up at him with a smile. He shook his head.

"I guess I lose no matter how you look at it," he chuckled as he leaned down to kiss her. When he pulled away, there was a big smile on his face that stretched from ear to ear, "By the way, before Serena fell asleep, she told me something."

"What?"

"Name the baby."

"What?"

"Name him," Mike repeated. "It's up to you. Personally I would go with Zebulon, but…"

"Terran," Emily grinned happily and looked up at Mike for his approval, "I saw it in the book when we were looking for middle names."

The baby finally settled in Emily's arms after being woken up. Mike smiled at Emily and nodded his head.

"I think he likes it."


	181. Mother and Son

Mentor Ji had approved it. Amanda was going home.

Everything she needed was packed and the ambulance had been called to take her down the hospital. There had been a lot of questions asked, but Mentor wove a tale that satisfied everyone. The Samurai were impressed, but he had been covering for them for over a year, and had done so with their parents. He had many years of experience.

The Rangers said their goodbyes to Amanda, Jessie, and Max, but not Jayden. He was sitting out. He felt had to, not just because Jessie had asked him to forget about, but because he couldn't bear to watch her leave.

Antonio walked into Jayden's room silently. There wasn't really anything he could say to cheer his friend up. He knew how much Amanda meant to Jayden, and he knew how much Jayden was beating himself up over this.

"That Nighlok just made it personal," Jayden growled. He didn't even look over his shoulder. He knew he was speaking to Antonio.

"We have to change the bandages," Antonio said.

"First my father, now my girlfriend."

"Technically, ex," Antonio corrected him as he reached into the first aid kit Mentor had made up especially for Jayden. With so many injuries around the house, this was the only way to keep track of what everyone had and needed. Jayden had his own kit, Mia had her own, and Serena had her own.

"If they want me, why can't they just come after me?" Jayden asked.

Antonio started to remove the old bandage and shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know, Jay. That's not how the bad guys think. They want to defeat you at your best, but they want to make sure they'll win. Going after someone you care about is perfect. You'll fight with everything you have, but you'll be so desperate you'll screw up."

"I never should have dated her. You were right…"

"I was wrong. Okay, it sucks for Amanda and her family but it's not like you chose this either. I doubt you came into this world kicking and screaming, begging to put your life in danger every day to save them. The Earth owes you, Jayden. Wanting to have a normal life is nothing to regret."

"It is when the thing that I want puts another human life in danger."

Before Antonio started with the new bandage he grabbed Jayden's shoulders. He looked the red Ranger straight in the eyes.

"You did not want Amanda to get hurt. You broke up with her to keep this from happening. You broke your own heart to try and keep her safe. You ran into a burning building to save her life. You drained yourself using symbol power to keep her breathing and alive. You went after that Nighlok to make sure this wasn't ever going to happen again. You did all you could. You're not the monster."

"Try telling that to her family."

"Her family may not like you, but Amanda's going to choose what she wants and how she feels. She was running here for a reason, Jay."

Jayden shook his head, "The Nighlok wanted me to find her. She probably has no idea…"

"Jayden, can you just shut up for one minute and just believe that something good might come out of this? Can't you just believe in the chance that maybe Amanda was coming here for a reason?"

Jayden saw Antonio was finishing with the bandage. He pulled away from Antonio and laid back in his bed.

"We should stop talking about her," he said. "The sooner we do that, the sooner I can forget this ever happened."

"That's not what you want."

"Yes, Antonio, it is," Jayden said. "Just… go check up on the baby or something. Leave me alone."

Antonio nodded his head and sighed, "Fine."

-Samurai-

Mia was benched due to her injuries and her fiancé's overprotective nature, and she wasn't happy.

With Antonio tending to Jayden, there were only three Samurai in the dojo. Kevin was entirely focused on the training and Mike was somewhat focused. From time to time his mind wandered, but never long enough to annoy Kevin.

Emily couldn't get her head in the lesson. Her eyes kept straying over to the clock and it had nearly cost her several times.

And Mia wanted to jump in and train with the others. She knew she wasn't feeling well and couldn't strain her body, unless she wanted to open up her wounds and bleed again, but that didn't scratch the itch to join.

"Kevin…"

"No," the blue Ranger shook his head. He knew Mia's request, "You'll get hurt, guaranteed."

Emily took this interruption as permission for a break. She glanced over to Mike, "it's been over half a day…"

"Em, Serena's fine," Mike assured her. He knew she was worried for Serena, "She's recovering from being poisoned and childbirth. She'll need all the rest she can get. And those pills Mentor gave her…"

"But Terran needs his mom," Emily gestured over to the carrier in the corner. Mike looked over and saw Terran was sleeping soundly with his green Samurai Teddy bear keeping him company.

"He looks fine to me," he smiled. He wrapped his arm around her, "Mother and son will meet soon, I promise."

"I just don't want to have to feed him again. Or change his diaper, or…"

"You'll do that anyways," Mike chuckled.

"I shouldn't be feeding him," Emily shook her head. "Serena should be. He should be with her. Why won't she wake up?"

"She'll wake up soon."

"But…"

"Emily, you're worrying yourself silly," Mike grabbed her by the arms and shook her gently, "I was there with Serena the entire time. I didn't leave her side. From the time she started pushing the baby out, right up until she fell asleep. If there was any risk, to her or baby, I would tell you."

Terran suddenly began wailing. Mike let Emily go and she went over to her nephew to care for him. Mike sighed and turned to Mia and Kevin. He hoped what they were doing would be entertaining for him.

"You're going to get hurt," Kevin shook his head as Mia insisted she was fine to try some light practice on her own.

"I'm bored."

"Go change his diaper," Kevin pointed to the baby, "You love kids and Em looks like she can use a break."

"I like their upper half," Mia sighed. "Please, Kevin…"

"Can you wait until tomorrow?"

Mike stepped in, "I'll train with her," he said. "I'll train defensively and Mia can hit me."

Mia seemed to like the idea and smiled at Mike for the suggestion. Kevin was a little reluctant to let it happen. Then Mia turned to him with big eyes and he knew she had him wrapped around her finger.

"Fine, but go slow," he said and took a seat and started drinking some water, "I'll be watching."

Mike looked to Mia and shook his head. He chuckled, "Boy, he's tough. You know you're allowed to do what you want, right?"

Mia picked up her sword and swung it at Mike. He blocked it easily. She nodded her head, "He's just looking out for me. It's probably for the best, too. I'm still pretty sore."

"But you want to train?"

"Do you know how pathetic it is that the team's been cut down by almost half?" Mia asked, taking another swing, which Mike again blocked easily.

"There's still four of us," Mike said. Mia looked to him a little uneasily.

"Yeah, I know…"

"But…"

"You, Emily, and Antonio with Kevin…"

Mike laughed, "You're just as bad as Kevin is!"

"Don't get me wrong," Mia said, "I trust you guys and I know you're amazing Rangers. But I would feel a little more comfortable knowing Kevin wasn't the…"

"Best swordsman out there?"

"Is he gets hurt, you three are in the line of fire, and it's up to you to protect him," Mia nodded.

Mike glanced over at Kevin, who was watching intensely from the bench, "Alright, his skills do make him better on the battle field in terms of fighting, but my symbol power's getting pretty good and if someone pisses Emily off, apparently she can unleash her fury. You should have seen her beating into Octoroo. He was begging for her mercy."

"I know you guys can do it," Mia said, "I would just prefer to be out there instead of in here."

Mike shook his head and laughed, "You've got to stop kissing Kevin."

"What? Why?"

"He's rubbing off on you," Mike set down his sword. He knew she hadn't been training for long, but Mia was starting to get tired. Mia seemed to agree with him. She walked back over to the wall and put her sword where it belonged.

Mentor Ji walked into the dojo at this moment and glanced around at the Rangers. His eyes landed on Emily and Terran.

"She's awake."

-Samurai-

Serena listened to every breath, unable to believe what had happened. It still felt like it was all a dream, but she was awake, she knew that.

She remember she had been promised her son. She knew she had given birth to him, but truth be told, she wouldn't believe it until she saw him. For one reason or another, she hadn't been allowed to see him until now. Mentor had said she was too sick and needed to take care of herself first, but that didn't seem to matter at all. The only thing she had wanted was her son.

Her door opened up and everyone except for Jayden walked into the room slowly. They wanted to be here for this moment. For everyone except Serena and Mentor, seeing newborn with new mother was a first.

"Are you okay?" Kevin asked her.

Serena shook her head, "Where is he?"

Emily made her way to the front of the group, holding the little baby boy Serena was asking for. The minute Serena saw the little bundle in her little sister's arms she started to cry. Emily walked over to the bed and gently passed the young boy over to his mother. Terran stirred slightly and almost let out a wail of discomfort, but then somehow seemed to know his mommy was holding him. He settled into her arms and fell right back to sleep.

"He's so small," she whispered.

"That's not what you said when he was coming out," Mike chuckled as he came over. Serena looked up.

"He's early. Is he…?"

"Mentor's friend looked him over last night," Emily nodded her head, "The Sanzu water made his Nighlok body grow faster, and that pulled his human body along as well because it needed to keep up. And since he's half Nighlok, the Sanzu water doesn't poison him. It makes him stronger."

"But his human half prevents him from being dependant on it," Mike added. "In short, you're holding a healthy baby boy. Baby Zebulon."

Serena's head whipped up and she glared angrily at Mike, "No you didn't…"

"Terran," Emily said, gently placing her hand on her sister's arm to calm her down. "We named him Terran."

"He's a sleeper, too," Kevin pointed out. "He doesn't fuss too much, which is a good thing. He only cries when he needs something."

"Wow, he already knows to stay on Kevin's good side," Mike chuckled. He leaned over and whispered softly to the baby, "Don't worry. When you're older I'll teach you how to piss him off."

"Mike," Mia chuckled and shook her head.

"Hey, guys, why don't we…?" Antonio signalled to the door and the others got the message. Kevin and Mia quickly filed out behind him, leaving the little family alone with their newest addition.

Emily got up as well, "I'm going to get his diaper bag," she made her way out the door.

Mike was going to follow so he could help her carry everything over and give Serena a quick moment alone with her son, but Serena grabbed his hand and stopped him.

"Mike, I was serious before. Thanks for being there. Thanks for always being there."

Mike shrugged, "It's what I do. Besides, any of the guys would have jumped in."

Serena looked down at the baby, "When I realised what the Nighlok were doing, the only thing I could do to keep myself from panicking was think up of names I liked for the baby, if he and I survived."

"If you want to change his name, I'm sure…"

"Terran," Serena smiled, "I love it."

"So…"

"I know I promised Emily the middle name, but I had to bump her up," Serena said, "I didn't want there to be two Mikes running around the house."

Mike was touched. He took a seat on the bed and smiled, "You wanted to name him after me?"

"Terran Michael," Serena nodded her head. "You've done so much for me and for my sister and you never had to. I know you liked her and I know you fell in love with her, but you've gone so far beyond expectations, it's only right. Hopefully Terran will turn out even a little like you."

Mike wiped a tear from his eye, "You're going to make me cry."

"I kind of want to see that happen too," Serena laughed. She shifted Terran slightly so she could hold him in one arm and she wrapped the other around Mike. When she pulled away from Mike, she turned back to her son and just wanted to stare at him and take it all in.

Mike looked down at the baby as well. If it was possible, he loved the little guy even more.

Emily came back with the diaper bag and set it down by Serena's bed and carefully sat down next to her sister on the bed. Serena reached out and took her little sister's hand.

"And thank you too," she smiled.

Emily shrugged her shoulders, "I'm scarred for life, but I guess it was worth it. Next time, promise you'll have a normal kid the normal way? With the doctors."

Serena smiled and nodded her head, "I promise."


	182. Forgiveness is Powerful

A week had passed. A long week for all.

For Kevin and Mia it had been a long week of recovery. Mia was still sore from her beating at the hands of the mystery Nighlok and Octoroo, but she was slowly getting back up to speed with the others. For now, she mostly trained on her own by smacking a dummy with her sword. Kevin didn't want to risk anyone hitting her and hurting her further, and Mia insisted she was ready to train again, so this was the compromise they had settled on.

Kevin found himself falling into the role of leader. When Dr. Fletcher had first suggested he take over the team for a day, he had found it hard to coordinate everything and keep up with everyone's needs. He had discovered that being a leader was not something he was good at. But what he was good at was stepping in and helping others. Jayden would hardly come out of his room, so Kevin knew he had to jump in and take over for the red Ranger so there would be less stress for him to deal with, and he knew he had to take care of the others while Jayden was absent if not the training schedule and the entire routine in the house would fall apart.

Antonio's mood had been up and down quite a bit during the week, making it feel longer than it should. He was helping out with Terran quite a bit and as tiring and as stinky as the job was, he found it was rather fun. The baby wasn't his, so he could worm his way out of the dirty jobs and enjoy playing with and cuddling the little Samurai.

But when he wasn't distracted by the baby, his thoughts would stray to Jayden. He hated seeing his best friend this way. He had gone to a regular high school and had seen and heard of some nasty break-ups, but Jayden's took the cake, and he technically wasn't even in a relationship when the break-up happened.

Everyone understood why Jessie had taken Amanda away. The house had been getting crowded and dangerous and Amanda wasn't getting any better here. The hospital could do everything Ji could do, and they had more people to do it. Everyone also understood why Jessie didn't want Jayden seeing Amanda anymore. Though they all tried to tell Jayden it wasn't his fault, they all knew that he did hold some of the blame for what happened. By pulling Jayden and Amanda apart completely, and trying to force the red Ranger to forget about his girlfriend, Jessie was doing all she could to keep her sister and the rest of her family safe. Antonio hoped it worked. At least then, Jayden would have a reason to be in so much pain.

Jayden's situation wasn't weighing as heavily on Mike's, Emily's, and Serena's minds though, and for good reason. Terran was consuming every available minute they had. From feeding, to diaper changes, to cuddles, to cleaning, Terran could always find a job for his caretakers could do and he was always keeping them on their toes. The only saving grace they had was the fact that there was three of them, plus the rest of the house when available, who could help out. Antonio had already found himself babysitting once while Mike, Emily, and Serena all crashed for a nap on the couches and stools. They had been so exhausted they couldn't even walk to the comfort of their beds. Kevin and Mia had babysat as well for a couple of hours while Mike and Emily trained and Serena ran to the store to pick up… well, more of everything.

Jayden, meanwhile, was having the worst time of them all. His room was where he would spend most of his days, but he refused to sleep in his bed. Not since Amanda. He would only come out, late at night, for food, and he would avoid running into the others. He knew they heard him walking around and he had heard them calling his name in an attempt to try and talk to him, but he wouldn't listen. He didn't want to talk. The only time he did was when someone came in to have a look at the wound on his chest. The wound that would scar and would forever remind him how he failed to protect the first woman he ever loved. The Nighlok who hurt her was still out there and he had managed to do more. He had hurt Mia as well, he hurt Scruffy, he had hurt and poisoned Serena, and while everything had been okay, he had put Terran at risk. Instead of getting what he deserved, the Nighlok could sit and laugh. Jayden was almost certain he was out there laughing.

Suddenly there was a knock at his door. He didn't say a word but his visitor invited himself in anyways. It was Antonio and he was holding a phone. Antonio felt like a stranger in his own room, and he had been sleeping on the couch since Amanda left because Jayden didn't want any company. It was always weird for him to walk into his bedroom now that Jayden had turned it into a dark cave.

He held out the phone, "It's for you."

"I don't want to talk to anyone."

"You'll want to talk to her," Antonio insisted. Jayden stared at the phone then shook his head.

"It's Mia on the other end, isn't it?" he asked. Mia had tried to come and talk to him a couple of times. She thought, because she had gotten hurt like Amanda, that she could convince Jayden that she didn't blame him and Amanda wouldn't either, but he had refused to listen.

"It's not Mia. It's not any of the girls. Just take the phone."

Jayden grumbled. He got up from the chair, clutching his chest with his hand. He reached out for the phone and held it up to the side of his face.

"What?"

Suddenly his face was as white as a sheet. Antonio knew who the caller was and he feared the worst. He stepped in closer to comfort his friend but Jayden pushed him away.

"I'll be right there," Jayden promised the caller and he hung up the phone. He shoved it into Antonio's chest and took off running.

Antonio watched him leave then decided Jayden couldn't go on his own. Wherever he was going and whatever he was doing, he needed his friends to go with him and help.

"Guys!" he shouted. He didn't care how many people followed, as long as someone did. He heard some of his friends getting up but he had no idea who. He followed Jayden to the door. Both boys slipped on their boats and their jackets. Jayden grabbed the keys to his car and ran out. Antonio was right behind him. He managed to reach the passenger side of the car just in time. He looked in as Jayden started the car, "I'm coming with you."

Jayden unlocked the door and the gold Ranger got in. As they pulled out of the yard, they saw the other Rangers running out of the house. Jayden didn't bother to stop to tell them where he was going, but Antonio held up his Samuraizer to show the others they could track him.

Kevin turned to Mike, Mia, and Emily, "I get the feeling this is important."

"You guys go," Mike said, "I'll stay with Serena, Ji, and Terran."

Mia and Kevin nodded but Emily didn't seem so sure. She hadn't once left the baby unless it was for a Nighlok, and she had been the only one not to do so. Even Serena had left the house once or twice to get some peace and quiet.

Mike placed his hands on Emily's shoulders, "He'll be fine," he said, "Go help Jayden and Antonio."

"C'mon, Emily," Mia encouraged her, taking her by the hand while Kevin used his symbol power to call up another car. They were going to need it to follow Jayden and Antonio.

-Samurai-

Antonio watched as Jayden stormed into the hospital and tore his way down the halls and up the stairs until he reached a door. At first, Antonio thought he was going to break the door down, but Jayden had stopped. He stopped right in front of the door and took a long, deep breath. So Antonio walked up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"What's going on?" he asked. "Is she…"

"Awake," Jayden turned to Antonio with a smile, "She's awake and she's asking for me. They're going to let me see her."

Antonio looked to the door then took Jayden's arm and pulled him away, "Is that the best idea?" he asked. "After everything that's happened…?"

"I need to apologize," Jayden nodded his head, "I have to explain it to her. I need to tell her everything. From very start right up until now. All the details."

"Everything?"

Jayden nodded again, "Antonio, they deserve answers."

"The more they know, the more danger you're putting them in," Antonio reminded him. "Jay, you have to think this through. Is it worth it?"

"Please let me go, Antonio," Jayden said. Tears welled up in his eyes, "You have no idea what I'm living with. Please…"

"I'll be right out here," Antonio sighed and let go of Jayden's arm. The red Ranger raced inside the room. Amanda's family was there, all around her bed. Her brother, her sister, her parents and grandparents; not a soul was missing.

And then his eyes fell on Amanda. She was still connected to so many machines, but she was awake. She was awake and responsive. Her eyes met his and they lit up brightly.

"Guys," Jessie called, looking to her parents and grandparents, "I think they should be alone."

"No," Jayden shook his head but Jessie insisted. She took Max' hand and guided everyone out of the room. Just before she left, though, she turned to Jayden.

"Max and I haven't said a word," she told him. "Mom, dad, gramps and gran think some scumbag did this to her, just like last time she went missing. But they aren't happy with you."

"I understand…"

"They know this all started when you started dating her," Jessie said, "I can't convince them otherwise. We won't tell them, but you're telling Amanda everything she deserves to know. If you don't, Samurai or not, I'm kicking your ass."

Jayden nodded his head, "I know. I'll tell her."

Jessie gave him one last hard stare then looked to Amanda softly and told her they would be gone for lunch.

As the door closed, Jayden walked up beside the bed and took a seat. Amanda reached out for his hand. He took hers and started to cry, "I'm so…"

She pulled off her breathing mask, "That Nighlok wants to kill you. He told me to tell you…"

"Don't worry about me," Jayden said, "I have friends who'll protect me. They'll protect you too. I'll protect you. I promise, Amanda, nothing's ever going to happen to you again."

Amanda started to tear up, "Can you make that promise?"

"I…" Jayden lowered his head, "I'm sorry."

Amanda squeezed his hand, "You have nice friends," she whispered. "After you broke up with me I ran into Emily. My memory's a little fuzzy, but I remember she helped me. She explained what happened. She helped me understand."

"I can explain it better. You deserve it…"

"I just want one answer," Amanda said. She looked Jayden in the eyes, "Being a superhero must be lonely, especially when everyone is paired up. Was this real? Or were you just lonely?"

"I…"

"Please, Jayden, be honest with me. I want the truth. It can't hurt me. Not anymore. The drugs here are pretty good…"

"I love you, Amanda," Jayden smiled. "What we had was real and that's why we have to stop. You can't love me and you can't hate me. The Nighlok will do anything, _anything_, to hurt me. Whatever you feel for me, they'll use it against us."

"I erased your number from my phone," Amanda said, "but I kept Serena and Emily's and they have mine. Have them call me when the Nighlok are defeated."

"Seriously?" Jayden asked. He couldn't believe it.

Amanda nodded her head, "Seriously. I'll consider you then on one condition. Until the Nighlok are gone forever, you do what Jessie told you to do. Don't come looking for me, don't check up on me, don't even think about me and don't fight for me. Go back to normal. The lonely superhero life."

The door to her room opened and a doctor and nurse walked in, "Sir, we're going to have to ask you to…"

"He was just leaving," Amanda said. She put her mask back on and slipped down into her bed. Jayden looked at her. He gave her one last smile and then headed out.

He found his friends waiting for him in the hall: Antonio, Kevin, Mia, and Emily. They were sitting on the floor, out of the way of the hospital staff. They jumped up when they saw him.

"How did it go?" Antonio asked.

Jayden smiled, "She'll be okay."

"How about you?"

"Things will go back to normal," Jayden said. He wrapped one arm around Emily and the other around Antonio, "Thanks, guys. You two especially. Everything you did for them and for me really helped."

"What did we do?" Antonio asked. "Aside from bringing Jessie and Amanda to the Shiba House. But that was a team decision."

Jayden smiled and squeezed them both before looking to the group as a whole, "Who wants to pick up pizza on the way home? My treat?"

"Pizza?" Kevin frowned. "Jayden? Something's not right."

"You guys have been working hard lately," Jayden shrugged his shoulder, "A nice pizza night and an extra set of hands to help with the baby might be just what you all need."

"An extra set of hands?" Emily frowned. "After all that you want to hire a babysitter? Does Mentor know someone who already knows about us?"

Jayden held up his own hands, "I meant these. I haven't really been around much to…"

He couldn't finish his sentence. Emily had already grabbed him and dragged him down the hallway as fast as she could carry him.

"You're going to love him! He's already starting to make faces when you get real close and act all goofy!"

"Emily…"

"Hurry up! If we get home too late Serena's going to put him down for a nap and you'll have to wait!"

Jayden looked back desperately at the others as he was pulled away. Kevin, Mia, and Antonio all shrugged their shoulders and laughed when he rounded the corner.

"We should have told him not to say the B-word around Emily," Kevin laughed.


	183. The Nighlok's Message

Octoroo stood, hidden by the trees, and watched as the Rangers returned home. The force field was still up around the house so it was going to be hard to attack them, but not impossible.

He turned to the Nighlok standing next to him. The Nighlok who had pulled him from Master Xandred's ship and forced him to serve. Takeshi had been his name until he gave himself over to the Nighlok, transforming completely into one of them in order to serve and claim the world under his and Master Xandred's reign. He had served the Nighlok faithfully in his time and had earned the respect of the most powerful Nighlok, and taught all others to fear him.

Centuries ago, when the Tengen Gate had been flooded by Sanzu water, Takeshi had been there to warn the Samurai that doom was coming. He fought the Rangers and left them beaten and battered for Master Xandred to finish off. His only purpose that day had been to strike fear and terror into the hearts of the people. Their knowledge of impending doom caused them fear and suffering and that made the waters rise. The fact that he was a skilled warrior, able to beat the five Samurai of the time without breaking a sweat, had only confirmed his words that trouble was near. Master Xandred was lord of the Netherworld for a reason, and as powerful as Takeshi had proven himself to be, Master Xandred was even stronger.

"How are you going to draw them out?" Octoroo asked.

Takeshi snapped his fingers and a portal appeared over his head, spitting out a person. Octoroo knew exactly who the portal had unleashed: Dekker. The half-Nighlok had fared well against Takeshi, but had proven he was no match in the end. Takeshi walked away from his fight with only a few minor cuts, which had already healed up thanks to the water Octoroo kept pulling up from the well. Dekker had barely survived the fight. Had Takeshi not wanted him to be alive, he wouldn't be.

"What are you going to do?" Octoroo asked. Takeshi looked down at the squid and then grabbed Dekker by the arm and pulled him to his feet. Dekker was bound tightly with his hands behind his back, and his feet together. There was a cloth over his mouth and one over his eyes to prevent him from seeing and screaming. He wasn't conscious, and there was no way he would have been able to escape the portal on his own, but Takeshi loved to make his victims feel as helpless as possible. Anything he could do to cause them more suffering and pain, he would do it He enjoyed it.

Takeshi lifted Dekker over his head and approached the Shiba house. With all his strength he tossed the half Nighlok over the gate, through the force field, and into the yard.

He clapped his hands together and turned back to Octoroo, "We wait," he said.

"Master Xandred would prefer if you just killed them off," Octoroo said. "Unlike last time, he would rather not have to face the Rangers when he floods the Earth.

Takeshi grabbed Octoroo by the tentacles, which were still sore from when Scruffy had ripped some of them out, "If we don't leave them to suffer, how will the Sanzu River rise? The Rangers have one year left to live and I'm here to make sure it's the most painful year of their life."

-Samurai-

Mike set the plates down on the table in the common room while the others opened up the boxes of pizza. He was happy eating right out of the box, but the others insisted to use plates so he had gone to get them.

As he reached for his first slice (of many), he looked over to Serena, "So, when are you going back to school? You kind of just… stopped going."

"Yeah," Emily nodded her head, "When Mike and I thought you were at school, we ran into that kid you're helping. He's not doing very well."

"I know," Serena sighed, "and I feel bad… but I can't leave Terran for the day, can I? He's just a week…"

Serena trailed off when she thought she heard something from outside. Apparently the others did as well. They were all looking out the window. Even Scruffy seemed curious. She turned around and glanced outside. She couldn't see anything at first, then thought she saw something in the snow. She was closest to the window so she got up to have a closer look.

"What the hell…?" she muttered. Whatever it was, it looked like a person. She turned to the other Samurai, "I'll be right back."

Braving the cold, she stepped outside. Scruffy ran out with her, following loyally while the others stood in the doorway, unwilling to walk in the cold even for just a few moments.

The closer she got to her mystery object, the more she started to realise it wasn't an object, but a person. A person bound and, judging by the lack of footprints, he was a person who had landed mysteriously in the yard. Scruffy reach him first, nudged him, then raced back to Serena. He started nudging her forward and Serena started to worry. Scruffy was Emily's dog. He ran to her for everything. She had been closest to him, but she had once seen Scruffy run around the entire house searching for Emily just so he could beg for a treat when all the others had been gathered in the common room.

She knelt down next to the person in the snow. He was face down. She couldn't see who he was right away. He was tied tightly. Whoever did this to him did not want him to be comfortable in the slightest. His clothing, what little hadn't been torn to shreds, was covered in blood.

"Guys…" Serena called nervously, "He needs help!"

When the Ranger heard it was a person, they immediately rushed out. As they made their way over, Serena gently lifted the head to see who this person was. She gasped and jumped back.

The boys dropped down next to the body to start looking it over to see what they could do to help. Mia, as soon as she had seen their visitor was injured had run back inside the house to get Mentor Ji for help.

Emily approached her sister, "Serena…"

"Get inside," Serena pointed to the house.

"But…"

"Go check up on Terran," she demanded. Emily seemed reluctant but headed inside.

The boys finally lifted the body up and they got a look at his face. Mike turned to Serena.

"Dekker…"

She nodded her head and fear bubbled inside her. Someone had done this to Dekker. Jayden had never even managed to do this to Dekker.

"That Nighlok…" Mike passed Dekker off to the others so they could take him inside. They didn't like him, but they couldn't leave him. Mike touched Serena's arm, "Dekker fought him off so Emily and I could get to you…"

"If he wants Terran…"

"He'll never get Terran," Mike promised.

Serena leaned into him and worriedly looked over the gate. She didn't know how Dekker had come in, but she knew he had come in from outside.

"We'll go inside. Go find Emily and Terran. I'll have Jayden turn up the Gap Sensors. It's going to be loud in the house now."

Serena nodded her head. The Gap Sensor wouldn't pick up on Dekker because he was only half-Nighlok, and with Terran in the house, they needed to keep it that way if not it would be blaring all the time. It protected their ears from permanent damage, but that meant a lot of trouble could slip right by them.

The new, mysterious Nighlok had figured out a way to slip past the Gap Sensor. After Serena had gotten home after being captured by him, the Rangers had to turn up the Gap Sensor and he had been detected, not as a half-Nighlok, but as a full blooded one. Yet he wouldn't be picked up at all when the sensitivity of the sensor was turned down even slightly. This meant he could creep around without the Rangers knowing. He could have been right on their doorstep and they didn't know. Had it not been for the shield around the house that Jayden still kept up, Serena would have been worried he had used Dekker as a distraction to get in the house, and they wouldn't know until he left his mark.

"C'mon, Serena," Mike pulled her gently to the house, "Everything's going to be okay."


	184. Back To School

Dekker woke up to a familiar setting, but it had been a long time since he had woken up here.

An alarm was blaring. This had pulled him from his sleep. Every part of his body hurt, but he pushed himself up anyways. He felt blankets falling around him. He was in a bed. It slowly dawned on him that for once he was comfortable.

When he looked around he saw Serena. She was buzzing around the room, seemingly trying to get ready for the day. She hadn't noticed him yet and he didn't want her to. He laid back down, trying not to groan as he did. He knew her senses were sharp. If he made even the smallest noise, she would hear him.

He watched her move around the room and a smile graced his lips. Somehow, he couldn't remember how, he had gotten close to her. They were sharing a room. She had let him in. She had to have let him in. She had to have kept him safe, which would be why he was here with her.

She turned to him and his eyes closed. He could hear her walking over to him. He hoped she would say something but she didn't. She simply turned away and left him.

When Dekker heard the door close he sat up and groaned loudly. He had been in pain like this, but never before. That new Nighlok, the one he had never seen before, had beaten him up badly. Fortunately, his Nighlok half was keeping him alive and healing him at a faster rate than normal. A few more days and he would be good as new. Dekker couldn't say the same for the Nighlok's other victims.

He looked around at his surroundings again. He was lying on a mat on the floor. He would have preferred to be in bed with Serena, but he understood her hesitation and knew he was lucky enough to be in the same room as her, even if he had been unconscious and hadn't known about it.

Dekker continued to gaze around the room. There were a lot of things related to the baby, most of which were modern and he couldn't name. It brought him back to one of the last memories he had before the Nighlok had overpowered him: Serena. She hadn't seen him, but he had seen her. He had seen her in the forest, crying out in pain, and he knew what the Nighlok and Octoroo had done. Dayu had explained it to him when they had tried to kidnap Serena so they could steal her baby. Water from the Sanzu River made the Nighlok stronger. The more water, the stronger the Nighlok would grow. The same principal applied to Nighlok babies. There were very few in the history of the Netherworld, but those that had existed came to life thanks to the water. Serena hadn't been due, but the water strengthened the baby, sped up the pregnancy and induced labour. Dekker knew she was having the baby and that was why he had fought. That was why he was proud of his injuries, though they hurt like hell. He had done what any father and loving partner would have done. He protected his family.

His eyes then landed on the only baby object in the room he could name right off the bat, without any thought. The baby's crib. He threw the blankets off and slowly pushed himself up. Serena had left in a hurry, but not once had he seen her with his son. He wondered if she had left him behind.

He approached the crib and suddenly the door opened. He turned around.

"Blue Ranger…"

"The baby's in another room," Kevin said. He was holding a tray of food in his hand, "Serena wanted to keep her eye on you, but she didn't want you near her son."

"Is he well?"

Kevin walked into the room and set the food down on the bed. He looked to Dekker.

"What happened to you?"

"The Nighlok…"

"Why didn't he kill you?" that was Kevin's real question. This Nighlok was obviously very powerful. He had taken out Amanda, Mia, Jayden, and now Dekker and the Rangers had hardly even seen him fight. It was obvious he could have easily killed any, if not all of them, but he hadn't. He had left them alive. There had to be a reason.

"He told me the end was coming," Dekker said, "This world is in danger. Master Xandred will come."

"Not if we can stop him," Kevin shook his head. "I'll be honest, he doesn't scare me. Now eat up and stay in here. You're on our side, we know that, but we can't trust you."

"Where did Serena go? Is my son safe?"

"Serena's out for the day," Kevin answered, "She'll be home later. And the baby's safe and sound with his aunts and uncles. You will not see him or go near him."

"But…"

"Serena's orders," Kevin said before closing the door and leaving Dekker on his own.

-Samurai-

After so many attacks, no one felt safe leaving the house alone. Serena knew it wasn't smart to go to work, but her conscience wouldn't let her leave Mitch, especially not without an explanation. So she left her son in Emily's care, trusting her sister and the other Samurai would take good care of him for a few hours, and she and Mike set off for school.

Mike dragged his feet through the halls. He wanted to protect Serena and knew he had to be here, but this was the last place he wanted to be.

"Why are we here early?" he groaned.

"For Mitch," Serena said. "I want to talk to him. I want to explain."

"By explain, you mean lie and make it sound convincing, right?" Mike asked. He followed Serena down the hall until they reached a specific locker. Serena seemed interested in it. Mike couldn't care less.

"I'm not about to tell him I gave birth to a Nighlok child," Serena whispered after making sure the coast was clear and no one was in earshot, "But I'm obviously no longer pregnant, so I'm going to have to stick with that story."

"The Nighlok baby one?"

"The early birth. Well, emergency birth."

Mike suddenly stood up straight and signalled down the hallway, "Teacher…"

"Relax," Serena laughed, "You're not a student, remember. You're not getting in trouble."

Mike breathed a sigh of relief, "Right. For a minute there I was trying to figure out whether or not I had done my homework."

"Did you?"

"I still have an essay to write," Mike chuckled. Serena rolled her eyes.

"When Emily goes back to school, maybe you should too…" Serena drifted off at the end of her sentence and her eyes focused on something, or rather, someone, approaching her. It didn't take her long to recognise him. It was James, and the minute he saw her he had a sour look on his face. He was not happy.

He dropped whatever he was doing and came over to her. He crossed his arms over his chest.

"You stood me up."

"Technically I didn't make it until Friday so we didn't really…"

"You let me down, Serena," James said, "You let Mitch down. The poor kid suffered while you were off… doing whatever!"

Mike pointed down the hallway; "I'm just going to…" he raced down to the water fountain. He was sure Serena could handle this issue, and he was worried that if he jumped in, he would have to do laps around the field. He did not feel like running.

Serena looked to James apologetically, "Something came up…"

"It better have been important. I thought you were better, Serena. I thought you were different."

"I wouldn't have left if it hadn't been," Serena said. She gestured down to her stomach, "Notice anything?"

It took James a minute, but he saw she was wearing tighter clothing than normal. They weren't form fitting just yet, but they weren't maternity clothes either. Finally it hit him. She wasn't pregnant. His eyes widened and he felt like the biggest dick on the face of the planet.

"Serena, I'm…"

"It's okay. I deserved it," Serena shrugged her shoulders, "That's what I get for starting a job only a couple of months away from my due date."

"A couple of months?" James frowned. "It was that close already?"

"Close enough for the baby to survive," Serena smiled. "Fortunately he's doing well. The doctors are happy with his progress."

"Why are you here?" James asked. He gently took her arm, "You should be with him. I'll explain it all to Mitch. He'll understand…"

"James," Serena smiled. She touched his arm, "Relax. Terran's fine. My sister's with him and she's great with him. I have my cell phone on me in case something happens, but I'm needed here."

Suddenly the bell rang and students started flooding the halls as they made their way to their lockers. Serena gently tapped the locker she had been interested in. She smiled again to James, "I am different from all those other jerks that left. I'm staying and I'm going to make a difference for Mitch and every other kid here. Watch me."

James nodded his head, "I'll help. In any way I can."

Serena glanced over her shoulder. Mitch turned the corner and held his head low, looking only to the floor as he walked. Serena looked back to James.

"What do you know about cheerleading?"

"First round of try-outs were last week," James said, "but it's for students only. Unless you want to coach."

"Think there's an extra spot for second rounds?" Serena asked.

"I'll talk to their coach," James smirked. The hallways were starting to get packed and he had a class to prepare. He apologized to Serena again for his accusation and then promised to meet her at lunch, like usual.

Mike hurried back to Serena, "Thank goodness you're not Pinocchio, or your nose would have poked someone's eye out."

"I do what I have to," Serena smiled and then suddenly turned around. Mike saw her eyes fall on a young student, the same student he and Emily had run into. "Mitch," she said.

Mitch's head snapped up. He remembered that voice.

Suddenly, he shoved Serena into his locker, "I hate you!"

"Let me explain," Serena said. "Something came up."

"More important than helping me?" Mitch frowned. "You've been gone for a week!"

"I know, I know…"

"And you made things worse for me! You suck!"

"I know, but I'm back and…"

"I don't want your help," Mike ripped his locker open, grabbed what he needed, then slammed it shut again. He took off down the hallway, hoping to get to class before the football team showed up. "I hate you!"

Serena sighed and leaned against the lockers. She looked to Mike, "It's gotta get worse before it gets better, right?"

"Think you can handle this, Terran, and having Dekker home?" Mike asked her. "We can pretend like something happened to the baby and you need more time off…"

"And abandon Mitchel again?" Serena shook her head, "No way. Not for a lie. Mitch needs me. Terran will be fine with Emily for a few hours during the day. Besides, if I can fix this school now, I won't have to worry about bullies when he starts high school. It's a cycle, you… know… Mike, I'm a genius!"

"Tooting your own horn?"

"Can you play football?"

"I used to… I…"

Serena grabbed his arm and pulled him down the hall, "We're getting you on the team."

"I don't actually go to this school, Serena!"

"Do you want to help or not?"

"I just want to make sure you don't get beaten to a pulp and Emily and I aren't stuck raising your kid."

"Sounds like you want to help to me. C'mon."


	185. Worse Before It Gets Better

Lunch time hadn't changed at all since the last time Serena had been in school. Mitch was still eating on his own and sticking as far away from people as possible. The only bright side to being bullied and shunned was that he had a whole table to himself.

Mike was off at private football practice, having made the team with a little help from James, so Serena was on her own to deal with Mitch and the rest of the school.

She found Mitch sitting on his own and invited herself over. Mitch made no attempt to welcome or push her away. He ignored her.

Serena set down two pieces of paper. The top one was blank. Mitch stared at it for a minute, then lifted it to see what was underneath. It was a flyer for the school's cheerleading try-outs.

"I talked to Coach Smith. He's assistant coach for the cheerleading team and he can get you a private try-out if you're still interested. If you make the team, great. If not, no one has to know you tried out."

"You're going to get me killed."

"I'm doing all I can to help and protect you," Serena said. She pointed to the flyer, "You're the one who's letting all of this happen. I can't help you if you won't let me."

"Yeah, right…"

"My sister, you remember the one I told you about the day we met?"

"I don't care what she did…"

"She led this exact life," Serena said. "She was picked on, just like you were, and life never got better for her until she started to work at it. She made friends. You're not going to do that sitting here alone. Try out."

"And get laughed at? The football team's going to kill me for sure once they found out…"

"What reason would they have to kill you? What team you're on has no effect on their lives."

"I don't want to be a cheerleader…"

"Then what do you want to be?" Serena asked. She gently touched Mitch's arm, "There's nothing wrong with…"

"Hey, whore!" Serena heard someone call out and she looked up to see the football team approaching her. Mike had a private lesson to learn the ins and outs of the team so he would be up to speed in their first game, but the rest of the team, just like the rest of the school, had a lunch period and were free to do whatever they wanted.

Serena rolled her eyes. She knew fighting the nickname would be no good. She tried to ignore the boys as they approached, but two of them suddenly grabbed her and a third shoved Mitch away from her. Before she knew it, something thick and sticky had been dumped over her head, covering her head and body. By now the entire cafeteria was watching and laughing. Even Mitch was looking over and trying to suppress a giggle.

"Welcome to school, bitch," the leader of the group said as he tossed the bucket he had used to dump the gunk over Serena's head at her and signalled for the rest of the team to follow him. But as soon as he turned around, he found himself face to face with Coach Smith and their newest teammate. Neither seemed very happy.

"Laps, now," James growled to his football team. They tried to argue, they tried to tell him they hadn't done anything, but James wouldn't have it. Things were going to change in this school and he needed them to know that he wasn't going to be a pushover like the other teachers. "One more word out of any of you and you'll be doing laps until your shoes have holes in them! Am I clear?"

"But…"

"Laps around the gym. Wear your equipment. Got on, get!"

"Yes, coach," the boys nodded and lowered their heads as they walked to the gym. Mike stayed behind, but James turned to him and signalled for him to follow.

"Team unity. I didn't see you stopping them."

"I… but I was…"

"Go with them, Mike," Serena said, trying to get the sticky stuff off herself, "Please, just go with them."

James nodded his head, "You'll make friends faster if they think you're one of them."

"You're buying me new shoes," Mike muttered and turned to follow the team.

Mitch was still giggling as he watched Serena. When she looked over at him, he ran his finger down her arm and then licked it, "Maple syrup."

"Great…" Serena muttered.

Mitch continued to laugh, "They got you good."

"You think this is funny?" Serena asked him. "I get called whore, bitch, and they dump maple syrup over my head and you're laughing at me."

"It's pretty funny," Mitch shrugged.

Serena growled at him, "Just get your things and go to class. You and I will talk tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? Who's going to make sure I don't get beat up after class? You'll be there, right?"

"Do you know how long it takes to get maple syrup out of hair?" Serena shook her head, "Especially when I'm being laughed at by the entire school?"

Serena pointed to the rest of the cafeteria. All the students, and even some staff members, were still laughing at her, just like Mitch. James was the only person in the room trying to get everyone settled and off to their classes before the bell rang.

When James realised his attempts were futile, he turned back to Serena, "The girl's change room has a shower you can use. C'mon," he told her and kindly guided her out of the cafeteria.

"Wait," Mitch jumped up from his seat and tried to follow, "you'll be there after school, right? I'm sorry I got mad at you! I'm sorry I laughed, but…"

"Shower's just through that door," James told Serena and pointed down the hall to show her where exactly she needed to go. He then turned around and looked to Mitch, "It's not sinking in, is it?"

"What?"

"I wasn't happy when she left either, but she's got her own life at home. She had her baby. That's why she hasn't been here."

"I heard rumours during class," Mitch nodded his head. "Most people think it was abortion…"

"Emergency birth," the coach corrected him. "Technically, she could still be at home with her son. Instead, she chose to come back to school and start work early because she didn't want to let you down."

"Really?"

"I doubt I need to tell you this, but she wasn't that far along in her pregnancy. At least, not far enough to have a safe birth. Her personal life is probably crazy and stressful enough as it is, and she's coming to this school and dealing with all this. How would you have felt if those boys decided to poor maple syrup over your head instead of hers?"

"Bad," Mitch sighed, "Really bad."

"And how would you have felt if Serena laughed, even just a little bit?"

"I would have hated her even more."

James nodded his head, "You owe your friend an apology. I want it written up and on my desk at the end of the day and I'll make sure she gets it. Am I clear?"

"Yes, coach."

"Good," James smiled. "Now there's five minutes left before the end of lunch. Why don't you start going to class?"

"Okay…"

James nodded and watched Mitch leave the cafeteria, hoping he would be okay for the rest of the day. He then turned and headed to the girls' change room. He knocked on the door and opened it a crack, "Serena? Is everything okay?"

"You can come in," Serena called back, "It's only me."

"I… uh…"

"Relax. There's nothing to see."

James covered his eyes and stepped inside, "Okay, I'm uh…"

"I'm dressed, you numbskull."

"For a bullying prevention coach, you sure are mean," James dropped his hands away from his eyes and glared at Serena. She was sitting on one of the benches, running her fingers through her wet hair. She still seemed to be rather sticky, but he realised the situation she was in. She didn't have a change of clothes.

He pulled off his sweat shirt, "Here," he held it out for her to take; "Change into this. Give it back whenever. I've got a closet full."

Serena took it, "Thanks," James looked away as she pulled off her shirt and then slipped his sweatshirt on.

"Can't get the maple syrup out completely, I see," he said.

"I've gotten worse out of my sister's hair before," Serena shrugged, "I can take care of this mess once I get home."

"I know I'm not the boss, but why don't you take the rest of the day off? Go home, be with your son, get clean?"

"Thanks, but if I leave so does Mike. My family's kind of got the buddy system going on right now."

"Protective family?"

"You should see how protective I get," Serena chuckled. "Protective to a fault; according to them."

"Look, Mike wasn't there when the incident happened and he seems to already be bonding with the guys. I can come up with an excuse and pull him out. After today, you deserve a fresh start. If you come back tomorrow…"

"I'll just be running away," Serena shook her head and stood up. "My sister's babysitting so Terran's fine, and she loves her time with him. I might as well stay here and lead by example. If I can walk out there with maple syrup hair and a men's sweatshirt, maybe Mitch will be able to try out for cheerleading."

"Seriously?" James chuckled, "You're going to step out into a high school full of, dare I say it, dicks, looking like that?"

Serena playfully placed her hands on her hips, "And what's wrong with the way I look?"

James blushed and shook his head, "Nothing. You look beautiful."

It was Serena's turn to blush, "Beautiful?"

"G-good," James quickly corrected himself, "I meant good. Fine, at worse. You look fine. You can totally pull off the maple syrup and sweatshirt look."

Serena chuckled, "Thanks. I guess it's time to face the music," she walked to the door.

"There's a hood," James called after her before she was gone. She turned around.

"Sorry?"

"A… a hood," he said, "If you want to hid your maple syrup hair there's a hood on the, uh… on my sweater."

Serena glanced over her shoulder then shrugged, "Thanks, but I'll see if I can rock it first."

-Samurai-

Dekker did as he was told. He stayed in Serena's bedroom and didn't leave. He ate his meals as they were delivered and didn't speak unless spoken too. He didn't have anything to say anyways. All he wanted to ask was questions about his son, but he doubted he would hear an answer anytime soon.

What he did hear, though, was crying. And it wouldn't stop. He knew it was a baby's cry, which meant it had to be his son crying. It couldn't have been going on for long, but every second felt like an hour to Dekker. He knew the yellow Ranger was taking care of his baby, but she wasn't tending to him fast enough.

Through the door, Dekker had heard the others were in the dojo training intensely. Was it possible she didn't hear the baby? Deciding someone needed to take care of him, Dekker got up and stepped into the hall. He followed the sound of his son's crying to a bedroom. He opened the door and stepped in.

A playpen had been set up in what Dekker assumed was the yellow and green Ranger's bedroom, and inside, crying loudly, was his son. Dekker knew he couldn't go near him. His own instincts were telling him not to bond because he was a Nighlok and he carried trouble around with him everywhere he went. But his son was calling for someone and so far, Dekker was the only person to respond to his call.

"It's okay," he whispered and leaned down into the playpen. He scooped his tiny son into his arms and started to rock him. "Shh, it's okay…"

Dekker had never done this before, but he had seen a few fathers roaming the streets and picked up on a few things they had done that had worked to sooth their children.

His son wouldn't settle down. There was something wrong with him. No matter what Dekker tried, his son wouldn't stop crying.

"Daddy's here," Dekker whispered, "It's okay. Just tell daddy what you need."

"He needs his bottle."

Dekker turned around when he heard a voice. He saw Emily standing in the doorway looking angrier than he had ever seen her. In her hand she was holding a bottle.

"I… I…"

Emily approached Dekker. She placed the bottle down on her bed and then held out her arms for the baby. Dekker passed his son over to Emily. As soon as she was comfortable with his son, Emily glared up at Dekker and then, as hard as she could, she punched him in the chest then pointed to the door.

"GET OUT!"

"I wasn't going to hurt him," Dekker rubbed his chest, "I just heard him crying and…"

"Get out of here," Emily growled.

"I would never hurt him, I…"

"That's what you said to my sister!" Emily shouted. "Get out!"

"Emily, is everything…?" Mia, Kevin, Antonio, and Jayden rushed over to the bedroom and stopped when they saw Emily arguing with Dekker. Jayden and Kevin were quick to grab Dekker's arms and pull him out of the bedroom. Kevin launched Dekker into the hallway wall.

"I told you not to leave the room," he said.

"He was crying and…"

"Serena doesn't want you near him," Jayden told him. "Those were her orders, not ours."

"And you told me and Mike never to let you near him!" Emily shouted, obviously angry. Antonio took Terran to feed him and calm him down while Mia held onto Emily. "You know you're a danger to him. Stay away!"

"I…"

"Bedroom's this way," Jayden grabbed Dekker and pulled him along. Dekker didn't put up much of a fight as he was led away by Kevin and Jayden.

Mia hugged Emily tight, "It's okay."

"Terran's drinking happily," Antonio reported. "It's like nothing happened."

Emily carefully took the little boy back from his uncle and continued to feed him while she hugged him close to her chest. She wouldn't let Dekker hurt him like he hurt her sister.


	186. A Little Improvement

Unsure of whether or not Serena was going to come to his aid after class, Mitch decided to sneak out early at the end of the day. He lied to the teacher, told him he needed to go to the bathroom, and then packed up his things. His mother wasn't picking him up. She had an appointment with his younger sister. He would be walking home and he wanted a head start so the football team, or anyone else, couldn't catch up to him.

But when he got to the back doors he ran into a body. He apologized and tried to duck out, but this person grabbed his arm and pulled him back into school.

"There's still five minutes left. Why aren't you in class learning?"

Mitch looked up and smiled, "Serena? You're still here?"

Serena nodded her head, "Had to rescue a tenth grader from a swirly from the senior cheer squad. Almost got one myself, but yeah, I'm still here."

Mitch threw his arms around Serena, "About what happened in the cafeteria…"

Serena pushed him away and pulled out his apology letter from her pocket. James had just given it to her. She hadn't had the time to read it, but she was sure whatever was inside was sincere.

"Fortunately I had a friend to help me out," Serena told him. "With my friend's help, I manage to get a little laugh out of what happened. It doesn't bother me as much anymore."

"It doesn't?"

"I am going to wash up when I get home," Serena nodded, "I'm tired of feeling like a pancake or a waffle, but yeah, it doesn't bother me."

"You're lucky. People like you," Mitch looked down at his feet, "People don't like me."

"Maybe someone on the junior cheer squad will like you," Serena shrugged her shoulders, "You'll never know until you try."

"I don't…"

"Mitch, dancing is a unisex sport. How else can the girls fly up into the air if there aren't guys around to throw them?"

"Butch girls?"

Serena placed her hands on Mitch's shoulders and she looked him in the eye, "I want you to try out. You love to dance and cheerleading seems interesting to you, right?"

"Yeah, but…"

"There are no rooms for buts. Go home, practice a routine. Tomorrow after school, Coach Smith will set you up for try-outs. He's assistant coach for the team. He can pull a few strings for you. I hear you have a good shot at getting in. The team's been looking for a few boys."

"What about that new kid?" Mitch asked. "The guy you brought to school with you? Will he try out too? Maybe he can…"

"He's a jock now," Serena said. Mitch seemed worried. She chuckled and told him to relax, "He's not going to pick on you, I swear. He's engaged to my little sister. If he knows what's good for him, he won't pick on you."

"The jocks will get to him," Mitch warned Serena. "They'll convert him into one of them and…"

"Trust me. Mike's stronger than that," Serena smiled. "He won't hurt you, and he might be able to talk some sense into his teammates. That is why he's there after all. I figured the team could use a conscience."

"He's a spy?"

"Shh," Serena smirked, "Not so loud. No one's supposed to know."

Mitch chuckled then glanced over to the wall. A flyer for the cheerleading try-outs was still posted on the wall. He gestured to it then looked up at Serena, "Do you really think joining a team will help stop people picking on me?"

"Not at first," Serena said. "I'll be honest, the bullying might get worse. But I'm going to protect you and I need you to be strong enough to trust me, no matter how bad it gets, okay?"

Mitch nodded, "Okay."

"Atta boy," Serena ruffled his hair, "Now scoot. The bell's about to ring. If you run now, you might be able to make it home unscathed, but out of breath."

"Thanks, Serena. I promise I'll practice a routine."

"You'll be great," Serena called to him. She then heard a slow clap and turned to see James standing a few feet away. She rolled her eyes, "Don't you ever have class?"

"The other coach is watching over the students. Besides, there's not much I can do once the students are in the change rooms, right?"

"I guess," Serena nodded her head. She then picked at the sweatshirt, "I rocked the look today."

"You might be able to start a trend," James chuckled, "Maple syrup and sweaty gym clothes."

Serena scrunched her nose, "Sweaty? You didn't say anything about…"

"Relax," James laughed, "I'm kidding. I'm the coach. I don't run. I get other people to run."

"My uncle does the same," Serena smirked. James shot her a confused look so she explained, "He's kind of got his own gym going on. Private lessons for students who have connections."

"Maybe I could check it out one day."

"Maybe," Serena shrugged, "We'll have to see. He's rather discreet about it though. He'd have to trust you first."

"It's nothing illegal, is it?"

Serena shook her head and laughed, "No. Nothing like that. Like I said, it's private. He doesn't take on too many students. Usually just five or six at a time. It's a hobby."

"Interesting," James said just as the bell rang loudly, indicating the end of the day. Almost immediately students started to fill the hallway. James could hold his own against the wave, but the kids had no respect for Serena at all and purposely bumped and shoved her. James gently grabbed her and pulled her out of their path. She looked up at him and smiled.

"Thanks."

"They're really trying to force you to give in," James said. "They don't care for the teachers or staff here, but I've never seen them rebel quite like today. You must really be doing something to piss them off."

"I like to call that progress," Serena smiled. "These kids aren't used to not being in charge. I applaud them for having the guts to stand up to me."

"They aren't…" James was bumped. He turned to the kid who pushed him, "Careful in the halls!" he looked back to Serena, "They aren't pushovers."

"Well, for tomorrow, I'm going to need a lot of patience and a change of clothes…"

"And an answer," James smirked. He scratched the back of his neck nervously, "I uh… I know life is kind of busy with a new baby and all but… those dinner plans we had for Friday. I was thinking of… you know…"

"I don't want to be one of those mothers who can't leave their kid in capable hands," Serena said, "As long as the date doesn't stretch over a couple of hours, yes."

James seemed surprised, "I… wow, really. Just like that? You don't even have to think about it?"

Serena shook her head, "Tomorrow I'll have a real answer for you. There's some stuff at home I need to get sorted and I'll have to talk with my babysitters for a good time and day, but yeah. Dinner sounds nice."

"Great. I'll pick you up?"

"I'll meet you there," Serena smiled. "Tell me where tomorrow and I'll tell you when."

"It's a date."

"Yeah."

James and Serena both blushed nervously, unable to look the other in the eye now that they had plans for a date. They were suddenly both very shy. Fortunately, Mike arrived and whisked Serena away.

"Pretending to be a student sucks more than actually being a student. C'mon, let's go!"

"Bye!" James said, waving to Serena. She smiled back and waved nervously. Mike caught the exchange but didn't want to say anything until they were out of sight and earshot.

So when they reached the bus stop it was the perfect time. He started nudging Serena.

"Now I know why you wanted to start work again."

Serena shook her head, "Mitch needed me, I needed money and…"

"Coach Smith. He's not a bad looking guy… you know… if I look at him from a woman's perspective. And you know he's got a career and he likes kids and…"

"Mike!"

"What?" Mike shrugged his shoulders and smirked, "Now that you have a son, you need to find a guy who loves kids. Especially a guy who loves your kid."

"Who said anything about him needing to like Terran?" Serena crossed her arms over her chest, "This is one date."

"Technically, you and Dekker never even dated and look where that got you," Mike teased. "Who knows, this could lead to marriage."

Serena swatted his shoulder hard with the back of her hand, "Stop it."

"Serena and James sitting in a tree…"

Serena swatted his shoulder again, "Mike, I'm serious. It's one date! It means nothing."

"Oh, c'mon. I'll have to get all my teasing out now," Mike said as the bus came around the corner, "I can't exactly tease you about dating in front of Dekker, can I."

"No you… shit."

"Relax," Mike shrugged, thinking Serena had just been reminded that Dekker was home with her son, "Emily's watching Terran and Dekker loves you too much to…"

Serena cocked and eyebrow. Mike realised what she meant and gulped.

"Oh… what a pickle."

"Dekker and I are broken up. He'll understand that, right?"

"I don't know. He stayed the night in your room and you do have his kid."

"But he hurt me," Serena said, "I'm allowed to move on and be happy. He's supposed to live in regret and hate himself."

"Dekker does bad things when he hates himself and gets angry. When you were in that coma and we told Dekker things were over between you and him… he killed a man."

"Yeah, I… I remember you telling me about that."

"So, uh… we'll keep the date on the down-low for now, right?" Mike asked.

Serena nodded her head, "Need to know basis."

"And no one needs to know," Mike agreed.

-Samurai-

Kevin hated diaper duty. If it wasn't for the fact that he loved Terran, he would hate him.

"God, you stink," he pinched his nose with one hand and the diaper with another as he carried it over to the garbage and dumped it in. He closed the lid, kicked the garbage pail away slightly, and walked back over to Terran. He put on a clean diaper, wrapped him up warmly in his clothes and blanket, and rocked the screaming baby, "All done."

"That's adorable," he heard Mia say from the doorway. He looked up to see her smiling.

"Pooping and screaming is adorable for you?" he asked. "Well, he's about to get even more adorable, then. I don't know how to shut him up."

He handed the baby over to Mia, who gently took him and cuddled him.

"He's fed, changed and well rested," Mia said, "I think he just misses his mommy."

"He knows?"

Mia nodded her head, "You'll be surprised what he already knows. Until Serena gets home, you just need to cuddle him and tell him everything's going to be okay. Isn't that right, little guy. Mommy's going to be home soon. Yes she is. And she's going to have a big cuddle just for you," as Mia spoke, Terran began to settle down and stare at her face.

"Okay," Kevin smiled and slowly nodded his head, "Now I see what's so cute," he wrapped his arms around Mia, "You're really good with him."

"I've always loved kids," Mia said while rocking the baby gently.

"They scream, they poop, and they keep me awake at night," Kevin shook his head, "I don't get what's so adorable."

"We're home," Mike called out from the doorway. His voice startled Terran and he began to cry loudly. Mia looked up at Kevin and smiled.

Serena rushed into the room. She knew it had been her choice to leave for work, but she had missed her son terribly. She took him from Mia's arms and hugged him gently, "It's okay, sweetheart. Mommy's here. Mommy's home."

As Serena cooed and cuddle the baby, Kevin chuckled to Mia, "Okay, that was kind of adorable."

Mia grinned and kissed him, "See?"

"I hate to break up this game of house," Mike said, butting in, "but wasn't Emily supposed to…"

"Bedroom," Kevin and Mia both pointed down the hallway. Mia explained further for Mike, "There was a little incident about an hour ago that kind of freaked her out."

"What happened? Is she okay? Is Terran okay?"

"They're fine. It's Dekker I'd worry about," Mia glanced over to Kevin. He shrugged his shoulders dismissively.

"He deserved it."

"What the hell did he do?" Mike asked.

Mia gently pushed him back into the hallway, "Just go see Emily."


	187. Dekker Brings Trouble

First place Serena went: her bedroom. Her mind was so wrapped up in her son she forgot about her visitor. As she cooed and cuddled him, she walked to her dresser. She needed a change of clothes so she didn't have to wear James' sweatshirt any longer. She was also going to need a shower, but that could wait until Terran was back to sleep.

"You're home!"

She heard a voice and jumped. She turned around and saw Dekker sitting on his mat, sporting a few more injuries than what she had left him with. She held onto Terran tightly and glared at him.

"I forgot you were here."

"The Rangers must have as well. I've been in here since…"

"Since?" Serena shook her head, "No, there's no since. You were supposed to stay here all day. You've been in here all day."

"He's so small," Dekker pointed to their son. "He's really loud, too."

"I have to…" Serena started to walk to the door, "I have to go… I…"

Dekker jumped up and grabbed her by the arm. He closed the door after pulling her back into the room. He stood between her and the exit. He just wanted to talk. He just wanted to get her to understand he wasn't a complete monster, and with her help he could change. She had made him feel human once before, she could do it again.

"Serena, you can't keep pushing me away. That is my son."

Serena pulled away from Dekker and walked over to the crib. She set Terran inside and then turned to Dekker.

"Get out. Go find one of the Rangers and tell them you need to stay in the dojo from now on."

"No. Serena, we need to talk," Dekker stepped in closer to her, "You can't keep me away from my son. Not like this."

"Stop calling him your son," Serena growled. "You did your job. Now you're done. Take the free pass and leave."

"I don't want to leave."

"Dekker…"

"We can fix this," Dekker told her. "Serena, I'm trying to be good. I've done what you asked of me. I'm keeping you and your family safe and I'm keeping my distance."

"Then go to the other room…"

Dekker shook his head. He stepped in closer again, "Had I not jumped in and fought off that Nighlok, Octoroo would have taken our son away. The Nighlok may have even killed the green and yellow Ranger before they could find you. The three of you could be dead right now, but I jumped in. I suffered a week's worth of beatings for you! The least you could do is tell me the name of my son!"

By now Dekker was shouting and Terran was screaming loudly, startled at the loud, angry noise. Serena glanced over her shoulder at her son and tried to calm him verbally. She knew if she took him in her arms, she couldn't defend herself or him if Dekker really got angry.

"Calm down," she snapped to Dekker when Terran wouldn't settle, "You're upsetting him."

"Let me hold him. Tell me what to do. I promise, Serena, I won't hurt him."

"You're scaring him," Serena shook her head, "Dekker, please just go to the dojo. Things aren't better now just because he's born. We're not going to be a happy family, especially not when you're like this. The last time I let you in, I got hurt, and you've been hurting me and my family ever since."

"I have done nothing…"

"You nearly burned my sister alive!"

"That was Dayu."

"You were right there," Serena growled. "A good man wouldn't have let that happen."

"I told the Rangers where to find her. I did what I could. I…"

"Get out," Serena pointed to the door. "Go to the dojo, now!"

Dekker glared at Serena. This was one fight he was never going to win. The more he tried to reason with her, the more she fought back. And the more she fought back, the angrier he got. The angrier he got, the more right she had to protect herself and Terran. He needed to cool down and take a breather or he was never going to see his son again.

As he turned to leave, he gave Serena one last look, "That sweater does not belong to you. You did not leave with it."

"That doesn't have anything to do with you, Dekker…"

"Everything you choose to do affects my son," Dekker growled.

"My son," Serena whispered. "Get out."

Dekker turned to leave and slammed the door loudly as he did, shaking the walls and startling Terran again, who had just stopped crying.

Serena picked him up. She hugged him close and rocked him gently.

"It's okay," she whispered. "Mommy's here. It's okay."

-Samurai-

Following Mia and Kevin's advice, Mike went to his bedroom to talk with Emily. He knew something had happened that had her shaken up, but he couldn't tell what. His best guess was that it had something to do with Dekker, but that didn't help to narrow it down at all. Most of her problems were caused by Dekker, one way or another. They could always connect him to anything that went wrong with Emily.

He found her lying on their bed, with her back towards the door. He couldn't see her face and had no idea if she was awake or asleep. He crawled in bed next to her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Guess who made the football team," he grinned happily. "Want to come with me and buy equipment so I don't have to run around the gym in hand-me-downs?"

Emily shook her head, "No, but congratulations."

"I'm one of the good jocks too," Mike smirked. "Undercover work. The jocks have to be dicks for a reason. If I befriend them, I can get inside their head and figure out what makes them act the way they do. Serena can use that to help get them to behave like regular human beings. You know, the non-bullying type."

"That's great…"

Mike cuddled into Emily, "What's wrong? Why aren't you happy? You're dating the guy who will soon be one of the coolest guys in school. You should be happy."

"For starters, I don't go to that school. Neither do you, technically."

Emily sat up and rubbed her head with her hands, "Was Terran with Mia and Kevin when you got home?"

Mike nodded his head, "Yeah. Mia was getting him settled. Then Serena took him back. Why?"

"Dekker told us not to let him near Terran, right? He said that when he saved us from the Nighlok."

"Yeah. Keep him safe."

"Terran was napping," Emily said, "So the guys and I thought we would get some training done. We were in the dojo and I brought the baby monitor in case Terran woke up."

"Handy inventions," Mike smirked. He reached out for the monitor and tossed it back and forth between his hands, "Terran's never really alone, huh."

Emily's lower lip started to quiver, "We heard him crying and… and I knew he was hungry… I went to the kitchen to warm up a bottle. When I came here to feed him… Dekker was holding him."

"Dekker?" Mike asked. "The guy who was supposed to stay in Serena's room all day?"

Emily nodded her head, "I don't want Dekker here. I don't want him near Serena or Terran. He's hurt them enough already."

Mike held Emily in his arms, "He's not going to do anything," he promised her, "He can't do anything…"

"He got past me once," Emily whispered, "W-what if he does it again? What if he decides to take Terran and run? Even beaten up he's better than us."

"Em, he's not going to…"

"We have to get rid of him," Emily looked up at Mike, "He's not going to stop. Dayu's not going to stop…"

"Dayu won't hurt you. She can't. She…"

"If Dekker wants Terran he's going to have to get through us. While he runs, Dayu can…"

"Emily," Mike held her face gently and smiled at her, "You're jumping to the worst case scenario. Everything's going to be okay."

"It could happen."

"You won't let it," Mike shook his head. "You're super-aunt. Terran's always going to be able to count on you to keep him with his mommy. You can do it, I know you can."

"You're sure?"

"Everyone in this house is sure," Mike smiled. "Especially Serena. Why else would she always be asking you to babysit if she didn't think you would be able to keep her and Terran together?"

Mike pulled Emily back into his arms and kissed the top of her head, "Dekker's not going to hurt Terran or Serena, and if he does, he'll suffer your wrath. He knows it's not worth it."

-Samurai-

Just outside the Shiba House, Octoroo appeared from a portal looking very unhappy. He walked into the shadows but was suddenly bumped to the ground. Takeshi stood over him menacingly.

"What did Xandred want?"

"You're supposed to cause the river to rise," Octoroo said as he got back to his feet, "but you haven't been doing anything to make the humans suffer! There's been no Nighlok attack for weeks now! The city is feeling safe. Master Xandred is not happy."

"Master Xandred's got to learn I have my ways," Takeshi rolled his eyes. "Little do the humans know, they only have a year before the Nighlok invade and their world is flooded and destroyed."

"Then get on it," Octoroo stomped his foot. Takeshi grabbed him by the throat and lifted him off his feet.

"Give me a weak spot," he said, "What'll really hurt the Rangers?"

"Attack the city," Octoroo shook his head, "There is more misery to be caused in the city…"

"You saw how that failed last time," Takeshi threw Octoroo into a nearby tree, "the city suffered but the Samurai were still around. If we're going to flood the Earth, we're going to do it right. We attack the Samurai Rangers, render them too weak to fight, maybe, if I'm feeling generous, I'll end some of their suffering and let a few die. Once we've achieved that, the city will be vulnerable. There will be no one to save them and they will have no hope."

"And the water will rise and the Rangers won't be around to stand in Master Xandred's way," Octoroo smiled as he finally understood Takeshi's plan. "That's brilliant!"

"I'm glad you agree," Takeshi said, "Now, tell me all about the Rangers so I can hit them where it really hurts."


	188. Interference

The following day, Mitch was late for school. His mother usually drove him, so Serena assumed he had maybe gotten a late start and would be arrive shortly. In the meantime, this was giving her a chance to do a little more exploring around the school.

On the outside, it looked like every other school in the city, but inside it was falling apart. The principal only seemed to be in the job for the money. Time and time again Serena heard stories of kids being sent to the principal's office only to come out with a warning, and there was never a follow up. Acting up, bullying, vandalism, nothing seemed serious enough for detention. There wasn't even a schedule for teachers to supervise detention because the word didn't even seem to exist in the school.

So, without any support from the principal, the teachers were left to fight the battle on their own. But the kids outnumbered them. One teacher in a classroom of twenty to thirty kids could only hold so much power. Eventually, when being sent out of class was more of a reward than anything, the kids stopped listening to the teachers altogether. The teachers couldn't send students to the principal's office. All they could do was assign extra homework. But that didn't do anything to help. The student's didn't do the homework. The teachers could have kept piling homework on, but ten pages of math exercises in one night wasn't a punishment when students didn't care for their work at all.

Eventually, the teachers gave up as well and simply taught to whomever was listening, leaving all others to fall behind. Serena hadn't seen test scores from the school just yet, but she was sure they were all fairly low. From the few papers that had been dropped in the hallway, some of which were marked, Serena could tell most students, even the smart ones, were doing rather poorly.

As soon as the teachers gave up, the students knew they had full control. The classroom was their playground. The school was their kingdom, and just like every other kingdom, someone had to be in charge. The jocks were the oldest, biggest, strongest and the most intimidating students in the school and they had full reign. Those too weak to stand up to them were only around because they kept the bullies entertained.

And in the middle of it all was the leader of the jocks. Howie was the captain of the football team. This school belonged to him.

Serena wanted to take it from him. She knew he would put up a fight and she was more than ready for it.

The other students, the smaller ones, weren't.

Without the need to keep her eye on Mitch, Serena started to notice that the victims of bullying seemed to be the same students. Occasionally new ones would get a taste of what it was like to be teased, but never to the extent that some students would receive. An occasional shove, or name call, and threats to be treated like the scum of the halls. That was it.

Mitch had it bad, but there were other students just like him, maybe worse. Serena was going to try and find them. But these students were good at blending it and hiding. Any attention they got was usually hurtful so they avoided it.

Serena's careful eye did land on one student though. From where her locker was placed, this student seemed to be in her junior year. She was trying to collect her books from her locker, but other kids kept purposely bumping into her or smacking the books out of her hands. When one student decided it would be funny to try and squeeze her into her locker, Serena stepped in.

"Keep walking," she grabbed the kid by the arm and shoved him down the hall, away from the girl. He turned back, ready to say something, but Serena shot him a look that told him she was not amused. It wasn't a look she used often. She hadn't had to use it much at the Shiba House. It had mostly been reserved for when Emily had been picked on and Serena interfered. This look told bullies she was ready to fight.

The fact that she was slightly taller than this one boy intimidated him. Realising it wasn't worth the battle he scooted off down the hall.

Serena smiled to herself then turned around, but the girl she helped was gone. Serena groaned as she looked down the halls, but they were so flooded with students she couldn't pinpoint her student. With a sigh, she turned around only to find herself face to face with Howie.

He crossed his arms over his chest and stared down at her, "My team took a vote. We don't like you."

"That's too bad," Serena said as she tried to walk past him. He grabbed her arm tightly. Serena tensed up. Howie could feel it and he laughed.

"Are you scared?" he asked as the football team started to circle her. Serena noticed Mike wasn't with them. He had joined them team to get inside their heads. That wasn't going to work if he wasn't with them. She didn't like the bullying, but he had to get his hands a little dirty in order to help her make a difference. She didn't mind if he helped the team pick on her. She could take it.

"I have somewhere else to be," Serena answered him. She tried to pull her arm free, but Howie grabbed the other one. When she pulled away, he pulled back.

"Stop running, whore. We need to talk."

"That we do," Serena muttered under her breathe.

"You got us in trouble yesterday," Howie said. "Running laps? Not cool. You owe us."

"In case you forgot, you dumped maple syrup over my head," Serena reminded him, "You got yourself in trouble."

"Back talk, huh?" Howie gave his team a smirked, "No one's had the guts to talk back to us."

"I've noticed. Look, boys…"

"Boys?" Howie pushed Serena into the lockers, "We're not boys."

"You're behaving like boys," Serena rolled her eyes. Howie grabbed her face. Instinctively, Serena grabbed his wrist.

"Don't roll your eyes at me," Howie told her. Serena tried to pull his hand off but Howie held on tight. He forced her to look up at him, "You're still just the newbie. You don't know how things work here. This is my school. I do what I want and you do as I say. Got it?"

Serena struggled a little more. She knew how to get herself out of this position, but attacking a student could get her fired, even in self-defence. If she was fired, all these kids, even Howie and his team, were screwed for the rest of their lives.

Howie laughed. He found himself enjoying this, and his team behind him were chuckling as well. They knew if they could get Serena to back down they would be home free once again. They weren't going to give up.

Serena wouldn't either. She needed to get Howie to let go of her so she dug her nails into his skin. Not hard enough to break the skin or leave a permanent mark, but hard enough for him to feel some pain. It backfired on her though when Howie, instead of letting go, slammed her head into the locker. She quickly realised Howie was dangerously aggressive. He wasn't afraid to start a fight, leaving her in a dangerous position and the other students in this school as well. It was no wonder they never stood up for themselves. Big, tall Howie would fight back and not many students would stand a chance against him.

"Hand over your jacket," she heard someone say and she saw Howie looking down the hall. Coach Smith walked over with Mike and finally Serena had some back up. She couldn't do anything to Howie on her own. Not without risking her job, but James seemed to have a little power over them. He was slightly bigger and he was their football coach. He couldn't do anything about their attitude, but he could interfere.

"What?" Howie's grip on Serena loosened slightly as he turned to the coach. Serena tried to use this to get away, but as soon as she was free from Howie he grabbed her again. He looked up at James, "Coach, we were just having fun. Right, Serena?"

"Doesn't look fun," Mike said.

Howie looked to his new teammate, "Shut up. No one asked you."

James held out his hand, "Howie, can I see your jacket please?"

"Why?"

"Just hand it over," James said. Howie sighed loudly but finally did as he was told. He let go of Serena and slipped his team jacket off. He handed it to his coach who had a quick look at it. "It's too bad it's got your name printed on the back."

"What do you mean? It's my jacket," Howie asked.

James looked to Mike, "How's your new jacket working for you?"

Mike tugged on his jacket. He had received it just before he and James interfered in whatever the football wanted to do to Serena.

"It works," he said. "Red's not my colour, but…"

"How would you feel if we put a 'C' on your jacket?" James asked. "'C' for captain."

"Seriously?" Mike asked.

"What?" Howie shouted, "No! I'm captain!"

"You're off the team," James shook his head, "You can come to the next game, but you will not be playing in it. Anyone who thinks they can put their hands on Serena or anyone else in this school will join Howie on the bench for the rest of the season."

"You have got to be joking," Howie rolled his eyes, "Good one, Coach. Give me my jacket…"

"Jackets are for team members only," James handed the jacket over to Mike. "You are off the team until your behaviour improves."

"That's not fair!"

"Life isn't fair, but it's about to get a little more just," James said. He gently took Mike's arm, "C'mon, Michael. There will be plenty to discuss now that you're leading the team."

Mike nodded then quickly looked over his shoulder at Serena. She nodded, signalling for him to do as he was told, while rubbing the back of her head. It hurt.

James glanced over to her quickly as well, "By the way, Mitch is looking for you."

"Thanks," Serena said. She walked away from the football team. They were all a little taken aback by what had just happened. As long as they had all been on the team, Howie had been captain.

Howie turned to his friends and held out his hand, "Give me the ball."

"What? But you're…"

"Give me the ball," Howie said, "Coach said we're not allowed to put our hands on his precious little Serena."

"Precious?"

"You haven't noticed the flirting? Coach likes her. That's the only reason he's doing this. He's trying to impress her."

"So?"

"If things are going to go back to normal, we have to get rid of her," Howie smirked. He held onto the football tightly, "I'm going to remind you guys why I'm supposed to be captain, and I'm going to show her who's boss, and I'm not going to lay a hand on her."

Howie launched the football down the hall and watched as it soared through the air. Several students stopped and stared, wanting to see where it was going to land or what it was going to hit.

Howie grinned happily when he heard a collective gasp, then a loud bang. All eyes turned to one spot in the hall. Howie tapped his friends on the arms and they rushed over to see what happened. They saw Serena on the floor and Howie went in for high-fives.

"I knew I could nail her!" Howie exclaimed happily. He high fived every hand that was up until he got to one, stopping before their hands met. He looked to the owner of the hand.

The school's principal had come out of his office. He did so usually only for bathroom breaks and it seemed he had chosen now to take one. He watched everything unfold and judging by Howie's reaction, he knew the culprit.

"Nice throw," he said, "You got our newest staff member in the back of the head and managed to slam her into an open locker door. I'm impressed."

Howie smirked proudly, "Thank you, sir."

"Sir?" the principal asked, "So I take it you know who I am."

"Principal Stevens, sir," Howie nodded.

"Good. Say, young man, are you by any chance looking for something to do after school? Or even during class? With such talent, I have a special place for you."

"Can you get me back on the football team?"

"How about in-school detention?" Principal Stevens asked. He grabbed Howie by the arm, his grip strong enough to make the young man flinch. "Come with me to my office. We'll get you all set up in your own room. Does anyone else want to follow? I promise, there will be lots to do to keep you all busy. Starting with the homework your teachers say you haven't completed."

The students in the hallway began to scattered. The principal smirked.

"If anyone does want to join our talented young man, have your teachers send you to my office. I will find something for you all to do."

As the principal led Howie off and the rest of the students went back to their own business, Mitch knelt down next to Serena. She had hit his locker as he opened it and he felt bad.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Serena rubbed her head. She thought it hurt before but now it was throbbing, "I'm fine. Just help me up."

Mitch took her arm and pulled her up to her feet. Serena leaned back into the lockers so she wouldn't fall over.

Mike and James came over. They had heard what happened and wanted to make sure Serena was okay.

"Remember me?" Mike asked. Serena nodded slowly.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

The school bell rang loudly and Serena winced. It was the last thing she needed at this point.

"Stay with Mitch," Mike told her and then he looked down at the younger boy, "If she starts to look or feel funny take her to the nurse's office."

"Okay," Mitch nodded his head.

James looked Serena in the eye, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine."

Serena moved away from the lockers but began to sway. Mike and Mitch steadied her and they turned to James. He shook his head.

"Nurse's office. Now," he said. As he and the boys led Serena down the hall, a female student walked up to them. She looked at Serena.

"Thanks for helping me out."

"Uh… you're welcome," Serena answered and the student raced off. Mitch looked up at Serena.

"Who was she?"

"I… I don't know," Serena rubbed her forehead.

James sighed loudly. Something needed to be done. Something more than one student getting an in-school detention. He was just sad that it took one staff member nearly being knocked into a coma for something to start happening.


	189. Lockdown

Emily tip-toed out of Serena's room, baby monitor in hand. She had just put Terran down to sleep and was looking forward to a couple of hours of peace and quiet. If all went well, by the time Terran woke up, Serena would be home and Emily could go back to being a regular aunt for the rest of the night and passing off the dirty jobs to Terran's mommy.

She closed the door quietly and turned around only to find herself looking straight into Dekker. She jumped and then glared up at him.

"Dojo," she growled and pointed down the hall. Dekker was confined to the dojo while he recovered, especially when Serena was out of the house. He couldn't be trusted just yet and needed to stay away from Terran.

"Can we talk?" Dekker asked her. Emily shook her head.

"I would rather not."

"It's about my son."

"I don't care," Emily answered.

"Don't you find it odd that I'm his father and I don't know his name?" Dekker asked. "Please, yellow Ranger. With your help I can…"

"You don't know his name because you're not supposed to get attached," Emily growled. "You told Mike and me to keep you away from him. That's what we're doing."

"I don't want him," Dekker shook his head, "He will grow up with Serena. He will have a life with her, but he's so close now I… Can I just see him one more time? One more time and I promise I will…"

"No," Emily stood in front of the door and crossed her arms over her chest. She would not be moved. "I trusted you with my older sister once and look what happened. If you can do all that to Serena, who knows what you'll do to my nephew. Why don't you go have a kid with Dayu and leave us alone?"

"Hey, Emy," Mia called from down the hall and Emily turned to her. Mia was patting her sweater pockets and her pants like she was looking for something, "Have you seen my Samuraizer? I wanted to practice a few symbols but I can't find it."

"I can call it," Emily offered, pulling out her own Samuraizer. She gave Dekker a hard look and pointed to the dojo. Dekker sighed; somehow Emily had become stronger than her sister. Dekker had managed to stir up some emotions in Serena, which meant that on some level he was reaching her, but Emily never seemed to let her walls down and that made it harder to fight. This was another losing battle, so Dekker did as he was told and walked off. Emily smirked proudly and turned back to Mia, "Where was the last place you saw it?"

Mia shrugged her shoulders, "Honestly, I can't remember. I haven't had to use it for days."

Emily checked her Samuraizer. It was connected to Mia's, but they couldn't hear any beeping at all in the house. She signalled for Mia to follow her around as they checked the other rooms, hoping they would hear something, but to no avail. Mia's Samuraizer was truly lost.

Mia bit her lip nervously. This was bad; no, losing a regular cell phone was bad, losing car keys was bad; forgetting where you left your wallet was bad; losing a Samuraizer, the one tool on the face of the planet that could help the Samurai to defeat the Nighlok was unspeakable, unimaginable, horrifying, terrible…

"You're screwed," Emily muttered carefully as she looked up. Mia nodded her head.

"Yep."

-Samurai-

Getting the all clear from the nurse had been a hassle, but Serena managed it before the end of the day and was now sitting outside the gym while Mitch had his after school try outs for the cheer team. Serena wanted to be with him to encourage him, but Mitch wanted to be alone. Just him and the coach who would hopefully accept him for the second rounds.

Mike, meanwhile, was practicing with the football team and likely getting a little hassled. Since he had been promoted to captain, and Howie had been kicked off the team, the rest of the players decided they would let the coach know they wanted Howie back. Serena hadn't seen what they were doing to Mike, but she could hear what was going on through the chatter in the halls and knew it was nothing Mike couldn't handle on his own. Besides, a team that disrespected him might get him to pay a little more attention to Jayden, Kevin, or Mentor while training now that he knew what it was like to be on the other end.

Someone took a seat next to Serena on the bench but she didn't notice until someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned and James was smiling at her, but there was a slight look of worry in his eye. The same look that had been there since Serena hit her head. She insisted she was fine, but hardly anyone was convinced. The nurse had really only let her go as long as she promised to take it easy.

"Mike's just in the shower," James said, "He said he'll be right out. What about Mitch?"

Serena shrugged her shoulders, "Haven't heard anything yet. He's been in there a while."

"And you?"

Serena furrowed her brow, "I've been here."

"I meant, how are you?"

"I'm fine," Serena groaned, "I've hit my head before. I'm not unconscious, I'm not vomiting and I still remember the name of my son. Leave it alone."

"Alright, alright," James said, "Just tell me again how it happened."

"Mitch already told you," Serena rolled her eyes.

"But you never did. I want to hear it from you."

Serena sighed loudly. She leaned forward on the bench and rested her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands. James leaned forward.

"Serena," he called her and she jumped and turned to him.

"What?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Where's Mitch, he should be done by now."

"You never answered my question," James said. Serena shot him a funny look.

"Your question?"

"About what happened."

Serena rolled her eyes again, "I hit my head. Mitch already told you…"

"Just tell me again, please," James said, "Humour me and I'll stop asking, I swear."

Serena sighed, "I hit my head."

"How many times?"

"What?"

"How many times did you hit your head?"

"I… Once… I think…"

"Once?" James frowned. "I saw Howie slam your head into the lockers."

"If you know the answer, why are you asking me?" Serena asked.

"Then Mitch said Howie through the football and it hit you in the back of the head. That was the second hit in that same spot. That hit pushed you into the locker door where you hit your head again. Do you remember any of that?"

Serena shook her head, "Alright, maybe there's a little bit of memory loss. But I know who you are; I know who Mitch is… all the important stuff is there…"

"Can your sister babysit overnight?"

"What?"

"Can your sister babysit overnight? Does she have everything she needs for you to take a night off?"

"I don't want to take a night off…"

"Come to my place. You'll get some peace and quiet, some rest and tomorrow I'll let you go home early after school so you can see your boy."

"Thanks," Serena said, "but I'm fine. I don't want Terran thinking he has two mommies. I'm a working mother, but I come home…"

"You'll take care of him by taking care of yourself," James said. Just then the doors to the gym opened and Mitch jumped out holding a paper in his hand.

"I got it! I'm in for second-try outs! The coach said I have talent!"

Serena smiled uncomfortably and gestured for Mitch to lower his voice, "Headache, buddy."

"Sorry," Mitch whispered. "I'm officially in for round two. If I practice hard, I can make the team."

"Congrats," Serena said as she and James smiled happily for Mitch. Suddenly, Mitch threw his arms around Serena.

"I know I'm probably going to be teased even more, but thank you. Coach said it was going to be a lot of work, but the team always has some focus on team bonding and inclusion in their practices and I should feel right at home, even with a bunch of girls."

"And maybe when the boys see you having so much fun, they'll want to join," Serena smirked. She hugged Mitch and then gave him a pat on the back, "Your mom's probably waiting for you outside. Why don't you go spread the good news?"

"You're the best, Serena!" Mitch said excitedly and reached for his backpack, which he had left beside the bench for Serena to keep her eye on. He bounced down the halls as he ran off, "Bye Serena! Bye Coach Smith!"

"Bye, buddy," James said, waving goodbye. He then turned to Serena and saw her rubbing her head. Mitch had been excited and loud, and had a good reason for it, but it had obviously been too much for Serena's headache.

"Did he have to jump and scream so much?" Serena asked. "Is it just me or was he like a little energizer bunny?"

"It's just you," James chuckled, "And imagine what Terran's going to be like. That strong smell, the loud cries, the rest of your family making so much noise? Don't you think, for tonight, your sister will be better suited taking care of your son?"

"I can't," Serena said, "I can't leave him. I'll…"

"You're not a bad mom."

"He's just a week and a half…"

"He won't remember this," James assured her. "And when you do go home tomorrow, you'll give him so many hugs and cuddles he'll know you love him."

"But…"

"I insist," James said. "A quiet night in. I'll make dinner and…"

"A date?"

"Maybe it could double as a date," James suggested. "Dinner, a movie if you're up for it, and there's a guest bedroom just waiting to be used. I've dealt with concussions before, too, so I know what I'm doing."

"So now you're a doctor?" Serena chuckled. "How can you be sure I have a concussion?"

"I'm a football coach," James smirked, "I know a concussion when I see one. The doctors can learn a thing or two from me."

Serena nodded her head slowly, "Alright, I'll tell Mike to pass it onto Emily and I'll go home with you. But I want that guest bedroom. No funny business. I know what you guys are like."

"No funny business," James smiled, "I promise."

"Good. Now where did you say Mike was?"

"Showers," James said, then pointed down the hall when Mike came out of the change room, "He's on his way over. You tell him, I'm going to pull the car around out front."

Serena smiled and lowered her head, hiding the blush on her cheeks as James walked off to the front of the school to get his car. He was definitely something special.

-Samurai-

Emily, Mia, Jayden, Antonio, and Kevin were sitting around the table in the common room while Mentor Ji kept his eye on the dojo to make sure Dekker didn't sneak off to see Terran. When Mia and Emily realised Mia's Samuraizer was missing, they knew they needed to find it and they needed the rest of the team to know.

So Jayden pulled up the map and they found Mia's signal out in the forest, but when they traced it back they saw the signal had moved over the last few days. She hadn't just lost it; someone had taken it. Someone was in possession of the pink Ranger's Samuraizer and that wasn't good.

"You have to think, Mia, when was the last time you tried to use it?" Jayden asked her. Mia closed her eyes and tried to think but nothing was coming to her.

"What about when the mystery Nighlok attacked you?" Antonio suggested, "Surely you weren't stupid enough to run out on your own without a Samuraizer."

"I had it with me," Mia said, "I don't think I've used it since."

"I don't think I saw it on you when Mike and I found you," Kevin stated, "but I was worried about other things. I could have just missed it."

"Or it wasn't there," Antonio said. He looked to Jayden, "Can the map go back to that day? If Kevin remembers when and where he found Mia, we can see if the Samuraizer's signal is on top of her or not."

"We can try," Jayden said and backed the time up to when Kevin said he found Mia. Just as Antonio thought, Mia's Samuraizer wasn't near where Kevin had found her, but to the Rangers' surprise, there was another signal coming from the same spot Mia's signal was. A yellow signal.

Emily pulled her Samuraizer out of her pockets, "I wasn't there and I still have mine."

"Serena," Mia said, "she's got her own and she was out there with me."

"So mystery Nighlok has them," Jayden sighed.

"Mystery Nighlok beat up Amanda, Mia, nearly killed Jayden, Serena, Terran, defeated Dekker and left him on our doorstep and is now in possession of not one, but two Samuraizers?" Kevin asked,

"Fortunately Serena's isn't a Ranger Samuraizer," Emily pointed out, "Just an old one. All it can do is trace symbols."

"That's still dangerous enough," Jayden said. "The Samuraizers are secured and shouldn't work for anyone but their owners, especially the Nighlok… but this isn't good."

"Sorry, guys," Mia muttered. Kevin wrapped his arm around her.

"It's fine. We'll get it back."

"But now we're down a Ranger," Antonio said.

"We're going to have to play safe," Jayden stood up, "The house is protected and it will stay that way. Serena can leave for work so she doesn't raise any suspicion. Mike as well. But the rest of us will stay here."

"So dangerous creepy guy is walking around but Mike and Serena can walk right into his trap?" Emily asked.

"If Serena and Mike miss school without a reason people will get suspicious. We need to lay low for their sakes. No one else needs to get involved with the Samurai."

"But…"

"End of discussion," Jayden closed the map and walked out of the room, "We're on lockdown."


	190. Surprise Attack

Octoroo really hated being the messenger, but if it meant keeping Master Xandred off his back, he would do it for centuries.

He waddled over to where Takeshi was lurking, keeping an eye on the Shiba House. Nothing happened around the around that Takeshi wasn't aware of. He knew when the green Ranger and the yellow Ranger's sister left in the morning, always at the same time, and he knew when they got back. Several times Octoroo suggested they go after them, but Takeshi always refused, telling Octoroo to wait for another chance; a chance to really catch the Rangers off guard.

The symbols around the house were strong. Takeshi couldn't enter if he tried, but the Rangers could leave. The humans could walk through the shield. In and out, as many times as they wanted, without worrying. Even half humans, such as Dekker or Dayu or the yellow Ranger's nephew could walk through the shield. Takeshi almost wished he hadn't completely given up his human form.

Almost.

He had another idea in mind.

"When are we going to strike?" Octoroo asked, "Master Xandred is becoming impatient. If we wait any longer, he'll send out a Nighlok."

"The second mouse gets the cheese," Takeshi smirked to Octoroo then nudged the small Nighlok as the green Ranger walked up to the house along. Octoroo smiled, hoping this was the chance they were waiting for, but Takeshi shook his head. Now was not the time.

-Samurai-

Emily paced back and forth in the hallway, chewing on the antenna from the baby monitor. She was waiting for Mike and Serena to get home, hoping she could convince them to take a few days off school. She didn't like Jayden's decision to put the entire house except them on lockdown. If things were getting dangerous enough for there to be a lockdown, all of the house should have been protected. She couldn't care any less about the kids at the school. She wanted her fiancé and her sister safe.

"You're going to wear out the floor."

Emily smiled and turned around. She had been so anxious waiting for Mike to get home she didn't hear the door open or him walking into the hallway. She jumped into his arms as he took his jacket off. He just barely managed to catch her.

"Whoa, well, if I knew you were that into jocks I would have joined a sport's team a long time ago," Mike chuckled. Emily shot him a strange look so he pointed to his jacket, "Guess who's captain of the football team."

Emily shook her head, "I don't care. Can you fake sick tomorrow?"

"I… what?" Mike hadn't been expecting a round of applause from the entire house, and it wasn't like he had really done anything to earn the title of captain, but he had been waiting for a congratulations. "Fake sick? Em, I have to go to school. The football team hates Serena and if I'm not there…"

"Where is she?" Emily stood on her toes and looked over Mike's shoulder, "Is she right behind you?"

"She's spending the night with coach," Mike answered. Again he got a funny look from Emily, "The football team thought it would be fun to test out the durability of her head. She can take quite a hit, but loud noises bother her so she's staying with coach and he's going to treat her to a quiet night in. No screaming babies."

"Yeah, until nine months from now when there's going to be two of them," Emily huffed and crossed her arms, "Tell her to come home."

"Emily, relax," Mike pulled her into his arms, "What's got you so worked up?"

"Jayden's got the entire house on lockdown," Emily looked up at Mike, "No one's allowed to leave except you and Serena so no one at the school gets suspicious."

"Why is he doing this?" Mike asked.

"Mia was looking for her morpher and we found out that mysterious Nighlok has it and Serena's. Jayden thinks he too dangerous and that we're safe here."

"But Serena and I are okay to leave so the school doesn't wonder…"

"That's why you need to pretend to be sick," Emily said. "If you go out there the Nighlok can still get you and…"

"No Nighlok is going to get me, Emily," Mike assured her. "I can kick his butt, I know I can."

"I don't want you to," Emily hugged Mike again, "Please don't go out. Please, please, please."

"Emily…"

"Please!"

"Jayden's right," Mike said, "If Serena and I don't show up the school will get suspicious and Mitch and…"

"I don't care…"

"Em, Mitch and all the other kids like him might get hurt. And if Serena and I don't leave the house like we usually do, that Nighlok's going to have us cornered in here. He can come after all of us at once. If we're separated, we can rescue each other. If he goes after the school, you're going to kick his ass, I know you will. And if he comes after you and the others, do you think Serena and I are just going to let that happen?"

"Please don't go," Emily begged. Mike kissed her forehead.

"I'll call you between classes and at lunch and the end of the day. You'll know I'm safe at all hours, I swear."

"But… but…"

"I love you," Mike smiled and took her hand, "Now we're on babysitting duty. Want to go stare at that adorable little stinker?"

-Samurai-

While Kevin was in the dojo with Antonio and Jayden, Mia was sitting on her bed feeling useless. Without her Samuraizer on hand she couldn't do anything. She couldn't summon any of her weapons, she had no way of defending herself against the Nighlok, she couldn't train her symbols.

And what was worse was that the team was now facing their toughest Nighlok yet; he had taken out Dekker and it didn't seem like Dekker had gone down without a fight, but that he also hadn't done much damage to the Nighlok either. The Rangers were likely going to go head to head against this monster before she got her Samuraizer back and she couldn't help them. She had let them all down.

The only thing she had with her was her Turtle Zord. The little creature was keeping her company but aside from entertainment, there wasn't much more it could do. The others could make the turtle grow, but Mia couldn't go inside the Zord without protection. One hit and she would be tossed around inside the cockpit like a salad. There was a reason the Rangers used Megamode.

She couldn't believe she had let the Nighlok take her Samuraizer. She couldn't remember much of what had happened, or even when he got his hands on the Samuraizer, but she knew she should have tried harder. If the team got hurt, she would be to blame.

The lights turned on suddenly and Mia recoiled, shutting her eyes. She heard Kevin chuckling as he walked into the room, patting his face with his towel.

"So you're just going to sit there in the dark?" he asked. Mia nodded her head.

"Nothing else to do."

"There's plenty to do," Kevin said. He tossed his sweaty towel over and jokingly added, "You could do my laundry."

"Ha," Mia fell back into the bed. Her turtle Zord fell with her only to realise she was now stuck on her shell. Mia flipped her over and then looked at Kevin, "How was training?"

"You should have joined. It was pretty intense, but if we keep this up we'll get your Samuraizer back in no time."

"You're going after him?" Mia propped herself up. Kevin shrugged his shoulders.

"We have to. He's got your…"

"No, no, no," Mia shook her head, "No one's going after him. We wait for him to make the first move, got it?"

"And let him take control?" it was Kevin's turn to shake his head, "We're got to get him by surprise. We've got to get the upper hand."

"Do you not see what he did to me?"

"We're not going to take him one on one, Mia," Kevin assured her. "This Nighlok's chosen to play a dirty game so we're going to fight back. There will be five of us going in after him."

"You're all going?"

"Of course. He got you, Amanda, Serena, and Dekker pretty good, but let's see how much of a threat he is when he's outnumbered."

Mia didn't remember much from her beating, but suddenly a memory hit her hard. She saw the Nighlok's fists coming at her and felt herself soaring through the air and into the snow. She didn't get a chance to lie down for long before the Nighlok picked her up and continued the assault.

Kevin took a seat next to her on the bed. He reached his arm around her shoulders but she flinched, pulling away, "Mia…"

She snapped out of her thoughts and threw her arms around Kevin, "Please don't go after him. He's stronger than you think. And Jayden's already hurt and…"

"We'll be fine," Kevin held her softly, "Mia, we have to do this. Two Samuraizers in his hands, that's trouble."

"So stay out of it."

"If we stayed out of it we wouldn't be Samurai," Kevin told her. He gave her a quick kiss and then got up to shower, "We're going to train again tomorrow and we'll go out tomorrow night when Mike and Serena come home from school. It'll be over before you know it."

As Kevin locked himself in the bathroom to freshen up, Mia laid back down in the bed. Her memory hit her again, but instead of the Nighlok beating her, she saw him beating Kevin. Then it turned into Jayden, then Antonio, then Emily, then Mike.

Her stomach turned and she looked down at her Turtle Zord. She wished she could tell herself she was overthinking this and the team would come back the same way they left, maybe a little bruised, but she knew she couldn't. She knew what was really going to happen and she hated that she couldn't go with her friends to keep them safe.

-Samurai-

James was sitting in his living room in front of the TV. He was watching a movie he really had no interest in seeing, but Serena promised it would be good. He wasn't too sure it was living up to that promise, but he was enjoying himself.

He glanced over at her and noticed she was trying to keep herself awake. He chuckled slightly and paused the movie.

"You're falling asleep again."

"Am not," Serena argued. "I'm deep in thought."

"I won't be offended if you do fall asleep," he said. "I did invite you to stay the night, sleep included. If you want to crash early…"

"I'm fine. Play the movie, it's about to get really good."

"Let me guess, the two main characters get into a huge fight and break-up?"

Serena bit her lip, "I've got to stop watching these movies with Mia… a year ago I would have enjoyed it about as much as you are right now. Now I've been… pulled in."

"Is Mia a friend of yours?"

"Yeah," Serena nodded with a smile. "I'm sure I've mentioned her before."

"I know a Mike, Emily, and you briefly mentioned an Anthony…?"

"Antonio," Serena laughed, "But you were close," she pulled her legs up onto the couch and turned to James, "What about you. Who do you know?"

"Co-workers, guys at the gym," James shrugged his shoulders, "Every once in a while I go out to the bar with a few of them. They hit on chicks."

"Do you?"

"I'm not really into the whole drunken one night stand. What's the point of giving yourself up to one person if nothing's going to come out of it?"

"I wouldn't say nothing," Serena said. "It's a one in a million chance, but sometimes things work out."

"Are you perhaps one of the girls who goes to bars and gets drunk? Is that how Terran came to be?"

Serena shook her head, "No, I was actually in love with his father and things just fell apart. I'm just defending them because… well… ta-da," Serena gestured to herself.

James laughed, "You're a one night stand baby?"

"I'm not proud of it," Serena rolled her eyes, "My father just told me the story recently, okay? It still gives me the creeps when I think about it. Anyways, my point was: you never know where you'll find love. Don't knock it till you've tried it."

"Are you challenging me to sleep with every drunk girl in the city?"

Serena chuckled, "I think I just did. Sorry. Maybe you're right about that concussion. Normally I'm giving the abstinence talk."

"You must make an excellent role model," James laughed.

"Single parent struggling to get by working in a job that puts her life at risk? I'm the fear factor."

"There's got to be some perk. Dad didn't just up and leave, right? Surely it's not all…"

Serena groaned, "Don't get me started on Terran's father."

"What? Why?"

"It's just… it's a long story. And speaking of Terran, do you mind if I use the phone? I want to check up on things at home."

"Go ahead," James nodded and pointed to the kitchen, "Take your time. Tell them you're being well looked after."

Serena smiled at him and got up. James leaned back into the couch and tried to keep himself busy, but he couldn't help overhear Serena's conversation on the phone. He smiled when he heard her begging her sister to put her newborn son on the phone so she could wish him a good night. He had always been a sucker for loving families and wanted one of his own someday.

He then couldn't help but listen as she spoke to her sister. He wasn't too sure what the conversation was about, but from what he could hear, it seemed Serena was comforting her sister. James glanced down the kitchen and smiled brightly as he watched Serena listen carefully to whatever her sister was saying, and then promised to help her out after she got home. He had always been amazed by people who seemed to be able to do it all. Serena was great with Mitch, she worked hard to try and bring an end to the bullying in the school, she had been turned into the victim several times and was still ready to go back and try and make a difference. She was a new mother, a single parent on top of that, and from the way she didn't talk much about her home life he was sure things were stressful there too. Yet she never used that to her advantage. She never played the pity card, never tried to get sympathy from other people. He hated quitters, but he wouldn't have blamed her for one minute if she had turned her back on anything.

When she hung up the phone and walked back over to the couch, a smile still on her face, he found it was hard to resist telling her what was on his mind.

"Sorry, that was a little longer than expected," she said to him. "My sister's kind of in panic mode but I think I've calmed her down enough. She should be fine until I get home."

"Sounds like you and your sister really get along," James nodded, resisting the urge with everything he had. Suddenly, inviting the woman he had a crush on to stay the night in his apartment was a bad idea.

"I owe her and keep asking her for favours," Serena chuckled. "If she needs a kidney or anything, I'll happily give it to her. I'll…"

Serena was interrupted when James found he could no longer resist. He leaned in for a kiss, catching her by surprise. At first Serena was shocked, but did give in and deepened the kiss.

Then, just as quickly as it started, it was over. James pulled away and jumped up from the couch.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I… you were… it's just…"

"James…"

"Bedroom's there, shower will be ready for you in the morning and help yourself to coffee. I've got to go to bed. I'm so tired I'm not thinking straight."

"James."

"Sorry, Serena. Have a good night," the door closed behind James as he locked himself in his bedroom. Serena rolled her eyes and leaned back into the couch. She then glanced over at his bedroom door and a smile graced her lips.


	191. You Can't Go

Serena was starting to wonder what smelt worse: a dirty diaper or rescuing a kid from a dirty dumpster.

"So you really just tripped and fell?" Serena asked as she pulled out a girl Mitch's age from the dumpster. She didn't believe the girl's story for a second, but she wasn't about to call her a liar.

"The ground is icy," the girl nodded her head.

"My sister fell into a lot of things," Serena set the girl on the ground. "A dumpster that's almost as tall as she is was not one of them."

"I have to go," the girl adjusted her bag on her shoulders, "Thanks."

"No problem. Try wearing non-slip shoes," Serena called as the girl rushed home. Serena let out a heavy sigh. Her day had been filled with rescues like these. Fortunately, none of the kids had been Mitch. For the most part the bullies were leaving him along. He still got hassled between classes, but no more threats or dumpster dumps.

Unfortunately, none of the other kids being victimized were as open as Mitch was. They preferred to remain anonymous and protect their bullies, making Serena's job a lot harder.

Another thing that wasn't helping Serena was James. She noticed him crossing the parking lot and didn't even try to catch his attention. After the kiss they had shared at his apartment the night before, he had been avoiding her, choosing only to speak to her if it was necessary. Whenever the topic of the kiss came up, James found an excuse and ran away. It was too bad too. Serena wanted to tell him she liked the kiss.

"Serena!" she heard another voice call her name and turned around with a smile. Mitch was running up to her, accompanied by a woman who seemed to be his mother. When Mitch reached her, he took her hand and tugged, "Serena, meet my mom."

"Hi," she said nervously. She had no reason to be shy, but she couldn't help it. Dealing with parents was scary, even on a good note.

"Mitch said nothing but nice things about you," Mitch's mother smiled and shook Serena's hand. "I thought I could meet you and thank you in person."

"Thank me?" Serena asked. "I'm just…"

"Doing your job? I doubt you get paid as little as possible for three head injuries."

Serena looked down at Mitch, "Nothing but nice things, huh?"

"I had to tell her," Mitch smiled. "You're the first person who cares and you're getting a beating for it. You deserve some thanks."

"Mitch told me about the bullying a few weeks ago. I went to the principal and tried to do something but he didn't listen to me at all. He was staring at his computer screen the entire time."

"Solitaire can get pretty intense," Serena nodded her head. "He's jumping in now. The football team's former captain is serving detention time. Hopefully no one decides to join him."

"I just wanted to say thanks," Mitch's mom smiled and pulled Serena in for a hug, "I was going to pull Mitch out of this school but he insisted you could change things. Now he's on the cheer squad and…"

"Well, we're trying out, right buddy," Serena smirked and ruffled Mitch's hair. She then looked up at his mother, "I'm going to do all I can, I promise. This school can't go on like this. I'll have this sorted by the end of the year. The vicious cycle will come to an end."

"If you ever need anything," Mitch's mother started. Serena was about to decline but then remembered the day she had had. Pulling kids from dumpsters, rescuing them from lockers, interrupting verbal assaults… all that, and not one kid wanted her help afterwards. Just like the girl in the dumpster, they thanked her and rushed off. Serena was doing all she could, but she couldn't help kids who wouldn't accept her help.

"Spread the word. The city's not that big. Mitch tells me you're new but you've got to know at least one other parent here. They'll know someone who will know someone else and if you work with me…"

"You'll finally have support?" Mitch looked up, grinning happily. "Like a team?"

"Yeah, like a team," Serena nodded. "The teachers know what's going on but they hardly give a damn. Most of the kids being picked on probably haven't said anything to their parents. Once they know it's a problem…"

"I do know one other parent," Mitch's mother smiled. "I'll see if we can get something started."

"Great," Serena grinned. She looked down at Mitch, "I'll see you tomorrow."

Mitch gave Serena a huge smile and walked off with his mother happily. Serena felt the same way. It was slow, but it was progress. If the teachers didn't care, the parents would. No one wanted to see their child get picked on, and no one wanted their child to harass other students. She just had to hope they could get enough parents on board to actually do something.

"I half expected you to come find me and yank me to the car," Mike said, startling Serena who had no idea he had walked over. He held up the keys to Jayden's car, jingling them. "We're getting a free ride home today. Jayden insisted because it's faster and we'll be safer."

"Yeah, Terran," Serena nodded her head. "You have no idea how much I've missed him."

"On the way we need to talk about something," Mike's tone was serious, alerting Serena there was a problem. She already knew from her talk with Emily the night before that something was happening at the Shiba House, but when Mike was concerned she knew she had to be alarmed.

"What?"

"Jayden wants to go after that Nighlok tonight."

"You mean big tall and… do your parents not tell you any legends? No Samurai, ever, has faced him in a fight and walked away unless he's allowed it."

"Mia filled us in last night. She begged us not to go."

"So why are you?"

"That Nighlok has your Samuraizer, right?"

Serena lowered her head. She knew that but she hadn't told anyone. Her Samuraizer didn't work except for making symbols, and only she or Emily could harness that power. It was useless in the Nighlok's hands.

"Yeah."

"It has Mia's too."

Serena looked back at Mike. Now there was really a reason to worry. Just like with her Samuraizer, Mia's was almost completely useless to a Nighlok, but there was a lot more at stake. For starters, a working Samuraizer in the Nighlok's hands meant there was one less Ranger. And the longer the Nighlok held onto the Samuraizer, the more time he had to figure something out.

"So wait," Serena stopped walking and grabbed Mike's arm, "You're going to get it back?"

"And hopefully defeat the Nighlok before he does flood the Earth," Mike nodded his head.

"But you're down a Ranger."

"We know. The guys have been training extra hard and…"

"Even at six I wouldn't want you guys going after him," Serena said. "You told me he sliced Jayden open without breaking a sweat."

"Yeah…"

"And I believed you because I saw what he did to Mia! She didn't stand a chance against him!"

"That's why we're going after him now, and why there are five of us…"

"He'll kill you!"

"He's trying to anyways. You girls worry too much…"

"For good reason! No wonder Emily's freaking out."

"Emily's fine. Look, Serena, if we don't go after him now he'll come after us. All of us. He'll find a way into the Shiba House and we'll be slaughtered one by one. That includes you, me, Emily and Terran."

"Mike…"

"Nothing you say is going to change our minds," Mike interrupted Serena. "We're going. You and Mia are staying with Mentor Ji and Dekker. If we're not home by tomorrow morning Mia's going to come with you to school. You'll still be here so no one will suspect a thing. Mentor's going to drive Terran down to your parent's place and Dekker's going to see what's up with us. If we survived he'll find us. If we haven't, Mia's been told what to do, and Jayden says you'll come up with something."

"I… but…"

"This is what we were training for. We defeat the Nighlok or we die trying," Mike gently took Serena's hand, "Come. Everyone's going to start worrying if we don't go home soon."

Serena felt like she was going to be sick as Mike walked her to the car. She knew he was right. As Samurai this was their duty. She had always known that there was a chance of death and was surprised the Samurai had come this far. But now she could taste it. Something bad was going to happen. Something really bad.

-Samurai-

Kevin walked into the common room looking defeated. He had explained what he was doing the night before to Mia, but she was still upset by it. She had barely spoken to him at all during the day and now that it was almost time for him to leave she had locked herself in their room and refused to open the door to anyone, especially him.

"Still not coming out?" Jayden asked.

"She's probably trying to stop this from happening by pretending it's not," Kevin tried to say it casually, like it wasn't bothering him. "It doesn't matter. I'll talk to her when we come home."

He hoped he was right. As confident as he pretended to be, he knew the dangers. He knew exactly why Mia was hiding. She couldn't bear to say goodbye and neither could he. But he had to do this. He had to get her Samuraizer back, and he would be lying if he said he didn't want to kill the monster who thought he could hurt her and get away with it.

He took a seat on his stool and tried to pretend this wasn't bothering him. He tried to pretend he was ready for this and anxious to leave. Part of him was, so it wasn't a complete lie, but another part of him wanted nothing more than to stay home and forget his duties as a Samurai.

He looked over to Emily, "At least you'll be fighting with Mike. You two make an amazing team."

Without saying a word, Emily got up and walked out of the house, slamming the door behind her. Jayden glanced out the window and saw she was sitting on the porch, safe and sound.

Kevin turned to Antonio and Mentor Ji, "What did I say?"

"She's taking this about as well as Mia," Antonio said. He turned to Jayden, "She's still kind of pissed about the call you made. Letting Mike and Serena leave the house with that Nighlok running about…"

"We have to keep suspicion low," Jayden said, keeping a watchful eye on the window. His shield around the house was still up, but if his life had taught him anything it was to expect the unexpected when it came to the Nighlok. They were crafty. "I know that puts her in a weird spot but I had to do it. What if someone at her school got suspicious and started poking his nose where it didn't belong?"

"We'd have another Amanda," Kevin sighed. "Alright, point taken. But she had to know this was coming. We're Samurai. It's our duty to protect the innocent at all costs. She should be ready for this."

Antonio bit his lip, "I don't think she's worried about herself. I mean, does that sound like the Emily you know? Only thinks about herself?"

"I…"

"They're home," Jayden said as he spotted Mike and Serena walking through the gate. He turned to the others and they nodded. Antonio started to make his way outside while Kevin tried one more time to speak to Mia, leaving the room to Mentor and Jayden.

The red Ranger spotted the look in his father figure's eyes and shook his head, "Ji, not now…"

"I am worried," Mentor said honestly. "You are still not recovered from…"

Jayden looked down at his chest, "I'm fine."

"I will worry. Nothing you can do will stop me from worrying," Mentor slowly pulled Jayden in for a hug, "I love you. Come home safe and don't do anything stupid."

"I love you, Ji," Jayden smiled.

-Samurai-

"Mia, please open up," Kevin called as he tried the door again but it wouldn't open. He leaned his head against it, "You're being ridiculous."

The door opened suddenly and Kevin almost fell into the room. He caught his balance, stood up straight and found himself looking at an angry Mia.

"I'm being ridiculous?"

"We're heading out. I thought you might want to say…"

"No. I don't need my Samuraizer. Antonio can…"

"We can't leave it with the Nighlok."

"You're going to get yourself killed! Someone's going to get hurt, I can feel it!"

"We always come home hurt, Mia," Kevin pulled her into his arms, "but when we work as a team we're unstoppable. That's how we made it this far."

"Then let me come with you. It's not a team without…"

"You'll get hurt."

"I'm a trained Samurai, just like you…"

"No, Mia. You're staying here and keeping an eye on Terran with Serena."

"Who's going to keep an eye on you?"

"My team."

"You're going to get killed."

"I love you," Kevin kissed her. "I'll bring your Samuraizer back and that Nighlok will learn not to mess with us."

"Please do come back," Mia looked up at Kevin pleadingly. "At all costs, come back."

"I'll be fine," Kevin assured her and kissed her again, "I love you."

"I love you too," Mia whispered and then bit her thumb as Kevin hurried off to join the others. If he or any of the other Rangers got hurt she would never forgive herself. They were going after _her_ Samuraizer; the one _she_ had lost. They never would have done this if she hadn't announced the fact that it was gone. They never would have done this if she hadn't lost it.

Serena walked down the hall, looking just as nervous as Mia was. The earth Samurai pulled the wind in for a comforting hug.

"They'll make it back," Serena whispered.

"Terran misses his mommy," Mia muttered back, hoping to at least distract Serena. She needed to do something. If she couldn't protect Kevin and the Rangers, she could protect and care for the ones left behind. She took Serena's hand, "Emily left him to nap in my room."


	192. Captured

Cradling Terran to her chest, Serena sat in the common room with the rest of the house, eyeing the map and keeping track of the Rangers as they searched for, and eventually found, the mysterious Nighlok. They couldn't tell how the battle was progressing, but as long as the signals were active the Rangers were morphed and it was next to impossible for a Ranger to die in their suit, but stranger things had happened.

The only person in the room who was completely at ease was Terran. He was dry, he had been fed and burped, and he was resting comfortably in his mother's arms, almost completely asleep.

"They'll be fine," Mia muttered, hugging her knees as she looked down at the map. She didn't know how the others felt, but she knew no one felt the way she did: guilty, useless, stupid, and weak. She never should have let that Nighlok overpower her. She never should have let him take her Samuraizer. She should have done like the others, either defeated the Nighlok or died trying. She would rather be dead than watch any of her friends sacrifice their lives for her stupid Samuraizer.

Dekker suddenly leaned forward and shut off the map, "Us watching will do nothing to help the Rangers. We should get some rest. When they run into trouble we will be ready to do as we were told."

"When?" Serena asked.

Dekker lowered his head, "If. You should get some…"

"I'm fine."

"Serena…"

"Leave it alone, Dekker. I can nap at school. I can sleep when they're all home safe."

"Still, you should…"

"Dekker, lay off," Serena got to her feet, "You're only in this house because we don't trust you enough to take our eyes off you, not because there is a chance for us. We are done, you don't get to protect me, and you don't get to protect Terran."

Dekker smiled. That was the first time anyone mentioned his son's name in front of him. Finally he knew what it was. Serena, though, simply scoffed and walked off to her room, baby in hand.

"Way to go," Mia muttered, glancing up at Dekker, "You really know how to piss her off."

"Terran is my son and I still love her. I can't just…"

"Let it go," Mia insisted. She got up from her stool and made her way to her room. She hated it, but Dekker was right. Watching the team's signals on the map wouldn't do anything. She needed to get some rest so tomorrow she could do as she was told. With or without a Samuraizer she was still a Samurai, and she would do all she could to protect the innocent, God forbid, her friends couldn't.

Dekker turned to Mentor Ji, hoping to get some help. Mentor simply shrugged his shoulders, wished Dekker a good night and walked off.

With a heavy sigh, Dekker decided it was time for him to go to bed as well, but as he walked down the halls he heard something that distracted him. He heard Serena's voice talking, and not to the baby. Silently, he made his way to her room and pressed his back against the wall as he stood next to her door. He opened it slightly and looked into the room. She was on the phone. She was speaking with someone else while she organized the room before bed and checked up on Terran in his crib numerous times.

"James, please don't hang up. I'll call you back again I swear."

Dekker rolled his eyes. So he wasn't allowed to harass her but clearly she was allowed to harass whoever this James person was.

"You've avoided me all day," Serena said, "Look, about what happened last night…"

Dekker's interest really started to peak now. Something had happened between Serena and a man named James? He remembered on a few days before when he saw Serena had come home wearing someone else's sweater. A man's sweater. He had no idea why and still didn't, but everything was slowly coming together.

"Now you're being silly," Serena laughed and it stirred mixed emotions for Dekker. He loved to hear her laugh but at the same time he hated how some other man was making her happy. He clenched his fists in anger.

"James, just think about it for a minute. Replay what happened in your head. Who pulled away first?"

Dekker was starting to wonder why he was torturing himself. He didn't want to listen to this. She was friendly with someone else. He didn't want her to be miserable, but he had been hoping she was hurting enough to eventually let him back in. He knew his life was complicated, and he knew her life was hard, but if they tried again they could make it work.

"Well, I was tired," Serena laughed again, "and I thought I could talk to you about it today but you kept avoiding me… I like you a lot too. Maybe you and I can eat lunch somewhere a little more private tomorrow while the kids are in class? Redo last night properly and see how things go from there? … Sounds great. Good night."

Serena's call ended and Dekker felt like he was going to be sick. He knew what was going on and he didn't like it. Not one bit.

He glanced into the room again and watched her crawl into bed. She turned out the lights and laid down to go to sleep. Dekker stood outside her room until it happened. It took a couple of hours, probably because she was still very worried about her friends, but eventually he thought it safe to walk in.

It wasn't fair. Terran was just as much his child as he was hers. There was no reason Serena should get to make all the decisions for him. Initially Dekker had wanted to keep his distance to avoid burdening his son with the life he had screwed up. He wanted to keep Terran away from his heart so the Nighlok couldn't hurt him. The less he cared, the less the Nighlok cared about him.

But then he met his son and something changed. Like any loving father, he couldn't bear to leave and hoped he would get a second chance. It was risky, but he would do anything to protect and provide for his son.

And the more those feelings lingered, the more he wanted: a life with Serena, a happy life; the two of them and the baby. But Serena had made it clear she wasn't interested. Instead, she was off spending all her time with _James_, ignoring her own son's needs. She hadn't come home the night before and the green Ranger mentioned why. She was staying with a "friend".

Dekker was pissed, so he did what he always did when he was angry. He did what he wanted. He scooped up his son carefully from the crib and cradled him close, hoping the young boy wouldn't make a sound to wake his mother. As Dekker tip-toed out of the room he picked up the diaper bag. It would have everything he needed to take care of his son.

Quietly, he closed the door to Serena's bedroom and adjusted the bag on his shoulder so he was comfortable.

"Terran won't go back to sleep without his blanket."

Dekker froze, stupidly hoping that whoever caught him wouldn't see him if he stood perfectly still.

"His Aunt Emy gave it to him long before he was born. She loves him and would be devastated if she came home after such an important battle only to realise she was right about his father. He wasn't to be trusted."

The person who caught Dekker rounded him. Dekker sighed as Mia took his son from his hands. When Terran was comfortable, Mia looked up at Dekker, "If you walk away now, we'll both pretend you were just going to sit with him in the common room for a few minutes."

"You would do that for me?"

"Not for you," Mia shook her head. "Someone needs to go after the Rangers tomorrow morning. Mentor's going to be taking Terran to Serena's parent's place. I'll be with Serena. I have to trust you."

"He is…"

"Your son," Mia nodded, "So smarten up and do what's best for him. You don't have enough money to afford to take care of him."

"Serena is…"

"Shut up, Dekker," Mia growled. "I saved your ass. If Serena woke up she would have assumed you took off with Terran and she would hunt you down. You would be dead before you could figure out how to change a diaper. You owe me."

"But…"

"Sleep outside," Mia pointed down the hall to the door, "I can't trust you near him."

"A boy needs his father," Dekker growled, dropping the diaper bag, "his real father. Not some replacement his mother uses as a toy."

"Outside, Dekker," Mia insisted.

His muscles tensed as he followed her command and headed outside for the night.

-Samurai-

Jayden couldn't honestly remember the exact moment where they had found the Nighlok. He was pretty sure the Rangers had been taken by surprise.

He hit something hard and groaned in pain, only to realise that whatever he had hit was also in pain. He opened his eyes and rolled himself off of Antonio.

"Sorry…"

"This is not how I wanted you to fall for me," Antonio forced a laugh but Jayden saw right through it. The gold Ranger was exhausted already and the fight had just started.

Suddenly, the two heard a savage cry and they tensed up until they heard metal hitting metal and looked up to see Kevin had stopped the Nighlok's blade from hitting both of them. The blue Ranger did his best to move the Nighlok away, and got him back a few paces before the Nighlok took the upper hand and knocked Kevin to his feet. Just as he was about to swing the final strike again, two other swords blocked him.

"We can't keep doing this," Mike shouted. He was kicked in the chest and sent to the ground. He groaned loudly as he sat up, "We're just defending ourselves. Eventually, he'll get through."

Emily flew over the boys' heads and hit the ground. She rolled a few feet and then stopped.

They couldn't tell because of his helmet, but Antonio looked to them all with worry, "He's not even breaking a sweat."

"So this is what generations and generations of Samurai warriors have led to?" Takeshi laughed. He felt almost no pain, only a little sting from the most recent attacks. His Nighlok skin was hard and protected him from the dangerous edge of the Samurai's swords. A simple slash couldn't tear through his flesh, and after training on his own for centuries the pain wasn't something that bothered him. In fact, he lived for it. The more pain he felt, the more alive he was.

The Rangers couldn't defeat an opponent they couldn't hurt and there was no way of slowing him down.

Jayden pushed himself up to his feet, "You hurt our friends."

"They hardly put up a fight," Takeshi rolled his eyes. "I did you all a favour. There should be no room for the weak in the Samurai clan."

Kevin jumped up. No one insulted Mia. He lifted his sword and charged at the Nighlok with a savage cry. He swung once and missed. The Nighlok quickly disarmed Kevin, throwing his sword into the shadows and he grabbed the blue Ranger by the throat, lifting him from the ground. He rammed the blue Ranger into a large boulder and smashed him again and again into the rock and beat him with his fists until the blue Ranger powered down. Takeshi decided he had had enough and was about to let him go when he felt something strike his back. He turned around, blue Ranger still in hand, and saw the gold Ranger was trying to hurt him. He swung blue into gold with all his might, striking gold like a baseball. Both Rangers flew through the air again and hit a thick tree trunk. They fell to the ground, groaning in pain.

Antonio put his hand on Kevin's back, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Kevin muttered painfully and tried to push himself up. He fell back down onto his stomach, crying out in pain.

Takeshi walked over to the blue and gold Rangers. Antonio's morpher was still attached to him but Kevin's laid on the ground. He picked it up and smirked.

"Well, that's another to add to my collection," he snapped his fingers and a portal opened up, sucking the Samuraizer away before disappearing. Antonio watched, eyes wide.

"That's where he hides them."

"Where did you send it?" Jayden asked, standing ready to attack with Mike and Emily by his side.

"My own little prison," Takeshi smirked, pulling out his sword once again. He leveled it with Antonio's helmet, "A place where I keep all the things I collected. It would be tiring carrying it all around."

"It doesn't belong to you," Jayden growled. "Give it back."

Takeshi shook his head then turned to Antonio, "I don't remember a gold Samurai."

"I'm new," Antonio said as he tried to push himself to his feet but Takeshi moved his sword closer and Antonio knew to stay put.

"Just another toy to add to my collection," Takeshi lifted his sword when he was suddenly hit by a burning symbol, knocking him back a few paces. The fire engulfed his body but when it died, Takeshi showed no signs of injury or pain. He turned to Jayden and laughed. "Did you really think that would hurt me?"

"Symbol power! Leaf storm!"

"Stone!" Mike and Emily cried out, showering the Nighlok with leaves and stones, distracting him long enough for Jayden to hurry over to Antonio and Kevin and stand before them protectively. He glanced over his shoulder.

"We can't keep doing this," he said to Antonio. The gold Ranger could hear his friend was breathing heavily, indicating he, like the others, was tired.

"While he's distracted we should go," Antonio nodded. With a little help from Jayden he got to his feet and then the two of them helped Kevin up. The moment they were all standing, they felt something hard hit their backs and they were thrown right back into the dirt.

"No one runs!" Takeshi shouted. "If you weren't ready to fight you shouldn't have come! Defeat me or die trying. Running is for cowards."

Mike and Emily raced over to the three boys and dropped by their sides. They had seen what had happened. The Nighlok had deflected one of Emily's larger stones and sent it over to the boys, knocking them down and out. Jayden and Antonio were no longer morphed and Kevin looked like he could barely keep his eyes open.

"You're almost done," Takeshi laughed. "This was too easy. Octoroo!"

The little Nighlok had been hiding the entire time. He had been told to stay out of Takeshi's way and had no problem following orders. He wasn't a fighter, he was a thinker. He came up with plans and the other Nighlok followed them.

"Yes."

"I need Moogers."

Octoroo nodded his head and a gap opened up. Dozens of Moogers spilled out and raced to the Rangers. Mike and Emily got to their feet and tried to hold them off but Takeshi jumped in. He snaked his arm around Mike's neck and held tight. Mike tried to fight him off but the more he struggled, the tighter Takeshi squeezed. Finally, Mike gave up. Takeshi laughed and held out one hand.

"Samuraizer now, or I'll kill you then take it."

Mike powered down and put his Samuraizer in the Nighlok's hand. Takeshi grinned and pounded his fist into Mike's head. He dropped the unconscious green Ranger to the ground and two Moogers came to collect him.

Takeshi walked over to Jayden and Antonio. They were being held still by Moogers as well. With ease, he took their Samuraizers from them.

"That makes six," he smirked then turned around to the yellow Ranger. "That's odd."

"Emily, get help!" Jayden screamed, causing Emily to turn and face him. She realised now she was all alone and had no choice but to follow orders. The sooner help arrive, the better, and she doubted they could wait until morning before the others realised there was something wrong. But as she turned to run, a Mooger grabbed her, holding her in place. Takeshi walked over to her and punched her in the stomach. Emily doubled over in pain and powered down. Her Samuraizer fell to her feet. Takeshi picked it up. Now he had all of them. He opened up a portal, sucking them all away.

Takeshi looked around. This was turning out better than expected. He had all the Samuraizers and five out of six of the Rangers at his mercy. He could do whatever he wished and he wished to have a little fun.

"Kill them," Octoroo suggested. "Kill them before they have a chance to escape."

"Escape?" Takeshi asked and then shook his head, "No one can escape. The Samurai are done. Defeated. In a year's time, nothing will stop Master Xandred."

"We don't want to…"

"We can use them to our advantage," Takeshi smirked. He looked to Emily and grabbed her face, "Have you ever been in pain?" he asked her. Emily didn't answer him. Takeshi flashed her a wicked grin, "You're all about to learn the true meaning of the word suffer."


	193. Defeat or Die Trying

Everything was blur to Antonio, who stirred slightly as his eyes fluttered open. His head hurt, his body hurt, even the hairs on his head hurt. He tried to move his hands but they were bound behind him. As his vision cleared and he got a look around he noticed he was in a cage in a dimly lit. As he had just discovered, his hands were bound behind his back and his ankles were tied together as well. He didn't understand the need for the cage, seeing as he could barely move, but he was sure the Nighlok had some kind of plan.

"You're up," Antonio heard and he craned his neck and looked out of his cage. Just a few feet away from him was Jayden, trapped in the same position, with his wrists and ankles bound and in a cage. The only thing that seemed different was that Jayden looked to be severely beaten, worse than the last time Antonio had seen him.

"Where are we?" Antonio asked. Jayden shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm not sure. I don't even know how long we've been here but…" Jayden was interrupted by a loud, piercing and painful scream. Both boys wished they could use their hands to cover their ears but they couldn't and they were forced to listen until the scream died down. Only moments after the scream faded out, another cage was launched into the room. It banged and rattled as it rolled and finally came to a stop. Antonio looked out at the cage, hearing a groan and a sniff. Inside, he saw Kevin.

"Kev!" he cried and launched himself to the front of his own cage. He could see a little better, his eyes having adjusted to the dark, and from what he could tell, Kevin seemed to be just as badly hurt as Jayden.

Moogers flooded the room and gathered around Antonio's cage, kicking it as if they were trying to arouse him. Antonio looked through the bars at Kevin, then over to Jayden. The red Ranger could do nothing as he watched Antonio's cage being lifted by the Moogers and knew what this meant. Antonio was also going to be marked, now that he was awake, and it was going to hurt.

-Samurai-

Just as Serena had expected, but dreaded, the Rangers weren't home in the morning. So she passed off her son to Mentor Ji so he could take Terran to her parent's house while she and Mia pretended like there was nothing wrong with the world. Serena had been in a few plays in her couple years of high school and had done some acting, but this was going to be the performance of her lifetime.

Dekker had gone out to search the forest for the Rangers. At best he would find them still locked in a duel with the Nighlok. But after what had happened the night before, he wasn't sure whether or not he would chose to help them or the Nighlok. Just like before he had met Serena, he was trapped somewhere in between. The Nighlok wanted nothing to do with him and the humans believed him to be like the Nighlok, evil through and through.

The only good part about the day was that Serena could hopefully enjoy a nice lunch with a nice man. Maybe, for that one hour, she would forget how chaotic her life had become.

Meanwhile, Mentor Ji was on the road out to the country, with Terran in the back of Jayden's car, sleeping soundly. As Ji glanced back into the rear view mirror, he wished he could be just as innocent as Terran. As long as he was fed, changed, and cuddled he was a happy boy. He seemed to favour his mother, but didn't care who looked after him. As long as the hands were soft and the love was warm.

After hours on the road, Ji pulled up to an old farmhouse. Before undoing his seatbelt he checked his phone for a message. The last thing he wanted to do was disturb Serena and Emily's parents and a part of him hoped the Rangers would have left him a message telling him his drive had been for nothing.

But there was no voicemail on his phone and so he sighed. He glanced again to the back seat and got out of the car.

The roar of the engine had pulled Jack from his work as he came around the barn to see what was going on. He saw a shiny red car in his driveway and walked over to see what was going on. When he recognised Mentor Ji his heart began to pound. Phone calls were bad. Personal visits…

"What happened?" Jack asked as he towered over Ji. Mentor just looked into the car sadly. Jack did the same. He saw his grandson through the window for the first time. A brief phone call had alerted him that Terran had been born and eventually something would be arranged so he and Ellie could visit, but aside from that Jack had heard nothing. Ji opened the door to the car and reached in for Terran. He then passed the small baby to the big man.

"The Rangers have gone to face a Nighlok," Ji explained, "They have not returned."

"Are they…" Jack felt weak, he wanted to fall over. Ji gently touched his arm and walked him up to the house.

"I will explain everything when we find Eleanor. Where is she?"

-Samurai-

Now Antonio understood the meaning of the cage. There was no way of escaping. Even if he found a way to run with his ankles bound, the bars of the cage kept him trapped, making him an easy victim while the Nighlok carved his element into his skin on his arm, marking him as light.

"That is so I know what to call you," the Nighlok said over Antonio's screams. The Moogers again picked up his cage and tossed him back into the dark room with the others. He was thrown around in his cage until it finally settled, crashing once into Mike's cage and waking the green Ranger.

"He won't kill us," Mike muttered and tried not to move too much. He had refused to be marked and was now paying dearly for it. The bruises and cuts hadn't made the struggle worth it. In the end, the Nighlok had his way and Mike had not only been marked, but beaten badly, just like all the others. They had all struggled. "We're alive on purpose."

"He's trying to fill the Sanzu River with our pain," Kevin said, lifting his head so he could look around at the others. "Whatever you do, don't cry."

"I'll make a deal with him," Jayden said, trying to sit up. "I'll get you out of here."

"Us?" Mike asked and then shook his head, "Jay, aren't you forgetting something? If we lose you, we've lost everything. If anyone's getting out, it's you. That's the only thing that's going to make this worth it. If the Nighlok lose in the end."

"I agree with Mike," Kevin said, "We'll find a way to get you out, Jayden. Then you and Mia can stop the Nighlok and…"

"I'm not leaving you behind," Jayden growled. The room fell silent as the boys looked at Jayden. No one was willing to budge on the matter.

As the silence lingered, the boys heard a grinding sound coming from Emily's cage. They turned to her and saw her sitting up, moving her arms in a way that was impossible given she was supposed to be tied.

"Em…"

"I'm not useless without my Samuraizer," Emily muttered and the rope around her ankles fell. In her hand was a sharp rock which she had used to cut through the ropes. One thing the Nighlok didn't know was that Emily had long ago learned how to use her powers without the Samuraizer, a skill that was really starting to come in handy now.

She moved around in her cage and tossed her rock over to Jayden. The red Ranger looked at her with a smile and then struggled to reach for it. It took some time, but he finally managed to grab it in his hands and start cutting at his ropes.

"You're a genius, Emily," he praised her.

Emily smiled and tried to make another rock but a sharp pain hit and she clutched her head. Though she was able to use her powers without the Samuraizer, it took a lot more focus and energy, something she didn't have a lot of at this time. The Nighlok's torture had nearly drained her completely and seemed to leave her with only enough power for one small rock.

"It's okay, Em," Mike assured her. "One at a time. Get some rest, okay."

Emily nodded and leaned against the bars of her cage. The room fell silent again, allowing everyone to hear as the rope fell from around Jayden's wrists. Suddenly he tossed the rock across the room into Mike's cage.

"I can work on the ropes without the rock," he said, "Get your hands free and pass it down."

Mike nodded and got the rock in his hands. He did as he was told and worked quickly, cutting at the ropes and pulling until they had no choice but to let go. His arms were free and he tossed the rock down to Kevin. He didn't bother with his ankles. Instead, he reached through the bars to Emily's cage and gently cupped her face in his hands.

"You're leaving with Jayden," he said. Emily opened her eyes and looked at Mike, horrified.

"No!"

"Em, you can teach Serena, Jayden, and Mia how to use their powers without the Samuraizer," Mike told her. "You're our only chance."

"But I don't…"

"I don't want to leave you either, but it's the only option."

"I'm not leaving anyone behind," Jayden shook his head. "You're all going."

"You're going," Mike insisted, "You're taking Emily with you."

"End of discussion," Kevin added, tossing the rock over to Antonio.

-Samurai-

There had always been a good and a bad to the no contact rule. The bad was that Ellie never got to hear from her daughters. The good was that Ellie could remain ignorant to what her daughters were facing. If she never had to hear about the dangers, they didn't exist. Neither she nor Jack watched the news for that reason. They couldn't bear to know.

But it was suddenly all real to both parents as Ji explained what happened: how exactly Terran had come into this world and what danger their youngest daughter was facing. Ji didn't fail to remind them that it was possible the battle had been moved. It happened. But Ellie knew better. She had been a Ranger for a year. She knew what it meant when the Rangers didn't come home.

She stood up and walked to the closet, pulling out a suitcase. She carried it down into the kitchen then up the stairs. Ji and Jack exchanged looks before following her. Jack carried Terran in his arms.

"Ellie…"

"I'm not letting this happen," Ellie stuffed clothes into the suitcase and then surprised everyone when she reached into one of her dresser drawers and pulled out a sword. "All of the Rangers are gone?"

"Emily, Jayden, Mike, Kevin, and Antonio," Ji nodded his head. "Serena and Mia are down at the school, perfectly safe."

"Don't talk to me about safety when one of my daughters could be dead!" Ellie screamed. She snatched a cell phone from inside her night stand and flipped it open. Just like the sword, Jack hadn't known the phone was there. He walked over to his wife and looked over her shoulder as she pulled up the numbers. The names that matched the numbers were the same as the names of her former teammates: Patrick, Noa and David.

"What are you doing?"

"Just because our kids are Samurai, doesn't mean we're not," Ellie said and then pressed a button on her phone before putting the phone to her ear, "We have a duty to seal Master Xandred away at all costs. Defeat the Nighlok or die trying. It still applies."

"Ellie," Jack took her by the arm.

Ellie pulled away from him, "Patrick? Come to the Shiba House. We're needed again."


	194. Imprisonment

Serena heard footsteps stopping behind her and turned around to see Mia staring up at the trees sadly. She closed her eyes and then took Mia's hand.

"I doubt he'll come for us now."

"We haven't heard from them," Mia whispered, "Or from Dekker. Do you think…?"

"Mentor will be back by now," Serena said. She pulled on Mia's hand, "C'mon. We'll figure something out."

"We're screwed, aren't we?"

Serena shook her head, "We're still alive. We can still fight. It's not over until it's over."

The girls walked the rest of the way through the forest and up to the Shiba House. When they got inside the yard, behind the protective shields, they noticed something weird. Jayden's car was parked, but three other cars were in the yard as well.

"Does Mentor Ji collect?" Serena asked Mia. The pink Ranger shook her head then stared at one car in particular.

"Only bonsai, I… I think… that's my mom's car."

"What?" Serena asked but Mia was already running inside. Serena followed her until they got to the common room doorway. Mia was stiff as a board. "Mia, what's going…" Serena trailed off as she glanced in the room and saw her mother, Patrick, and two strangers sitting on the Rangers stools, "… on?"

"Mom," Mia choked out as a woman dressed in pink turned around and got to her feet. She opened her arms and Mia raced over, hugging the older woman. Serena quickly noticed the resemblance and assumed the woman was Mia's mother, the former Pink Samurai.

And that could only mean that the other stranger, dressed in green, was Mike's father.

"Unexpected help has arrived," Mentor announced to the girls as he walked in from the kitchen and set down a small tray of finger foods and drinks. He knew no one was thinking about eating but he would be damned if he didn't offer his guests something to eat and drink. Mentor looked to Serena directly, "Terran is safe and sound with your father. Do not worry."

"Why is everyone here?" Mia asked as she pulled away from her mother and wiped her eyes. This moment was bittersweet. She was thrilled to see her mother again, but she knew the reason why she was visiting: her friends were in danger.

"I've already won the worst mother of the year award for 2011," Ellie chuckled lightly, "I'm not about to repeat that mistake for 2012. When Ji told me what happened, I knew you needed help."

"I still can't believe you walked away," David muttered. He hadn't been at the Shiba House for long, but stories had been traded, especially when he and Noa picked up on the fact that Ellie and Patrick had recently been in touch. He heard what Ellie had done and thought it was disgusted.

"Shut up, David. I'm back now."

"You shouldn't have left."

"Both of you shut up," Noa barked, "We're here for a reason. If you two keep bickering both your kids might die! Is that what you want?"

Serena winced when she heard this. It wasn't likely Noa knew this, but the last thing Serena wanted to hear was Ellie's and David's kids both dying. To Serena, that meant Emily and Mike.

Ellie and David both fell silent. Noa smirked and nodded her head.

"Good. Now we need to think of something."

"They all have their Samuraizers," Mia told her mother, "We can't morph."

"We'll find another way," Patrick assured her. "We didn't come all this way to give up at the first bump."

"Besides, the Nighlok has no idea we're coming," Ellie said, "We'll get them back."

-Samurai-

Jayden examined the lock on his cage. He felt like he had been trapped for days and was looking for some way out. Anything, no matter how painful it would be, would be better than remaining trapped and at the Nighlok's mercy. Cradling his scarred arm close to his body so he wouldn't hurt it further, he grabbed the lock with his other hand.

"Emily," he whispered to wake her. The others had slowly drifted off to sleep but Jayden had been too busy thinking of ways to escape. "Emily…"

"Go away."

"I need a big rock. I can beat the lock until it breaks if you make me a…"

The door to the room swung open and the Nighlok walked in, followed by Moogers. He clapped his hands together, turning on a set of lights, waking and blinding all the Rangers. Jayden gulped when the Nighlok inspected their cages. The ropes were cut and the Rangers were untied.

"Well, well," the Nighlok walked around the cages slowly until he reached Antonio's and saw a sharp rock. He picked it up, "I don't remember this being here. Moogers?"

The Moogers looked around and shook their heads. None of them had brought a rock in.

The Nighlok tossed the rock to the Moogers and then grabbed Antonio's arm, pulling it out of the cage. Antonio cried out in pain as his injuries were exacerbated. Takeshi inspected the mark he had left. "Light, I doubt it was you."

He walked over to Kevin's cage and reached out, pulling out Kevin's arm, "Water. That would be an interesting trick. A rock from a water Samurai without a Samuraizer on hand."

He let go of Kevin and walked to Mike. He reached into the cage but Mike held his hands behind his back and spit on the Nighlok's hand. Takeshi decided to go for his throat.

"Should I just punish you instead?" he asked, releasing Mike's neck slightly so he could talk.

"Go for it," Mike answered. Takeshi slammed Mike into the back of the cage and walked away.

"It wasn't you," he said with certainty and made his way over to Jayden, "Easy way or hard way?"

"It's my stone," Jayden said and cast a quick glance over at Emily, begging her to remain silent.

Takeshi crossed his arms over his chest, "So it was you? Show me how you did it, red Ranger."

"I…" Jayden cursed under his breath. Of course the Nighlok would remember him. He was the red Ranger, the one they were all after.

"I distinctly remember red being Fire. Now I could be wrong," Takeshi smirked, "but doubt I am. Moogers, release Light, Water, Fire, and Forest. I want a word with Earth."

The Moogers did as they were told and pulled the boys out of their cages while Takeshi glared at Emily. She retreated back into her cage, staying as far away from the Nighlok as possible.

It took several Moogers to hold the boys in place, but they stayed still while Takeshi kneeled down in front of Emily's cage.

"So the stone was yours?" he asked. Emily nodded her head. Takeshi chuckled, "Seems you Samurai always have something up your sleeve. You've learned to use your powers without the Samuraizer, huh?"

"I'm sorry…"

"Don't apologize, Em," Mike shouted, "He's scum. He's…"

A Mooger covered Mike's mouth with his hand. Emily watched in horror then turned back to Takeshi.

"I won't do it again."

"I trust you won't," Takeshi smiled, "but just for my interest, why don't you show me what you did. Put a stone in my hand."

Emily blinked, paralyzed for a moment before she lifted her hand and traced a symbol in the air. There was a look of pain on her face as she did so and Takeshi smirked. Just then, a stone appeared. He wrapped his hand around it then turned to he was facing the boys. He launched the stone, hitting Antonio in the chest. Antonio gasped and doubled over. The Moogers let him fall and then dragged him back into his cage to lock him up. Takeshi held out his hand again, "Another stone, Earth."

Emily shook her head so Takeshi rattled the cage. He heard Emily whimpering and let her settle before holding out his hand again," Stone, Earth!"

Emily made another stone. It took a little longer, but eventually landed in Takeshi's hand. Just like the first, Takeshi launched it at the boys. This time it hit Kevin and the Moogers dragged him to the cage while he struggled for breath.

"Another!" Takeshi cried. When the stone was made, he threw it again, hitting Jayden.

"Another!" Takeshi shouted again but Emily was drained and didn't want to make another. She knew what he would do with it. Mike was the only one standing.

"It's okay, Em," Mike assured her. "Just close your eyes. It'll be over soon."

Emily closed her eyes and made another stone. It was slightly smaller than the others but Takeshi was happy. He launched it at Mike and while the Moogers dragged him back to his cage he grabbed onto Emily's.

"Would you have rather I punished you directly?" he asked. "Maybe tossed all four stones at you?"

Emily nodded her head and Takeshi chuckled. He stood up straight and snapped his fingers. The Moogers secured the locks and followed him out.

"I'll be back when I've figured out what to do with you five," Takeshi announced, "For now, enjoy your stay and get comfortable. You will be here for a while."

The door slammed shut and the lights went out. There was only a little light left in the room so the Rangers could see each other.

Emily slumped to the floor of her cage, feeling defeated. Antonio crawled weakly to the front of his cage and looked at her.

"It's okay, Em. We're fine."

"She's tired," Kevin muttered. "Let her rest."

Jayden rubbed his sore chest as he caught his breath and looked over to Kevin, "You need to make a key."

"No way," Kevin shook his head. "You saw what the Nighlok did. I won't…"

"If you make a key we can get out…"

"And go where?" Kevin asked. "I doubt we'll be able to leave this room."

"We can fight…"

"That's how we ended up here," Kevin said. "Besides, I don't know if my key will work. I have no idea what the lock looks like. I can't see it."

"Can you see anyone's?"

Kevin shook his head, "It's not worth it, Jayden."

Jayden pounded his fists into the bars of the cage, "You're not giving up! Check Mike's lock! He's closest to you."

"Jayden…"

"That's an order!" Jayden shouted.

Kevin sighed and crawled over to the side of his cage. He reached up and grabbed the lock holding Mike in. In this light it would take ages.

An idea hit him suddenly and he traced a symbol in the air. A tool appeared in his hand and Kevin got to work.

"Please don't come back," Antonio begged as he fixed his eyes on the door.

-Samurai-

There was a dead silence as the former Rangers, Serena, Mia, and Mentor sat around the table and stared at the map. With Terran out of the city, Mentor could get the Gap Sensor to its most sensitive setting, enabling it to pick up on any and all Nighlok activity.

But there was none.

Serena gulped, "There should be… Where's Dekker?"

"He's gone," Mia touched the map with her finger, hoping it was just malfunctioning. He's supposed to be out there!"

"Who is Dekker?" David asked.

Ellie sighed, "Please don't ask."

"Perhaps something happened to him as well," Mentor Ji suggested. He backed up the time on the map, until he caught Dekker's signal and the Gap Sensor blared. Mentor silenced it and continued moving the time back, following Dekker's path. He shook his head sadly as he realised what happened, "His signal says he barely searched. He barely even went into the forest."

"Of course not. He's a Nighlok," Noa frowned. "Why would he help?"

"Shut up," Serena snapped. "He wouldn't do this. He…"

"He tried to kidnap Terran," Mia whispered and almost regretted it as Serena's eyes fell on her in rage. Mia shifted away from her slightly, "Last night I got up and saw him trying to leave with Terran. I kicked him out and I guess that pissed him off…"

"I'll kill him," Serena growled. Her body trembled as she tried to stop herself from crying, "That fucking son of a bitch…"

"We don't need him," Ellie assured her daughter. "He's caused enough trouble."

"Would someone mind filling me in?" David asked. "Who is Dekker? Why do you trust a Nighlok?"

"He's a Nighlok," Serena growled. She got up from her stool and paced around angrily, "He's a manipulative, selfish…"

"Serena…"

"He fucking promised, Mia!" Serena shouted. "He promised he would protect me and her! Now he's walked away."

"We don't know what happened…"

"He tries to kidnap my son and leaves Emily to die," Serena screamed. "That's what happened. That's exactly what happened!"

"Serena…"

"He better hope he never comes back," Serena growled. She stormed off to the front hall and started to grab her things. Mia jumped up and raced after her.

"Where are you going?"

"You want something done, you have to do it yourself," Serena said. "I'm going to find them."

"You're going to get yourself killed!"

"What's the point?" Serena asked. "What's the point of living if everyone's dead? Xandred's just going to have his way anyways."

Mia started to grab her shoes and jacket, "You're such an idiot."

"Then why are you following me?"

"Because you're right."

The girls raced out of the house and the parents exchanged looks.

David let out a deep sigh, "Well… it's easy to see those are your daughters," he looked to Noa and Ellie.

"Shut up," the girls rolled their eyes before the four former Rangers jumped up and followed them.


	195. A Little Bit of Hope

Takeshi enjoyed his portals. When he first became a Nighlok and realised creating portals was his power he had been pissed. But when he realised he could make portals to nowhere and use them as prisons to torture his victims he found his calling. He became the most feared Nighlok with the exception of Master Xandred and earned his place in the Netherworld.

Unfortunately, his portals weren't strong enough to suck everyone in. Had they been, he would have turned the world completely inside out by now. He could only take those he weakened, so he trained his skills until he surpassed even the best of Samurai and returned to Earth to claim what belonged to the Nighlok.

Another thing he loved was that he could do what he wanted in these worlds he created. For instance, he could spy on the Rangers. He knew everything that was going on and watched as Water tried to pick the lock on Forest's cage. It was only a matter of time before he stormed in. First he needed to come up with a punishment; something that would really break his prisoners.

Octoroo waddled over, notes in hand. He had been asked by Takeshi to complete notes of everything he knew about the Rangers and not to return until they were completed. He handed the papers to Takeshi who flipped through them quickly.

"Useless, useless, irrelevant, stupid… where's the real information? I can't torture them with this! Do you want the river to rise or do you want to sit here and wait for eternity?"

Octoroo handed Takeshi a final page, "This might be what you are looking for."

Takeshi glanced at the page and grinned.

"Love, huh?"

"From what we've observed," Octoroo nodded. "Dayu's been quiet helpful… and we've got a surprise source."

"Is this source reliable?"

"The only Nighlok to ever earn the trust of a Samurai," Octoroo said. "Besides, it's not like we can go wrong. These Rangers do all care for each other."

"Which is Air?" Takeshi asked, "I don't remember writing that one down. Do we have that?"

Octoroo shook his head, "The pink Ranger. The one you let get away so we could take the child."

"My collection is not complete," Takeshi stroked his chin, "That's too bad. Well, surely Air will come for Water. It's only a matter of time. Why don't we start with what we have?"

-Samurai-

"Their signals stopped here?" Patrick spoke into the cell phone. It was the only way he could communicate with Mentor Ji now that the Samuraizers were all missing. He sighed and hung up. "Well, this is it. This is where their signals were last seen."

"There's no sign of a Samuraizer," Noa called out. "That could be good or bad."

Mia leaned against a tree. All this because she had lost her Samuraizer. Her entire team was likely dead because of a mistake she made. She wiped a tear from her cheek and looked up as something blocked her light. Patrick stood in front of her with a sympathetic smile on his face. He pulled her into his arms and held her warmly.

"We'll find them."

"It's getting dark," David sighed and looked up, "We might want to think about…"

"I'm not going back," Serena interrupted him.

Mia pulled away from David, "Serena, you need to get some rest. If you're tired for school people are going to…"

"Emily's out there," Serena growled. "Mitch can survive a day on his own."

"We're not getting anywhere," Mia shrugged, "Go home. I promise we'll let you know as soon as possible if we find something. Day or night."

"But…"

"Serena, keep things normal. You're too stressed anyways."

"You suck," Serena huffed and stormed off towards the house. Mia hugged herself for comfort and warmth as the wind blew.

"Now what?" she asked the former Rangers.

"We find out where they went. There's got to be an answer around here somewhere," David said. "They couldn't have just vanished."

Mia let out a heavy sigh and blinked. For the brief second her eyes were closed she saw a fist coming towards her face. She trembled. She seriously hated these memories of her beatings."

"What if the Nighlok took them to the Netherworld?" Patrick asked. "That's the only explanation. A Gap opened up and sucked them all away. Their signals would have vanished."

"If they're in the Netherworld they would be dead," Mia muttered. She closed her eyes again and she saw herself being dragged across the snow. She opened her eyes and shook he head to clear her thoughts until it occurred to her. She was remembering. Something was triggering her memories.

"I got it!" she called out and suddenly started running. The former Rangers exchanged looks and followed her.

-Samurai-

Kevin picked and picked at the lock. He was sure it had been hours since he had started working on it, it felt like hours, but without nothing else to do he continued.

"Dude, give up," Mike muttered, watching from the other end of his cage, "What's going to happen when the cage does open up? Do you think I'm going to run?"

"If you want to get help…"

"And leave you all behind?" Mike shook his head, "No way. Anything could happen while I'm gone."

"Mike…"

"No! Pick Jayden's lock. He's got the sealing symbol."

"I can't reach Jayden's," Kevin said and he finally heard a click. He pulled on the lock and it opened up. The door to Mike's cage swung open but Mike didn't move. "You're free to go."

Mike turned his back to Kevin and looked at Emily when he heard her move. She was starting to wake up and he wanted to make sure she was okay.

"Good morning."

"Is it?" Emily asked.

Mike shrugged, "I don't know if either is right."

"Emily, tell Mike he's free to go," Antonio said. "Tell him to get help."

"He's…" Emily lifted her head and saw Mike's cage was open. He could run if he wanted. She sat up, "Mike, you have to go."

"No," Mike shook his head. He snatched the lock pick from Kevin and then started to work on Emily's lock, "You're getting out of here. You and Jayden. I'll keep the Nighlok off your back."

"You've got to…" Kevin tried to off but Mike got the lock in record time. Apparently desperation did work. Mike then crawled out of his cage and walked over to Jayden's to begin working on his lock.

"Em, get a head start," he told her, "You've got to find a way out."

"Where? Aside from us this room is empty."

Mike focused on the lock, "Just get out, Emily."

Just as Jayden's lock clicked and opened, Mike heard a muffled scream. He turned around and saw the Nighlok had come into the room and grabbed Emily. He held her tightly in his arms, preventing escape no matter how much Emily struggled.

"We have a locksmith, huh?"

Even with his body's protests, Jayden jumped out of the cage and charged at Takeshi. He was unarmed but he also wasn't thinking straight. Takeshi merely laughed as Jayden rushed him. Before the red Ranger could get too close, he pulled out his sword and held it to Emily's neck. Jayden skidded to a stop, Mike's muscles tensed up and Antonio and Kevin moved up as far as possible in their cage and grabbed the bars until their knuckles were white.

"Don't touch her!" Mike growled. Takeshi grinned. He laid the blade flat against Emily's neck and lightly tapped, causing Emily to wince and tremble every time the metal hit.

"Why not? Why shouldn't I hurt her?"

"You're a monster!"

"Am I not nice?" Takeshi mocked. "Am I a bad person?"

"Let her go."

"Is it because you love her?" Takeshi asked with a grin. "Would killing her be the worst suffering of all for you?"

"Let… me…" Emily struggled further but Takeshi covered her mouth and pressed her head into his chest to keep her from speaking. With his other arm still holding his blade to her throat, the rest of Emily's body was freed. She pushed on his arm and sword with her hands and bit down on his fingers with her teeth, a trick she had learned while dealing with her school bullies.

And it worked on the Nighlok. His skin wasn't as tough around his fingers so he pulled away in pain. Emily slipped away from him and tried to run. The Nighlok realised she was loose and snapped his fingers. Dozens of Moogers appeared in the room, circling each Ranger.

"Grab them and follow me," Takeshi ordered and turned his back to walk out, "I want to have some fun."

The Rangers fought off the Moogers but there were too many. They were soon overpowered. Kevin and Antonio were pulled from their cages and all of them were dragged out of the room.

-Samurai-

"Mia, where are you going?" Noa called after her daughter as they raced through the forest. Suddenly, Mia came to a stop. She looked down at the ground and paced around for a moment while the parents gathered around her.

"Mia…"

"Right here," Mia said. "This is where he attacked me."

"So?" David asked. "You're here. The others…"

Mia didn't listen. She closed her eyes and tried to trigger her own memories. She saw the Nighlok beating into her and Serena until he overpowered her and then she felt him starting to pull at her, separating her from Serena. Mia remembered trying to look around to see where he was taking her and she saw a dark hole; a portal.

"They aren't here," Mia said. "He's got them."

"Now that we have that figured out… OW!"

"Listen to her, David," Patrick scolded the former green Ranger.

"He took them to his world. That's where he does whatever he wants with them."

"His world?" Noa asked her daughter. Mia nodded her head.

"He creates portals. The one he took me to lead to nowhere. It was a world of… nowhere."

"You're making no sense, sweetie," Ellie sighed.

Mia started to tremble. The parents couldn't understand her but she knew exactly what was going on. She tried to hide her tears.

"They're nowhere…"

"Mia…"

"He took them… nowhere…" Mia sunk down into the snow, "They're gone."

"The Nighlok would have come for you by now if they were gone," Patrick said. "Surely he would want to finish all the Samurai off. There's still hope."

"There's hope?" Mia glared, "You think there's still hope because I'm not dead yet?"

"That's the way this work," Patrick nodded, "You're still a road block to Master Xandred…"

"Who is just going to run right through me!" Mia screamed. Her mother fell down next to her and held her in her arms.

"We'll figure this out," she assured Mia. For once Mia didn't believe it. She couldn't believe things would be okay. Normally when someone promised they would figure it out, she had the rest of her team to help her. _They_ figured things out; together. Without the rest of the team, all the pressure was on her and she didn't know what to do.

Finally, she pushed herself away from her mother and stood up, "I'm done."

"Mia…"

"They're probably already dead," Mia shrugged, "We're wasting our time."

"You're giving up?"

"What else can we do?" Mia asked her mother. "Unless you think they're still alive and you know a way to get to nowhere fast without a Samuraizer."

Mia sighed and started walking home, "It's over."

The parents exchanged looks. They understood Mia's disappointment but they couldn't give up and they couldn't let her give up. They were on the search for their children and would never quit until they found them. As long as they were around, Mia wasn't going to quit.

"Mia…" Noa called but Ellie grabbed her arm, pulling her back slightly. When Noa turned she saw her yellow had a plan.

"Hypocrite," Ellie called.

Mia stopped dead in her tracks and turned around. She glared at Ellie.

"What?"

"You hated me for running away," Ellie said. "My daughters needed me and I walked. You hated me for that."

"This is…"

"Worse," Ellie interrupted with a low growl, "At least I left my daughters in capable hands. I left my daughters with people who could take care of them. You're abandoning your team when you're the only thing they have to believe in."

Patrick nodded his head. He placed his hand on Ellie's shoulder, "I'm going to keep searching. There's got to be some way to get to them."

Mia looked to Ellie angrily, "We have no weapons, no Samuraizers, and the entire team is gone. We need to cut our losses and…"

"Those losses are human beings," Ellie reminded Mia, "Those losses are your family. The people you care for the most, so you better try your damnedest to find them or you will never see them again. Whether they're alive or not, whether we rescue them or not, I will make sure you're not around to see them."

Mia looked down to the ground and touched her ring. Tears welled up in her eyes.

"One more chance, Mia," Ellie said, "Walk away or stay?"

Mia was silent for a long time, deep in thought over what needed to be done. When Ellie prompted her for an answer again, Mia looked up.

"Kevin and Emily learned how to create symbols without their Samuraizer," Mia said. She stepped forward into the snow and stopped suddenly. She looked into nothing at all, "The portal the Nighlok pulled me through was right here. It's never worked for me before, but Kevin once told me how to make symbols."

Mia closed her eyes and focused all her energy on her symbol. She held her hand up and felt the power coursing through her. It was strong and she almost wanted to stop, but she didn't. She traced a symbol and opened up a portal, much to the surprise and amazement of the parents.

Keeping the symbol active was a harder challenge and Mia fell to her knees. She turned to the parents.

"In there. Go!"

"Mia…"

"Go get them, mom," Mia insisted.

Ellie was first to jump through, followed quickly by David. Patrick made his way over and jumped through without a second thought.

Noa stayed back for a moment and looked at her daughter. Mia shot back a hard look.

"Go, mom!"

Noa nodded her head and jumped in. When all the parents were gone inside the portal, Mia dropped the symbol and fell into the snow, barely awake.


	196. Parents to the Rescue

Jayden barely felt the blow as a Mooger punched him hard in the face. It was hard enough to send him sprawling, but he stayed upright. More Moogers were holding him up, grabbing on to his arms and legs to keep him from running and to keep him from fighting back.

The one Mooger beating into him had been doing so for what felt like hours. Jayden was in so much pain he couldn't feel anything anymore.

He glanced around the room. The other Samurai were in a similar position. The Moogers surrounded them and were having their fun with them. Kevin had been beaten but now the Moogers decided to let him play in the water. They had tied him up and held him down while one Mooger continuously filled up a large bucket with water and slowly poured it over Kevin's face, nearly drowning him for minutes at a time.

Antonio was curled up on the floor while the Moogers kicked him mercilessly. When the attack first started, he used to be able to hold them off long enough so he could get up and run, but the Moogers always caught up to him and they always threw him back down and kicked him over and over again. Now, just like Jayden, Antonio was too hurt and too tired to fight. Jayden wasn't even sure Antonio was still awake.

The Moogers had tied Mike onto a chair so they could beat into him, but for the most part, Mike's torture was watching Emily. It seemed the Nighlok knew of their relationship and was using that to his advantage. While Mike would be beaten when he yelled, screamed, or struggled, his torture was watching the Nighlok toy with Emily.

The Nighlok would grab Emily and hold her tight in his arms. Jayden had even seen the Nighlok leaned down and whisper something in her ear that would make her struggle more to get out of his grasp. Then, he would let her go and he would let her run, but never too far. Before she was out of arm's reach he would grab her again and fight with her as she resisted. He would pound his fists into her until he had her back in his arms. It was like watching a cat play with a mouse before killing it. The Nighlok just wanted to watch them all suffer.

Takeshi held Emily in his arms and as he whispered, he glanced around the room. He had been keeping his eye on the other Samurai since he had pulled them into this room. Every bruise, ever scar, was because of him. Every tear their shed was thanks to him. Surely, with all the pain and misery he had caused, the Sanzu River was rising. If he could keep this up, the Earth would be flooded in a matter of months. For that, he needed to keep the Samurai alive.

But they didn't need to know that.

"It's a shame I couldn't get my hands on that half-Nighlok child," Takeshi whispered into Emily's ear, "Now I'll have to wait nine months for you to give me a Nighlok son or daughter. A half Samurai, half Nighlok generation would prove very useful to Master Xandred."

"No…" Emily whimpered. She knew she sounded pathetic but she had no fight left; no strength. She was done.

"We'll just stand here as watch as _our_ Moogers finish off these Samurai. Then you and I will…"

"No…"

"Or should we wait for your Air Samurai? Then I can have two Nighlok children at once," Takeshi smirked maliciously before he felt something tap his shoulder. He secured his hold around Emily and glanced over his shoulder. Suddenly, his face was met with a powerful fist which sent him to the ground and he was forced to let go of Emily.

"Try meeting the parents first," Ellie growled. She stepped over Emily and stood between her daughter and the Nighlok. She drew her sword from her side, feeling very fortunate for having taken it with her when she left home.

David and Patrick rushed over to their sons and quickly took out the Moogers surrounding the boys. The fact that these were simple Moogers, as well as the many, many years of experience as Samurai, and the parental instinct to protect their children meant the Moogers didn't stand a chance and were defeated in a matter of moments. Patrick pulled out a Swiss Army Knife from his pockets and cut the ropes from around Kevin, who passed out as soon as the Moogers were gone. When the ropes were cut, Patrick tossed the knife to David who freed his son. Mike barely had time to process who had saved him before he too gave into his pain and collapsed.

Noa saw the Moogers surrounding Jayden and Antonio (whom she had been told was the new Gold Ranger). She couldn't rescue them both at once, but fortunately as soon as the Moogers saw what Patrick and David had done to the rest of their group, they knew they were in for the same fate. Noa simply took a step forward and suddenly a gap opened up over the Moogers' heads and they all disappeared into the Netherworld.

She rushed over to Jayden and caught him as he collapsed, now unconscious. She laid him down, quickly glanced at Antonio, and then checked over the red Ranger.

Takeshi jumped to his feet and looked around. He had been sure he had most of the Samurai. He couldn't figure out where these ones had come from. As they finished inspecting his victims, they all began to surround him.

"I can take you all," he said confidently. "Look what I have done to the current heroes. They've been reduced to nothing! They're just waiting for me to release them from this life of suffering."

"That's a lot of talk coming from a Nighlok who was only brave enough to fight the smallest Ranger," David said. "You let the Moogers do the tough work with the big strong boys? Scared they would fight back?"

"Scared? I know no fear!" Takeshi shouted. He threw himself at David, but the former green Ranger side stepped and Takeshi landed on the ground. David jumped on top of him, grabbed his head, and slammed it into the floor.

"Hurt my son again and you'll suffer a fate worse than death!" David screamed.

Takeshi managed to wiggle out from under David but when he got back to his feet he came face to face with Noa, who pushed him onto his back on the ground. When Takeshi looked up, he saw Ellie was now standing over him with her sword at the ready. She stabbed at him, but it just missed him as he rolled out of the way and jumped to his feet. Normally he was a lot more graceful than this. He had kidnapped the five Rangers with ease and had had fun doing it. Now, there were only four strangers and he couldn't see to get the advantage.

A portal opened up across the room and Takeshi ran for it. If he could get away, even for a day, he could come up with a way to defeat these for strangers, but he was suddenly tackled to the ground again and beaten into by a pair of fists. He held his arms up to protect himself until the beating stopped and the weight was lifted off him. He saw it was now the man in blue, Patrick, who had gotten the better of him. Now all the strangers had outmatched him. He wouldn't let it happen again.

He held the portal open and hurried for it. He was only a few feet away when he decided to jump in. But just before he reached, he felt a sharp pain in his stomach. Takeshi fell to his knees, clutching his stomach with his hands as a sword stuck out. He looked up to see what had happened.

Serena and Mia had appeared through the Gap when it opened up. Takeshi had made the mistake of trying to flee to the human world and forgot his portal was a two way.

Mia kicked Takeshi in the head, knocking him down further before she grabbed her sword back and ripped it out of Takeshi's body. He screamed in pain.

"How did you…?" Ellie started.

"Like I'm leaving," Serena said to her mother with a roll of the eyes.

"Serena went back to the Shiba House," Mia answered, "She brought me this," Mia held up the sword and then had a look around the room.

"I ran back but you guys were gone," Serena added. "Mia was just lying there. I woke her up and gave her the sword. Nothing can ever survive a pissed off Mia, especially when she has a sword in her hands. Then a gap opened up so we jumped in."

As Serena explained, Mia surveyed the room. She saw the state her friends were in and her blood boiled. She then looked down at the Nighlok, reeling on the ground in pain from his injury. Compared to what he had done to all five of her friends, one stab wound didn't seem like enough. She drove the sword into his chest and pulled down, ripping through the Nighlok's body. She didn't care how much he screamed, he needed to be dealt with.

When the Nighlok stopped screaming and his body fell limp, Mia pulled the sword out.

Serena quickly ripped it from Mia's hands, "No more weapons for you."

"He's dead," Mia muttered. She turned and smiled at her mother, and then in the corner of her eye she saw Patrick kneeling over Kevin. Her heart stopped as she raced over to her fiancé. She placed his head on her lap and tried to wake him, but to no avail.

Serena had a good look around the room and felt sick to her stomach. She dropped the sword and ran over to her sister.

"Emily?"

"They're all out," Noa announced. "We need to get them home fast."

Ellie left Emily with Serena and ran over to the Nighlok's dead body. She had noticed a pouch tied to his waist and figured he was carrying something there. Hoping it was something that could help them back to their world Ellie opened it up and reached inside. She grabbed the first thing she touched and pulled it out.

"Samuraizers," she smiled to herself. She put the Samuraizer back in the pouch and pulled out Emily's. Clutching the pouch to her chest, she started to trace symbols.

The first one she traced over Antonio, writing out 'home'. When she struck the symbol, Antonio disappeared. She traced another over Jayden and Noa and they were gone. Her third was over Mike and David and her fourth over Patrick, Mia, and Kevin.

She doubled over to catch her breath. Home was a difficult symbol to use, requiring a lot of energy and power. Fortunately, she had just enough for one last symbol. She traced home in the air, opening up a portal. She walked over to Serena and Emily. She gently took Emily from Serena's arms and then looked to her oldest daughter.

"Go through," she gestured to the portal. Serena nodded and jumped in. Ellie followed with Emily.

-Samurai-

Mentor needed room to work and the parents all had some experience with first aid. It was a skill they had to acquire, especially once they started training their kids. Taking a child to the ER several times a week with deep gashed and large bruises would raise too much suspicion and doctors would begin asking too many question. The Samurai life was a secret, so most injuries were treated at home. Mentor was thankful for that now that he had five patients to look after. With the former Rangers' looking after their own child, and Noa tending to Antonio, all Mentor Ji had to worry about was Jayden, and occasionally he had to lend a hand with the others.

But Serena and Mia were forced to sit and wait in the common room for news. Both hated it.

It was the early morning at this point and neither had gotten much sleep. Serena kept glancing at the clock, knowing she was due at school in only a couple of hours. She didn't want to go, but she had made a commitment. Unless she was needed at home, which so far she wasn't, there was no reason for her to miss work.

"The coach is going to ask about Mike again," Mia whispered when she realised why Serena glanced at the clock all the time. Mike had already missed one day and it hadn't gone unnoticed. A second, especially right after the first, was going to bring up a lot of questions.

"I'll just… lie…"

"Mike's not going to be back for days," Mia said, "Maybe weeks. How do you explain that?"

"A change of schedule? Mike's not actually enrolled, you know."

"He can't just join a team then change his schedule…"

"What do you want me to say, Mia? He was tortured by a Nighlok? I'll come up with something, okay. I just don't want to think about it now."

"You can't just come up with something on the spot. The coach isn't stupid…"

"Mia, I can't think," Serena growled. "My brother in-law and little sister are on the verge of death…"

"My fiancé's in there," Mia reminded Serena, "and they're all my friends too, _and_ I'm the reason they're hurt."

"We both lost our Samuraizers, Mia…"

"You're not a Samurai Ranger, though. I am," Mia held her head in her hands, "I'm not supposed to screw up like this. I'm not supposed to put them in danger. It was my Samuraizer. I should have gone after it. I should have been tortured… not…"

"If it's any consolation you were beat up first," Serena scoffed and turned away from Mia. Suddenly the two heard someone clearing their throat. They turned to the doorway and saw Patrick.

"Kevin's awake," he said, "The others are still out but we think they'll be fine."

"When I was sick I thought I would be fine too," Serena muttered, "look how that almost turned out."

"Shut up," Mia snapped. She and Serena weren't actually mad at each other, but they had nothing else to be mad at, so they took it out on each other.

"Girls," Patrick warned them. Mia got up and walked to the hallway. As she passed Patrick he told her Kevin had been moved into her room.

Patrick turned to Serena when Mia was gone, "There's not enough room to lay Mike and Emily in one bed…"

"Put Emily in mine."

"Then where will you sleep?"

"I've got to get ready for school."

"You've been up all night," Patrick said.

Serena shrugged, "Then those bullies better not do anything stupid today."

-Samurai-

Mia snuck into the room quietly, as if it would make a difference for Kevin who was likely expecting her. She heard movement in the bed as she approached it. Kevin, despite his injuries, tried to roll over to see her.

Mia stopped him by laying a hand on his shoulder, "You'll hurt yourself," she carefully lowered herself onto the bed and leaned over him so their eyes could meet. At first Mia smiled then inspected Kevin's injuries. "Does it hurt everywhere? How's your cheek?"

"Fine… why?" Kevin suddenly felt a stinging pain as Mia slapped him across the cheek. Now every inch of his body hurt. But no sooner had she slapped him, did she throw her arms around him. It was the most painful hug he had ever received, but he would forever cherish it.

"You stupid asshole," he heard Mia growl into his ear, "Do you know how worried I was?"

"Did you get your Samuraizer back?"

"What do you think I care about more?" Mia pulled away from Kevin, "You're such a dumbass!"

"I love you too…"

"I'm serious, Kevin!"

"Mia…"

"You could have died! You…" Mia looked at the bruises and scars. For the most part they had been bandaged, but Mia knew they were there. She imagined the pain he must have endured. Her mind was still rather foggy from her suffering, but it had been hell. She couldn't bear to think of what it had been like for him, trapped in the Nighlok's portal for nearly a day and forced not only to endure his own suffering, but the suffering of the others.

Kevin saw tears forming in Mia's eyes and tried to sit up, hoping he could pull her into his arms, hold her, and comfort her, but the pain was too much. He cried out and it only worried Mia more. She lied down next to him, as close as possible without hurting him. Kevin couldn't bear to see her so upset though. While it hurt, he wrapped his arm around her and hugged her close.

"I'm sorry, Mia…"

"Whatever," she muttered and rested her head on his chest, careful not to put too much pressure on his bruising.

"Mia…"

"Shut up, please," Mia begged and Kevin heard her sob. He couldn't imagine what this was like for her as he started to wonder what hurt more: his injuries or her fear.


	197. Waiting

Mitch could tell there was something wrong with Serena and for once he felt sorry for anyone who decided to pick on him or any other kid in the school.

"Round two of try-outs are soon," Serena told him, rubbing her head as she tried to focus. She and Mitch were sitting in the cafeteria during Mitch's lunch period. Serena wasn't up to doing much. Normally she and Mitch would walk around the school and talk about the bullies or class. He was still relatively new to the country, so the easier Serena could make his transition, the faster he would adjust and the more confidence he would have. Having someone to talk to who could listen was a big help. "Have you been practicing?"

"Mom's been taking me to the local gym," Mitch said, "She's been really supportive."

"That's great," Serena said. In front of her was a book. She had never been a cheerleader before and had very little interest in the sport, but now that she was helping Mitch, she wanted to know all she could about the routines, the terminology and the rules. This book would teach her that. "You'll need to bring you're A-game."

"Whatever happened to me doing my best?"

Serena looked up and forced a smile, "Just do your best, buddy."

Mitch forced a smile as well. He knew something was wrong but he wasn't going to ask. A feeling deep inside him told him it was best to leave it be.

Suddenly, both he and Serena noticed a shadow on the book that hadn't been there seconds ago. They turned and saw a girl standing at the end of their table with a tray of food in her hand. Mitch recognised her as captain of the cheerleading team. For a moment, he worried she was going to dump her food on him.

"Are you Mitch?" she asked, flashing Mitch a genuine smile. Mitch nodded his head. The cheer captain took a seat next to him. "I heard about your try-out. Apparently you were pretty good, for a boy."

"Cheerleading is a unisex sport," Serena muttered as she continued to look at the book. To everyone else it looked like she was reading it, but Serena's mind was focused on something else. Nearly her entire family back home was still suffering and she couldn't get that thought out of her head.

Mitch looked to the cheer captain nervously, "Don't mind her. That's her default setting today."

The cheer captain laughed. Again, it was genuine. Mitch was starting to wonder what was up. No one in this school was nice to him.

"You're Serena? I've heard a lot about you."

Serena glanced up from her book, "You're hearing a lot of things."

"I just got back from vacation with my parents. Coach filled me in on what's been happening in the school," the captain smiled. "I've got one thing to say about it."

"What?"

"Finally."

Serena sat up straight. She couldn't believe it, "Excuse me?"

"This place is a dump. Do you know how hard it is to cheer for douche bags like Howie?"

"You're cheer captain," Serena said, "You've got a lot of power. Why don't you stand up to him and the rest of the football team?"

The captain leaned back in her seat nervously, "He, uh… he kind of scares me. He's the size of a truck!"

"I've seen bigger," Serena shrugged. "But he shouldn't scare you. Wouldn't the other cheerleaders back you up?"

"Cheerleaders get run over by trucks," the captain said. "I've tried telling them to lay off a few times, but nothing I do works. I can't threaten the football team. They would eat me alive if I tried anything. So I kind of just… stopped."

"That's the problem," Serena sighed, "No one does anything."

"Well, I'm going to do something," the captain turned to Mitch, "We're just cheerleaders, but the football team doesn't hassle us. I'll help you come up with a routine that will be sure to land you a spot on the team. Then you can hang with us. Most of the girls are really sweet."

"Wait? Really?" Mitch asked. "What's in it for you?"

"Not everyone in this school is poison," the captain smiled, "and not all cheerleaders are bitches. Just meet me in the gym after school. I'll help you out."

"Thanks," Mitch said and when the captain was gone he turned to Serena, his face as serious as ever, "Can I trust her? She's not leading me into a trap, is she?"

"I'll go with you," Serena sighed. It was at that moment the bell rang. Mitch started collected his garbage onto his tray. He stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Coach Smith.

"I'll go with you," James promised. "Though Izzy has always been a sweet girl. I'm sure she means no harm."

"You can never be too safe," Mitch said. He hurried off, "Thanks, Coach Smith!"

Serena watch Mitch leave and blinked a few times, "Did he just make a friend? A popular friend?"

"From where I was standing, a popular friend approached him and befriended him," James smirked and took a seat across from Serena.

Serena grinned and then looked back down at her book, "I'm better at this than I thought."

James pulled the book away from Serena, "He's getting expert advice. I doubt you'll need to study this anymore."

Serena looked up, "What?"

"Are you okay?" James had a look of concern on his face. Serena nodded her head.

"Yeah, why?"

"I don't want you to think I'm clingy or anything," James started, "but I kept trying to call you last night and you never picked up. I wanted to talk about… us."

"You called me…?" Serena pulled out her phone and saw the missed calls. She sighed loudly, "Yesterday was a bad day."

"We had our lunch date yesterday…"

Serena realised what she had said and looked to James apologetically, "No… that was good… it's just…"

"Does it have something to do with Mike? He's missed two days now? Yesterday you had your friend Mia with you… today I'm sure I saw you arriving alone. Are you okay?"

"Everything's fine," Serena nodded. James placed his hand on her arm.

"I want us," he told her, "but not if you're going to lie to me."

Serena sighed. She didn't want to lie either. She wanted to talk about what had happened, but she couldn't tell him everything. She knew she had to lie, but weaved the truth in a little bit.

"Something happened," she started. "Some jackass thought it would be fun to… hurt… my family."

"What do you mean?"

"Mike and my sister Emily… they went out two nights ago," this was where Serena was going to have to be really careful, "I knew they were going to be out late but when I left for school yesterday they still weren't home."

"That explains why you were a bit distracted yesterday," James said and then he saw tears, "Serena, are you crying?"

Serena wiped the tears away and shook her head. James knew already that it was a lie, but he would let that one slide. He walked around the table and took a seat next to Serena. He took her hands in his and held them softly.

"What happened?"

"We found them late last night… in a bad way."

"How bad?"

"He's not dead… but I don't think I'll be bringing Mike back to school… not anytime soon."

"And your sister?"

"I really don't know anything," Serena shrugged, "I… I'm still waiting to find out what exactly happened to them."

James pulled Serena into his arms, unsure of what to do. So he just held her as she cried into his shoulder.

-Samurai-

Much to David's relief, halfway through the afternoon Mike had opened his eyes and he was the second on to do so. The other Samurai were still unconscious and their parents were hoping they would wake up soon.

David knew it was selfish, but now that Mike was awake he didn't care about any of the other Samurai. His son was awake, alert, and he seemed to be doing well, all things considered.

But what confused David were the responses he got from Mike. Any time he asked his son how he was doing, Mike would answer with a quick _"fine"_, which David knew wasn't true, and then he would ask about Emily. David couldn't understand why, at first. Why was Mike so worried about his teammate when he was suffering? When he finally asked, he got his answer.

At first he didn't know how to take the news. Mike had dated before, so it wasn't a surprise that he had a girlfriend. It was mostly the fact that he was engaged to be married to this girlfriend that nearly knocked David right off his feet.

At first he questioned Mike's decision. There was no way the Samurai life offered any room for a relationship to grow. He thought Mike had been slacking off, like he always did. Skipping training to hang out with the Samurai he was crushing on. But Mike assured him his feelings for Emily were real and that his training and Samurai duties hadn't suffered because of her. If anything, he was a better Samurai now thanks to Emily.

It took a lot of talking, but David finally realised the truth. His son was in love. This was real and it was a good thing. He didn't know Emily, and wished he had gotten the chance to get to know her before he gave her his only son, but Mike was old enough to know what was good for him.

David took Mike's hand gently, "Your mother's going to want to meet her before the wedding."

Mike nodded his head then looked up at his father, "You never answered my question. How is she?"

David shrugged his shoulders, "I wish I could say."

Mike tried to sit up but fell back into the pillow, groaning loudly in pain. Again, though, he tried to get up.

"You'll hurt yourself…"

"If she wakes up and I'm not there she might get scared," Mike said. "Where is she?"

"Michael, you need to take care of yourself. Her mother is looking after her…"

"No. If it's not me it has to be Serena…"

"Serena's at school."

"Mia."

"She's with Kevin. He woke up early this morning. She hasn't left his side."

Mike finally sat up, "Then I need to go."

"Michael…"

"Dad, please…" Mike begged but David shook his head and gently lowered him back into bed.

"I'll go check up on her," he said, "I'll tell you everything they know."

Mike nodded his head and gave in. He was starting to realise just how much his body really hurt and he wouldn't make it out of bed without his father's help anyways. This was the best option for him.

But before his father left, Mike pointed to Emily's night table. On it was the farmhouse snow globe he had bought her for her birthday and Monkey the Ape, the stuffed toy she had brought with her from home when she first arrived.

"Bring her those," he asked his father. David nodded his head and collected the items. He gave his son a smile and left for Serena's room, where Emily was resting.

When he walked in he saw Ellie sitting on a chair on one end of the room and Emily was lying in Serena's bed on the other. He flashed Ellie a quick smile and then walked to the bed. He set the snow globe down on the night table then rested the ape toy beside Emily on the bed.

He turned back to Ellie, "What's her favourite flower?"

"She liked the sunflowers on our farm," Ellie answered. David pulled out Mike's Samuraizer. He hadn't yet given it back to his son. He traced a symbol over the night table and a bouquet of sunflowers appeared in a vase. He traced another symbol and a piece of paper appeared in his hand. He folded it in two and then picked up a pen from Serena's desk. On the outside of the makeshift card he wrote: _Love, Mike._ He set the card in front of the flowers and smiled.

Ellie watched, her heart warming, "Either I've got to question what your intentions with my daughter are, or you know."

"Mike told me," David nodded. "He insists she's the one."

"Well, from what I've see, he's good for her. The best."

"I'm sure Mike's made the right choice," David said, "And I'm not just saying that because you'd kick my ass if I told you I thought she wasn't good enough."

"A part of you must be," Ellie joked. David rolled his eyes.

"He's my little boy," he said. He glanced back over to Emily, "And he wants to know how she's doing."

"Mentor thinks she'll be up before Jayden or Antonio," Ellie sighed, "but one thing I've learned about recovery is that it's really only a guess. We'll have to wait and see."

"What should I tell him?"

"So far things are looking good," Ellie said, "and that if Emily were awake, she'd be telling him to rest. Also, tell him I'll let him know as soon as she's awake."

"Thanks, Elle."


	198. Good Men

Mentor Ji always felt like a parent. He had raised Jayden since he was a young boy and he was responsible for the Samurai residing in his house. It was hard not to feel like a parent when he was put in the parental role.

But now, more so than ever, he felt like a father: a worried father. Jayden meant everything to him, and the others weren't far behind.

To see them all hurt, hurt Mentor Ji.

He sat by Jayden's bedside. He wasn't a religious man but he prayed Jayden would recover. He would never want this, but if he had to choose, if he really, really had to choose only one Samurai who would survive this experience, it would be Jayden. There was no technicality about it. No ifs, ands, or buts. Jayden was his son. Since the day Jayden's father fell bravely in battle, Jayden had become his son. He had loved and cared for him like he was his son. He felt guilty for the way he felt, but he knew it was normal. The other parents were probably thinking the same way.

"He looks so much like his father," Mentor Ji heard Noa whisper from the door. He turned and gestured for her to come in. Since Mia wasn't in a state that would worry Noa, the former pink Ranger decided to spend her free time tending to Antonio. The gold Ranger was the only one without a parent around and if he was going to recover he would need support. She took a seat by his bed and turned to Mentor Ji, "He's so big now."

Ji nodded his head, "It feels like yesterday I took him in."

"I know how you feel," Noa smiled, "The way I remember it, yesterday Mia was dressing up as a princess and pretending to marry her teddy bear. Now she's actually getting married."

"I see she's told you."

Noa shook her head, "She hasn't said a word. It's probably slipped her mind. I'm sure once things settle I'll hear about it."

Ji turned to Noa, "If she didn't tell you…?"

"Ji, was I ever stupid?"

"No."

"So when my daughter's walking around with a ring and spends the entire day locked in her room tending to a boy, don't you think I can figure out what that means?"

"Kevin loves Mia with all his heart," Mentor assured Noa, "You should be proud."

"Mia always knew what she wanted," Noa nodded her head and smiled. "I'll have to hear it from her mouth, but I'll trust her when she tells me she's found the one."

A silence fell upon the room. Mentor turned his focus back to Jayden. Tears welled up in his eyes. Noa couldn't imagine what he was going through. She couldn't imagine what any of her teammates were going through. When she had first arrived and seen what was left of Mia's scars from previous battles her heart had broken. While her family was less than perfect, one thing that never changed was how much she loved and care for Mia. Knowing she was hurt made Noa sick, sometimes literally. She would wake up in the middle of the night from a nightmare and run to the toilet to throw-up.

To see it in real life, to actually witness your child in pain… Noa couldn't bear to think about it any further. But she knew it hurt.

So she shifted in her seat and glanced to Mentor Ji again, "How is he?"

"I'm still waiting to…"

"I don't mean now," Noa said, "He was always a strong and brave young boy. What's become of him now? How has he grown up?"

"Beautifully," Mentor smiled. "He's still strong and brave… and he's got a heart of gold. The Samurai are in good hands with him."

"I bet."

"He'll rarely say it, but he loves them all," Ji looked down at Jayden, feeling some happiness, "He's always doing what's best for them, no matter the cost. It worries me. Sometimes I'm scared he's going to get himself killed, but I'm always proud."

"You sound like a dad," Noa beamed, "Jacob would be proud of him and of you. You've done something right, Ji."

"When this is over, I want a normal life for him," Mentor said, "he's been deprived his entire life. The Samurai are giving him taste, but I want the experience…"

"Will you be retiring after this team? Passing down the torch to some other poor sucker who will have to mentor the next generation?"

"I have a good feeling about these Samurai," Mentor said, "I'll see how they fare against Xandred first."

"Well, if you do retire and when Master Xandred is gone… why don't you take him home?"

Ji turned to Noa with a strange look on his face, "The Shiba House is his…"

"Ji, he's your son. He's family for you. From what I remember, that's just one more crazy person to add to the handful of people you call your siblings and parents. Part of having a normal life is having a normal family. Grandparents, aunt, uncles, cousins: the whole deal. He deserves it."

Ji nodded his head and smiled, "Thank you, Noa."

"I'm sure Jayden will wake up soon," Noa said. She turned back to Antonio and placed her hand on his arm. She stroked it gently, "I'm just waiting for this guy to pull through. He looks like a very interesting young man."

"Antonio's great," Mentor said.

-Samurai-

Though Serena knew it wasn't a good idea, she let James drive her home.

All the way home.

He had insisted and she knew she needed it. She did warn him he had no idea what he was getting himself into, but James wouldn't change his mind.

For the most part, Serena remembered the Shiba House was good for visitors. There were maybe a few Samurai gadgets lying around, but nothing that couldn't pass as merchandise. And the Zords were getting used to visitors. They knew to stay hidden when there was a stranger in sight. As long as they did that, Serena didn't see the harm.

She opened the door and was instantly greeted by Scruffy. James backed away slightly when he saw the dog.

"You have a dog."

"He'll lick you to death," Serena nodded. She could still feel the tears stinging her eyes, which was why James insisted she let him take her home. Since she had broken down in front of him she hadn't quite bounced back.

"Still, dogs and I don't get along."

"Just pat his head, let him sniff you, and he'll go back to doing whatever it is he does when we're not looking," Serena said. James hesitantly did as he was instructed and then Serena shooed Scruffy away.

She walked James to the common room, "Can I get you anything?"

"Don't worry about that," James insisted, "Do you need anything? I'm here to look after you."

"I'm fine."

"Did you eat at lunch?"

"Yeah."

"Are you lying? I didn't see you eat."

"I had a few snacks. I'm fine. I'm not hungry anyways. You can have a seat. I'm just going to tell the others you're here."

"How many others live in this house?"

"Right now, a lot of people," Serena said. She started down the hall, "There here because of what…"

James heard Serena trailing off and got up to follow her. When he looked down the hall he saw she was staring at a door. He approached her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Is everything okay?"

"She's in there," Serena muttered and leaned into James for comfort. "There wasn't enough room for her and Mike in their room so I told them to move her… into my room."

"We can walk away. If you don't want to see her…"

"Come with me," Serena looked up. James was a little surprised.

"We've barely dated. You want me to meet the family?"

"My family's complicated," Serena nodded her head, "I can't go in there alone and there's no one I really… trust."

"What about your parents? Surely they're here because of what happened."

"Dad's back at the farm with Terran and my mom… that's another story."

"Another story?" James asked with a tone of slight shock.

"I'm really, really complicated. I would totally get it if…"

"What woman isn't?" James chuckled. "Serena, I'm serious. I want us. You're special. I'm not going to call it quits just because you have a little baggage."

"A lot of baggage."

"I might get a little overwhelmed but if you're patient with me, I'll be patient with you," James promised. Serena smiled up at him. She felt really lucky he was here with her now. She gave him a light kiss on the cheek and then turned to her door. She opened it slowly and peeked inside. There was only Emily. Her mother wasn't there. Serena assumed her mother had just stepped out for a moment to care for herself, and this was excellent timing.

She pulled James into the room and closed the door. She dropped her bag and started to put her things away, letting herself get used to being in the room before she really took the plunge and had a look at her sister.

James whistled softly, "It's like a mini hospital in here."

"Don't say hospital," Serena whispered.

"Sorry… whoever's looking after her seems to know what they're doing, though. She's in good hands by the looks of things."

Serena emptied her bag and then walked over to James. She took his hand, "Can you do me a favour?"

"Anything."

"Tell me how bad it is."

"Like… go up to her?" James asked.

Serena nodded her head, "Yeah… and when you get there, lie and tell me everything's fine."

James chuckled slightly but did as he was asked. He walked up beside the bed and looked down. He had no idea what happened or who did this, but it made him sick. Serena hadn't been exaggerating when she called Emily her little sister. From what James could tell, she was still just a kid.

"Is she strong like you?"

"Stronger."

James smiled, "She'll be fine."

"You're lying."

James shook his head and held out his hand, "I'm serious. Come here."

Serena refused to move so James gently pulled her over. He heard a soft sob escape her lips as she got closer to the bed. He wrapped her up in his arms. "She'll be fine. I have a good feeling."

"I hope you're right," Serena whispered.

The room was silent after that. To Serena, it felt like hours.

Suddenly, the silence was broken by a moan. James felt Serena pulled right out of his arms and she was by the bed in an instant.

He found a chair and took a seat.

Serena leaned over Emily as she stirred and whimpered in pain. She gently placed her hand on Emily's cheek. The touch of her hand seemed to make Emily's eyes flutter open.

"You're safe, Emily," Serena whispered. She took a seat on the bed, careful not to sit on her sister or pull on the blankets.

When Emily saw Serena she immediately shot up and threw her arms around her sister's neck, despite the screams of protest from her body.

"He wanted babies," Emily whispered into Serena's ear.

Serena hugged her sister and whispered so James wouldn't hear, "He's dead, Em. The Nighlok's dead."

"He wanted babies from me and Mia," Emily repeated. "Where is…"

"Mia's fine," Serena smiled. "She took care of him. He'll never come back. He'll never hurt you again."

Serena gently laid Emily down in bed. She saw Monkey the Ape had somehow switched rooms and tucked the ape under her sister's arm. As she did this, she noticed flowers in the corner of her eye. She turned to look at them and saw they had been left for Emily with a note. Serena couldn't give the entire bouquet of sunflowers to Emily, but she pulled one out and showed her sister.

"From Mike," she said, placing the flower in Emily's hand.

Emily looked up, "Is Mike…"

Serena was about to shake her head when she heard the door slide open. She turned even though she thought it was just her mother.

She was pleasantly surprised to see it was Mike. She nearly jumped out of the bed to hug him but knew better than to interfere. He was hurt and had made it all this way for a reason, and that reason wasn't her.

Mike limped over to the bed and sat down next to Emily. Serena gave Mike a quick smile and then got up. She walked over to James.

"I'm feeling better."

"Do you want me to leave?"

Serena shook her head, "I didn't say all better. The common room might still be empty and the TV might be free… might staying for a couple of hours?"

James smiled, "Sounds good."


	199. A Slow Recovery

A part of Jayden knew this wasn't real, but the screams were so loud, the voice inside his head telling him this was just a dream was drowned out.

He sat in a small, dark, empty room. He hugged his knees and rocked slowly as he listened to the screams. The screams belonged to his friends. He could distinguish each one: Kevin, Mia, Mike, Emily, and Antonio.

They were being tortured. The Nighlok had gotten them all and he was torturing them, and there would never be an end to their suffering. Day after day their lives would be filled with endless pain and misery.

And Jayden had to listen to it, knowing it was his fault. He wasn't good enough. He had failed them. They trusted him to keep them safe and he let them down. He let them all down and he had let every Samurai down. While he was the red Ranger, and thought to be the most important of them all, the Samurai weren't Samurai without the full team. Red was the leader, but red wasn't red without blue, pink, green, yellow, and gold.

The Nighlok had won.

Jayden couldn't see anything, but he knew the world had been flooded. Master Xandred had his way. Humans had been turned into slaves, forced to work for Master Xandred and forced to please him. They did anything he wanted without question. Anyone who was foolish enough to question him would be disposed of.

But, compared to the fate the Rangers were suffering, that was the best way out. Jayden knew they were suffering a fate worse than death. At least death provided them with an escape. Here, they were forever trapped.

He heard a piercing scream and shut his eyes. He pressed his hands to his ears, trying to block out the noise, but the scream was in his head and got louder and louder. Jayden continued to rock back and forth.

"I failed," he muttered, "I failed them… I failed everyone. I'm sorry. I'm sorry…"

-Samurai-

Serena was thankful for the weekend, just like any other working woman. Finally, she had some time at home. She could go back to her normal life. It was still a life of chaos, but this was chaos she was used to. This was what she wanted to deal with. She wanted to take care of her friends. She wanted to see for herself that they were recovering or that they were safe. She didn't want to wait until the end of the school day to see if there was any progress. She wanted to be right there.

Having James around the night before had helped out quite a bit. She had no idea what she had done to deserve a man like him. She had no idea men like him existed. Given how supportive and caring he had been, and how little he knew, he was making Mike and Kevin look like bad boyfriends. She never would have been able to cope without him.

When he left late that night Serena had been careful to check the surroundings to make sure no one saw him leaving (good or bad, the less people knew he was there, the better). She was worried the Nighlok would do to him like they had done to Amanda, but hoped the streak of bad was over. It was wishful thinking but she liked to believe in miracles.

Besides, if someone else she cared about did get hurt, she was sure she would die of stress before she could begin to blame herself. She had had enough.

She had gone to be right after James had left. Emily was still resting in her bed and Mike had fallen asleep there as well. He had been moved back to his room so he could rest comfortably. But with her bed still taken, and Serena reluctant to share with Emily because she was scared she would hurt her little sister, she had pulled out a mat and slept on the floor. She was surprised Mentor had so many mats, but figured there was a reason for them.

In the morning, she was tucking the mat under her bed, keeping it out of the way, but still making it easy to pull out for the night. She was sure she wouldn't be getting her bed back for a while.

Just as she jammed it under she heard a sound. She looked up at Emily but her sister was passed out, resting peacefully.

She heard a sound again and located it. It had come from her window. She turned and saw it was open. It was the middle of winter and Serena was paranoid bad things or people would get in through the window so she knew she had left it closed.

"I saw him leave."

Serena jumped at the voice as it came from behind her. She spun around and saw Dekker. Immediately she attacked, sending Dekker to the floor. She pulled out her Samuraizer and summoned up a sword. She held it to his neck.

"I will kill you."

"There's a new man…"

"You're married," Serena growled, "There would be a bit of a double standard if you're allowed to be married but I'm not allowed to date."

"I thought…"

"Wrong. We're not trying to fix things, Dekker. You and I are done!"

"But Terran…"

"You will never be his father," Serena snapped. She shook her head, "Not after what you did."

Dekker pushed her sword away from his neck and got to his feet. He brushed himself off.

"What did I do?"

"You had a job," Serena told him. "If the Rangers weren't back by morning you would search for them."

"And…?"

"We saw your signal on the map, you asshole!" Serena screamed, "You took two steps into the forest and called it quits."

"You're seeing another man…"

"You nearly killed the Samurai. You nearly killed my sister."

"Takeshi wasn't going to kill them," Dekker muttered. Serena's eyes widened in fury. A deep growl rumbled in her throat.

"Excuse me?"

"Takeshi wasn't going to…" Dekker trailed off. He saw the look in Serena's eyes. He had said something she didn't like.

"Takeshi. You know his name?"

"I know many Nighlok by name."

"Point," Serena nodded, "but how can you be so sure he wasn't going to kill them? From where I was standing, and from where everyone else was standing, it looked like he wanted them all to die."

"I…"

Serena swung her sword, slashing Dekker across the face, slicing his cheek. He pressed his hand to the side of his face and felt blood. It wasn't a bad cut, Serena hadn't been trying to slice his head off, but she was making a point.

"If I can't trust you with my sister, there's no fucking way in hell I'm ever going to trust you with my son!" she screamed. She dropped her sword and pushed Dekker, "Get lost!"

"Serena…"

"I swear, Dekker, I'm five seconds away from doing something I should have done a long time ago."

"Leave that man and we can figure this out…"

"Four. Three…"

"Would you kill with your sister in the room? Your room? That you share with Terran?"

"Gladly," Serena nodded, "Two..."

Dekker saw Serena was serious and he wasn't going to win. He couldn't win. Not anymore. He had screwed up. When he tried to do good he made no progress with her, and when he did bad he sent himself back miles and miles. Maybe it was time to call it quits.

"One!" Serena shouted and lifted the sword. As she was about to plunge it through his chest a gap opened up and sucked him in. Serena stabbed the air and screamed in frustration, tossing the sword aside carelessly.

"Serena…?" she heard Emily call before she really lost herself in her anger. She took deep breaths to calm herself down as she rushed over to her sister's side.

"It's okay, Emy…"

"Why are you screaming?"

"I'm just a little stressed and it's not good to bottle things up," Serena answered. "I thought you were asleep? Did I wake you up?"

Emily shook her head, "Everything hurts…"

"I'll get Mentor, okay?" Serena kissed Emily's forehead and then hurried out the door.

-Samurai-

The only time Mia came out of her and Kevin's room was for about an hour when Kevin was sleeping. She would grab a bit to eat and take care of herself in that time and then head straight back so she could be with him when he woke up.

This break, she was spending most of her time in the kitchen, making a meal for Kevin she was sure he would enjoy. Though he wasn't in a hospital, and the food here on the worst of days was better than what he could be eating if he were in a hospital, most of it was still basic and rather bland. With so many injured Rangers needing to eat, and so much else to do, such as caring for them and the house), there wasn't enough time to make proper meals.

While Kevin's was in the oven, Mia was finishing up her own food. She glanced up from her plate only when she heard someone walking in. She smiled when she saw it was her mother.

Noa sat across from Mia, "I haven't seen you much."

"Sorry," Mia whispered. "How are the others?"

"Mike and Emily are awake," Noa answered. Mia had been locked in her room and had no idea how the others were doing. Noa knew she cared for them; she had just been distracted with Kevin. Her eyes glance quickly to the ring on Mia's finger and then she looked into her daughter's eyes, "Jayden and Antonio are still out."

"They've been out for a while," Mia glanced at the clock, "Should we worry?"

"Not until we know for sure there's something to worry about," Noa said, "they've been through quite a bit. They need all the rest they can get."

"I guess," Mia nodded, "But Mike and Emily are…"

"Getting better. It's slow, I hear, but it's better than nothing. You should go see them."

"I guess I should, it's just…"

"I can sit with Kevin. He won't be alone if he wakes up and it'll give me a chance to get to know my son in-law."

Mia was surprised to hear this. Her eyes were wide, "H-how… what are you… y-you know?"

"I knew about the engagement when I first got here and saw you," Noa took Mia's hand and pointed to the ring, "I knew it was Kevin when I saw how worried you were for him."

"The no contact rule… I…"

"Relax, sweetheart," Noa chuckled, "I'm not mad. A little upset I missed it, but I understand."

"He's the best, mom," Mia assured her, "I know what I'm doing."

"I trust you. I would still like to get to know him," Noa smirked, "Unless you want to be in the room while I grill him, maybe now would be a good time to check up on your friends?"

"If Jayden and Antonio aren't awake I can't see them," Mia shook her head, "I just… this happened because of me…"

"It's hard. I understand," Noa gently squeezed Mia's hand, "but Mike and Emily would be happy to see you. I'm sure it would help them quite a bit."

"I'll go," Mia nodded. She got up from the table and as she left she kissed her mother's cheek, "Thanks."

"I love you, princess."


	200. Visits

The screaming wouldn't stop. It was like a constant echo in his head. What was worse was that Jayden could only hear what was going on. He couldn't see. He was still locked away in his small, dark room, unable to see what was truly happening. This meant his imagination wandered and he was forced to imagine the worst.

What hurt more was that he was sure he wasn't overthinking. Everything that went on in his head, he was sure it was real.

Suddenly, a door opened up. Jayden was too weak to move and knew it was useless trying to escape. The light from outside blinded him, but not for long. Something was tossed inside the room and then the door closed and locked.

Jayden crawled over to what had been dropped. The little light he had in the room allowed him to make out the form of a person. A body had been dumped. As soon as he noticed that he shuffled over faster.

"No… no… no…"

He rolled the body over and gasped loudly when he saw it was Antonio. He wrapped his arms around the gold Ranger and hugged him tight. He soon realised the body was dead and had been left with Jayden to rot. Antonio had been tortured to death, one of, if not the worst way to go.

"He defended you," Jayden heard a voice say. He didn't look around to see who was talking to him. It no longer mattered.

"Shut up…"

"They're all defending you. You can deny it all you want but you're being protected by them. When they die, it's because of you."

"No…"

"I gave him a chance to run. He had nowhere to go but at least he would be away from me. He stayed. He stayed to find you. They're all staying for you. Now their life has been reduced to pain and suffering, while you live. And for what reason? What are they going to accomplish now? You've got some loyal friends, red Ranger."

"Please let them go," Jayden begged, hugging Antonio close to his chest as he cried in his shoulder.

"I'll do one better. I'll let you go. I'll let you live. But your friends… part of them will always be here with me. What I've done to them will always linger. They will always suffer and it will always be your fault."

-Samurai-

Jayden woke with a start and looked up. He was home, in his bed, and out of his nightmare.

"Jay…" he heard someone called his name and really focused his eyes. Antonio was sitting on his bed, gently tapping his cheek, trying to wake him up. "C'mon, buddy, look at me."

Against all protest from his body, Jayden sat up and launched himself into Antonio's arms. It hurt both of them, but neither seemed to want to let go, so scared that they had lost their best friend and happy they were back.

"You're okay," Jayden whispered. Antonio nodded his head.

"Better than you, I'm sure."

"No way," Jayden shook his head. Finally he pulled away from Antonio and examined the gold Ranger's injuries, "You should be in bed."

"I'm in your bed."

"You should be resting," Jayden said. He shifted away from Antonio and tried to get out of bed. He was leader; it was up to him to be strong for the team. He couldn't lie down.

But the minute his feet touched the floor and he put any weight on them he dropped. He fell to the ground. He heard a small gasp from Antonio, and another gasp, followed by footsteps.

"Jayden, what are you doing out of bed?" Mentor Ji lifted Jayden back up and into bed. He tucked the red Ranger in, despite Jayden's protests, and then walked Antonio back to his bed, "Both of you need to rest."

"Mentor…"

"No," Mentor shook his head and tucked Antonio in, "No arguments or you will be resting in the snow. Am I clear?"

Antonio nodded, "Crystal."

"The others…"

"Are already awake," Mentor answered for Jayden, "And they are resting, just like you should be."

"I have to see them," Jayden tried to get up again. Mentor rush over and gently pushed him back down. Tears welled up in his eyes.

"Jayden, you need to rest. They are fine and I will tell them you are fine."

"Just fine?" Antonio asked. "That doesn't sound too good to me."

"You will all live," Mentor said, "As long as you rest. If I hear or see either of you out of this bed, I will quickly dispose of you and replace you, am I clear?"

"Crystal," Antonio nodded again. Jayden looked to Ji nervously.

"I…"

"Bed," Mentor insisted. Jayden finally gave up and relaxed in his bed, but he wouldn't stay for long. He would get permission to walk around and as soon as he did he would check up on the others. Their health and safety mattered more to him than anything else.

-Samurai-

Noa wasn't really sure what to say to Kevin when he woke up. He had been surprised to see her sitting by his bed instead of Mia, but had quickly made the assumption she knew. He slept for hours now while he rested and it was very likely Mia had shared the news.

"You know, her father and I are divorced," Noa said. Kevin nodded his head.

"I know."

"It was one of the worse things to ever happen to me. Right behind the day Mia had to leave to come here and I wasn't sure I would ever see her again, and the day she chose to live with my mother instead of at home."

"I love her," Kevin promised, "I don't plan on ever getting a divorce. We're engaged because we're sure."

"Her father and I were sure…"

"If I could predict the future and I knew we were headed down that road, I wouldn't do this," Kevin assured his mother in-law. "But I just know now, and I know I love her. She's really special. I'm committed until the end."

This talk was hard for Noa. She loved her daughter dearly and wanted what was best for her, but she hadn't seen Mia in over a year, and had only a small share of the honour of having raised her.

"Really, it's not me you'll have to convince," Noa laughed slightly, "My mother loves her… maybe more than I do."

"Don't I get a little bit of credit," Kevin looked down at his injuries, "I did this for her. Without her Samuraizer she would have been defenseless. That's the last thing I want."

"You know, she's the one who took down that Nighlok," Noa said, "Without her Samuraizer. Just a sword."

Kevin smirked, "I didn't mean she couldn't take care of herself. I just feel better knowing there is a bit of a shield between her and danger."

"You're lucky to have her."

"I know," Kevin nodded. "I tell myself that every day."

-Samurai-

Following her mother's advice, Mia had decided to visit Mike and Emily. It took her quite a bit of time to muster up the courage, but she finally took the jump.

She started with Mike. His room was closer to the kitchen than Serena's so he was the natural first stop.

She knocked on the door and then opened it. She poked her head into the room and saw Mike was lying in bed. He was playing with his handheld video game, but Mia barely noticed. The first thing she saw were the cuts, bruises, gashes, and scars.

"My mom told me you were awake," Mia whispered. Mike's fingers stopped tapping on his game and he turned to Mia, a smile on his face.

"I've been up for a while now. I didn't think I'd see you, though."

"My mom's with Kevin," Mia said. She slowly approached the bed and sat down beside Mike, careful not to hurt him, "How are you feeling?"

"Have you ever been hit by a truck?" Mike asked and Mia shook her head. He chuckled slightly, "Well, I don't recommend it."

"Do you need anything? Some ice? Painkillers…?"

"I'm fine, thanks. How's Kevin? I heard he was awake."

Mia nodded her head slowly, "Yeah…"

"He was pretty brave in there, you know. I mean, you could tell he was hurting, but he kept it hidden. He was strong."

Mia blinked back tears, "What happened in there?"

"Do you really want to know?" Mike asked.

"I'd rather hear it from you than anyone else," she answered. "I'd start crying like a baby if Kevin told me. He just stuck to the basics."

Mike gently took Mia's hand, "We were tied up and in cages when I first woke up. I realised pretty quickly there was no way out. Then the Nighlok took us… as we woke up. Moogers collected us, carrying our cages out of the prison…"

"You were tied up in cages in a prison?"

"Like I said, there was no way out," Mike nodded. "The Moogers took us to another room where the Nighlok really beat us up: fists, kicks, burns… you name it. Then he marked us."

"Your elements," Mia whispered as Mike unravelled his bandage and showed her where the Nighlok had written _Forest_ into his arm. Mia winced and touched her own arm as she looked at the scar. It didn't look like it was ever going to heal. She looked back up at Mike.

"He wanted to know who we were, so he wrote our elements down. We all have one. Jayden was luckiest, his element's only four letters. The others have five. I have…"

"Six…"

Mike shrugged his shoulders, "It ends with a 'T': two quick swipes. By that time I barely felt it."

"Did it hurt?"

"Like I said…"

"Mike, I want the truth."

Mike lowered his head and sighed, "Like a bitch. And the more we struggled, the more he made it hurt. From what I saw, Jayden and Kevin took it like champs. Antonio struggled at first but just kind of… gave up. I struggled a lot… so did Emily."

"What happened after?"

"He tossed us aside," Mike said, "He left us in our prison, still in the cages. That's when Emily came through."

"She wasn't with you?"

"No, she was," Mike nodded his head, "I meant… she used that trick Dustin taught her: symbol power without the Samuraizer. She made herself a sharp rock and cut her ropes. She then passed it around and we all used it to get ourselves untied."

"But you were still in cages…"

"It still felt good to move," Mike said. Now he started to tear, "When the Nighlok came to check up on us he saw the ropes had been cut. He found the rock and figured out it was Emily who had done it. I tried to cover for her. So did Jay, but the Nighlok just… he knew. He knelt down in front of her while the Moogers grabbed us. They held us still, not that we really had the energy to fight. He forced her to make more rocks, which he used to throw at us. Em hated it. She felt really bad. When it was over and the Nighlok was gone, Jayden decided we had to get out. Emily was too tired so he had Kevin make a lock pick. He got my cage open and I got Emily and Jayden's. But the Nighlok came back and he took us all. The Moogers started beating up Jayden and Antonio… it was brutal. They tied me down to a chair and would beat me up too… but not as badly, and only when I screamed. The Nighlok toyed with Emily. He would beat her up too and he would hold her and whisper something. He forced me to watch it all. Then he would let her go and grab her again."

"And Kevin?" Mia almost didn't want to hear the answer, but she had to ask.

"The Moogers did a number on him," Mike said, "They hurt him pretty bad and then decided he would be tortured another way. They basically drowned him… over and over again. They tied him up so he couldn't defend himself. He was basically just… he was helpless."

Mike saw Mia was trying not to cry and it hurt him. It hurt him to tell her what he knew she didn't want to hear. He sat up a little more in his bed and pulled her in for a hug.

"Everything's okay," he told her. "We're out and it's thanks to the parents, Serena, and you. We'll be back to normal in no time."

"I shouldn't have…"

"Lost your Samuraizer?" Mike finished for her, "That was probably a no-no, but you couldn't help it. It's not your fault the Nighlok was a douchebag. No one's blaming you."

Mia should have felt better hearing that, but she couldn't. She just pulled away from Mike and forced herself to smile.

"Pizza for dinner?" she offered. "From wherever you want. I'll pick it up."

"Mia…"

"I insist."

"Now I'll have to think," Mike smirked and tapped his chin, "So many places to choose from…"

"I'll come back," Mia chuckled, "While you think, I want to see how Emy's doing."


	201. Jayden's Guilt

There wasn't much for Antonio or Jayden to do. Mentor had set up a TV in their room, hoping it would keep them entertained and in bed. It seemed to work for Antonio, but Jayden was too caught up in his own thoughts and his own worries to laugh at the cartoons on TV.

When a commercial came on, Jayden asked Antonio to pause. The gold Ranger did as he was told and focused on Jayden.

"You're my best friend," Jayden said. Antonio smiled and nodded his head.

"I know. You're my best friend too…"

"I mean it. No matter what happens we're friends, right?"

"Of course…"

"Like… no matter what?"

"Jayden, you're not dying are you?" Antonio smirked, "I know it hurts but Mentor says we'll get better."

"Promise you'll remember something."

"Okay."

"This is real. What you and I have… what we all have as a team: it's real. Nothing and no one will ever change that."

"I know," Antonio smiled. "You're like… my brother, I guess. It sounds weird when you consider how I felt… but it's true. We'll always be best friends, Jayden, no matter what."

Jayden nodded his head, "I just wanted to make sure. No matter what?"

"No matter what."

-Samurai-

Mia walked past Serena in the common room as she made her way to Serena's room. Mia knew that, like herself, Serena would only leave her room when Emily was sleeping. She didn't want to wake Emily, but she did have to see her, just to see for herself that she was okay.

She knocked on the door but didn't hear an answer. She walked in and saw Ellie was sitting at Serena's desk working on something. Mia didn't care to see what. She turned to the bed and looked to Emily.

"She's sleeping," she heard Ellie say to her.

Mia nodded her head, "Do you mind if…?"

Ellie got up, "Serena told me she'd give me the phone when she was done talking with her father. I'll go see if that's now."

"Thanks," Mia whispered. She took a seat on the bed as Ellie walked out of the room. Seeing her friends so severely injured was hard and impossible to do so without crying. She had shed tears with Mike, but found more streaming down her cheeks now. She closed her eyes and lowered her head.

"I'm sorry, Emy."

"What did you do?"

Mia furrowed her brow and looked up. Emily was just waking up.

"It's scary how you do that," Mia forced a laugh. Emily wasn't so easily distracted.

"What did you do?" she asked again.

"You went after my Samuraizer. If I hadn't of lost it…"

"The Nighlok would still be out there," Emily said, "because we never would have gone after him."

"Emily…"

"He's gone now," Emily smiled, "And he did less damage than he could have if he were still around."

"You really think that?"

Emily nodded her head, "Imagine if we hadn't challenged him on our terms. He was a smart Nighlok. He would have figured out a way to really ruin the city."

"Still," Mia sighed, "This shouldn't have happened."

"It's fine… it only hurts when I…"

"Breathe?" Mia interrupted. Emily shot her a surprised look, telling Mia she was right. The pink Ranger nodded, "I can see it on your face."

"I'll get better. We'll all get better."

"It might take weeks. Months, maybe."

"But not nine…" Emily whispered. Mia leaned in a little closer.

"Excuse me?"

"It's just something the Nighlok said."

"Mike mentioned something about that," Mia nodded. "He said the Nighlok kept whispering to you…"

"He didn't say much…"

"What did he say?"

"He just… he talked about Serena and Terran."

"Why?"

"He found it interesting," Emily shrugged his shoulders, "They're living proof humans can give birth to Nighloks."

"I hate to say it, Emy, but Serena and Terran would probably have been dead without your mother's interference. I doubt humans can actually…"

"Would a Nighlok really care?" Emily asked. "He would still try and try until it worked, right?"

"What do you mean he would try and… Emily, what did the Nighlok say?"

"That it was too bad Terran got away."

"Emily…"

"That a generation of Nighlok Samurai would help Xandred."

"Emy…"

"It's not like he did anything… Besides, it's like you said, Serena and Terran would likely be dead so at least there would have been an escape."

"Say it, Emily."

"He said he would do it to you too…"

"I wasn't there. What did he say?"

"He wanted a Samurai kid…"

Mia clenched her fists, "He didn't suffer enough before he died. I should have hurt him a little more. I should have…"

"I'm fine, Mia. I was scared but Serena told me you killed him. That's the end of that. Nothing happened and we're going to get better. It'll be like it never happened."

Mia knew that wasn't true but she nodded her head. She crawled up further into the bed and laid down beside Emily.

"Wanna hear a funny story?"

Emily nodded her head and smiled, "Always."

"When I was thirteen…"

-Samurai-

Jayden had never been a big fan of television. He understood its entertainment value. Given how often Antonio would chuckle he knew it was serving its purpose, but he usually had something better to do than sit and watch TV.

Mentor had forbidden him from getting out of bed, but there was always something Jayden could do that was Samurai related. He kept a notebook by his bed and so he was practicing many different symbols. First with his pen, then he got a thought.

Had it not been for Kevin and Emily, Jayden was almost certain he and the others would have been completely helpless. They hadn't accomplished much, but there was always a little bit of hope. Hope that they could come up with a symbol that would get them out.

And from what he heard when he asked Mentor how they had gotten home, Mia had tapped into her inner strength and she had opened up a portal sans Samuraizer.

Almost everyone could do it but him. Half his team had figured it out. But he was leader, he was supposed to be the strongest.

And yet, he had been forced to rely on them. He couldn't let that happen again.

He traced a symbol with his hand but nothing happened. He tried again and nothing happened. He tried so many times, Antonio finally had to ask: "You know, it works better with pen and paper, right?"

"How do they do it?"

"They were taught."

"You heard Mentor; Mia figured it out as well. She managed to open up that portal. She was never taught."

"She was scared for Kevin and probably had a lack of sleep. She's a deadly weapon and she was probably desperate. You know, mothers can lift cars to rescue their children."

"Lifting a car and using symbol power without a Samuraizer is completely different."

"Yahuh," Antonio rolled his eyes, "The way I see it, it's possible, we just don't know how to do it until we stop thinking about it… or really, really focus. Mom's probably not thinking _'there's no way I can lift that'._ She's likely thinking _'I've got to get that car off my baby'._"

"So?"

"Don't be thick, Jayden. We all have the power to use our symbols in any way we want. We just… don't know how. I'm sure when you need to, you'll figure out how to do it."

"I needed to back there," Jayden sighed. "I should have been able to help you guys. Kevin and Emily shouldn't have needed to tire themselves out. I could have burned the ropes or the Moogers or…"

"Jay, we're out…"

"I need to do better," Jayden shook his head, "What if Kevin and Emily hadn't been there? Or what if something had happened and they were gone? Where would we have been?"

"Savage Mia would have turned up sooner," Antonio said jokingly, "Mia minus Kevin and Emily equals torturous death to whoever thought it would be fun to hurt her fiancé and little sister."

"I just…"

"Jayden, shut up. Stop worrying about it. You did your job and we all got out. Part of being a good leader is building a team that can take care of itself. Do you really want us to rely on you all the time?"

"I guess not."

"Good. Now, seriously, shut up. My favourite show is on next."

-Samurai-

Mia stayed and talked with Emily until she fell asleep. She carefully uncurled Emily from her arms and slipped out of the room, hoping to go to the common room for a little time away from the injured.

When she made it, she saw Serena sitting on her stool. She took a seat next to the Earth Samurai and forced a smile.

"You were talking to your dad earlier?"

"Checking up on Terran," Serena nodded, "And seeing how dad was coping."

"Everything's fine?"

"Terran's quieter than both me and Emily," Serena chuckled, "Dad's really happy."

Serena forced a smile for Mia until they both realised they were faking. This caused a genuine chuckle.

"So do you hate yourself, or are you just so worried you can't be happy?" Mia asked.

"A bit of both. If I had never gone out to find Dayu you never would have followed and neither of us would have…"

"Lost our Samuraizers?" Mia finished for Serena. She nodded her head, "I feel guilty about that too."

"It must be hard for you," Serena tugged on a loose thread on her stool, "I know how much you care about all of them."

"You're related to almost half of them," Mia said, "Emily's actually your sister and Mike's basically your brother. You and Antonio are close and…"

"We were both worried, how about that?"

"Equally worried," Mia nodded her head. She then glanced up at the clock, "I promised Mike a pizza dinner… I should go ask him where he wants me to pick one up. Want to come?"

"Why not," Serena shrugged, "I might as well get out of this house as often as I can. Between Emily and Terran, I might never see the light of day again."

"Any idea when he's coming home?" Mia asked, "I kind of miss him waking me up in the middle of the night. It's the only time I can hear a midnight scream and not wonder who's been killed."

"Dad's going to drive up in a few days and we'll switch mom for Terran. I kind of want to give the guys a little more time to recover, especially Emy and Mike. I don't want to be running after the three of them."

"Do you miss him?"

"Do birds fly?"

Mia chuckled and wrapped her arm around Serena, "He'll be home before you know it. Until then, we eat pizza."

"Sounds like a plan to me."


	202. The Parents Say Goodbye

The days seemed to pass by slowly in the Shiba House. With five patients to tend to, they were long days with very little sleep. Not to mention once the weekend ended Serena had to return to work. And Master Xandred had decided he would start attacking the city again.

Fortunately, the former Rangers were prepared, much to the surprise of the Nighlok and Xandred when they got the opportunity to report back. The parents knew this was a big risk for them to take. Stepping out into the light put them and their families in danger, but there really was no other choice. The current Samurai couldn't fight, and none of the parents wanted to watch their children run into battle, healthy or not.

Serena hummed happily on the way home from work. Her days were going well now that the principal had stepped in once. Things in the school had calmed quite a bit. She knew it wouldn't be long before the students were brave enough to test the principal's limits again, and she would really have to step up, but for now she was enjoying the peace.

And things were well with Mitch. With Izzy's help his routine was improving every day and they seemed to be getting friendlier and friendlier. Serena knew this was good for Mitch. Having someone else to talk to at school would really help him gain the confidence he needed. He still leaned on Serena quite a bit, but one friend was better than none. One friend was a step in the right direction.

Her relationship with James was also getting better. It was actually a relationship. They were friendly in the halls, and Serena heard rumours from the students, but until they were a little more serious, they weren't going to do anything to make their relationship officially publicly known. But that didn't stop them from seeing each other after hours. With Terran at her parents' farm and Emily and the Samurai getting better, Serena had the free time.

And life got better for her when she walked into the Shiba Yard and saw a familiar truck. She rushed up and glanced in the window, peeking into the back where a car seat was installed. She enjoyed her free time, but there was something she enjoyed even more.

She burst through the doors and bolted to the common room. She saw her father but continued to look around until she saw Terran. She hurried over to him, scooped him out of Emily's arms and hugged him tight (gently, he was still a baby, but tight). To Serena, he had grown considerably. She felt like she had missed out on his entire life. She kissed his little nose and cuddled him happily.

Jack shook his head, chuckled, and rolled his eyes. He turned to Ellie, "Now I know how Serena felt when she first realised we were dating."

"And she wasn't the only girl in daddy's life?" Ellie smirked. She turned to the other Samurai, "She was not happy with me for quite a while."

Jack walked up to his daughter and placed his hand on her back, "Hello, Serena."

Serena smiled. She held Terran in one arm and wrapped the other around her father, "Hi, dad. Thanks for looking after him."

"I could take him for another week…"

"I've got it now," Serena shook her head. Her father snapped his fingers teasingly. He then placed his hand softly on Terran's head, "Well, grandson, this is goodbye for now."

"You're going?" Emily looked up sadly. Ellie slowly nodded her head.

"Serena's more than capable of taking up your responsibilities while you recover, and your father and I still have a little work to do in our relationship. If I miss another session with the therapist we might end up taking a few steps back."

Serena hugged her father again and passed Terran over for a proper goodbye while she hugged her mother. Things were still a little unsteady between them and Serena was sure marriage counselling would turn into family counselling once she and Emily went home, but Ellie was and always would be her mother.

"Thanks for coming down. We couldn't have done it without you."

Ellie smiled and then took Terran from Jack so she could say goodbye to her grandson.

Noa watched sadly and knew it was time for her to leave as well. There was no real reason for her to stick around anymore. Mia was fully capable of being the pink Ranger, and the sooner she disappeared into the shadows, out of sight from the Nighlok, the less danger she would put herself in. She wrapped her arm around Mia.

"I expect an invite to the wedding…"

"Of course, mom," Mia smiled and leaned into her mother, "I guess you're going to?"

"Yep," Noa nodded her head, "This is goodbye for me."

"It was nice meeting you," Kevin smiled to his mother in-law from his seat on the stool. She smiled back and then wrapped her arms around him gently in a hug. As she did, she whispered in his ear, "Take care of her."

"I promise," Kevin replied. Noa gave him a light pat on the back and then picked up her suitcase. She had never really unpacked it, never knowing how long her stay would be.

David gave his son a pat on the shoulder. Mike winced but looked up to his father with a smile.

"Don't tell me…"

"Your mother's probably worried sick," David said, "Someone's got to go home and tell her everything's fine. You stay safe, son. Keep up with your training."

"Of course," Mike nodded and then his father gave him a tight hug. It hurt, but Mike knew this would be the last time he saw his father until after he and the others stopped the Nighlok. So he held on tight and refused to let go.

Patrick looked down to Kevin, "I'm proud of you… but don't go throwing yourself into Nighlok's traps anymore. There are only so many times help will come before you're truly on your own."

"We'll try not to," Kevin chuckled. He actually managed to stand up, though he was a little shaky, and he pulled his father in for a hug, "Tell mom I miss her."

The goodbyes were soon wrapped up. The Rangers weren't completely back to form but the parents were confident Serena and Mia could manage on their own until they were. They weren't happy to be leaving, but things needed to go back to normal.

They all stepped outside, but before breaking off to go to their own cars, they stopped. The four former Samurai turned around and stared at the house.

"It felt good being back," David smiled. "I miss the spandex."

"I don't know," Patrick shook his head, "I always felt kind of exposed."

"Boys," Noa and Ellie chuckled and exchanged looks. Patrick turned to them.

"Hey, you two can't complain. You had skirts."

Jack watched for a moment and then he started chuckling to himself. He continued to laugh until the playful bickering between the Samurai stopped and they all turned to him.

"What's so funny?" Ellie asked.

"I just realised something," he said. He pointed around the group, "In a way, we're all related now. Or will be, after the weddings."

Ellie and David exchanged looks and Patrick and Noa did the same.

"I guess we are," David nodded his head, "That's kind of weird. We're going to be in-laws, Elle."

"We're all going to be seeing a lot more of each other," Patrick said, "Mia and Kevin, and Mike and Emily may be getting married, but Kevin and Mike, and Mia and Emily do seem rather close."

"And Kevin and Emily, and Mike and Mia," Noa pointed out.

"Not to mention Jayden and Antonio just blend right into the group," Ellie smirked. "I don't think we were ever _that_ close."

"Well, you all better start," Jack smirked, "We're all about to become one very large family."

"I don't have anywhere to be," Noa said, "Does anyone was to stop in town for coffee?"

"Sounds good," Patrick nodded his head and the others all followed. They got into their respective cars and drove off, following each other into the city.

-Samurai-

Inside the Shiba House, the Rangers were just noticing how empty the house felt now that their parents were all gone. There was a loud silence and an eerie feeling of loneliness.

"And then there were eight," Antonio whispered. He was slapped by Mike.

"Dude, it's creepy enough without the countdown."

"It felt nice seeing them again," Mia said. "A full year away from my family was too much."

"I know I always have family around," Emily smiled and looked to Serena, who was too distracted playing with Terran to notice anything, "but it was nice finally having them around and not hearing anyone fight. Right, Serena?"

"Just give me a minute, and then I'll help you," was Serena's answer. Emily rolled her eyes and then turned to the other Samurai.

"Knowing Serena, she's not going to let him go for a few days. She'll forget we even exist. She once went away to camp for a week and when she came back she told me how much she missed me. She didn't leave my side for a week after that."

Serena continued to play with Terran, "Did you have a good time with grandpa? Did Terran have fun on the farm? Yes, you did! You had so much fun!"

"Baby deprivation," Antonio chuckled, "I think it's about to get extremely cute and disgusting in here."

"There's room in the kitchen," Kevin smirked, "We could all walk away and she would never even notice."

"On the count of three," Mike whispered and slowly pushed himself up. He held his hand out to Emily so they could support each other as they walked. Mia made her way over to Kevin so he could lean on her, and Mentor Ji helped Jayden and Antonio to their feet. Mike whispered the count and they all walked out of the room.

Serena was still so wrapped up with Terran she had no idea they left until Terran started falling asleep on her and she knew playtime was done. She hugged his close to her chest and looked around the deserted room.

"Guys?" she called softly so she wouldn't wake Terran. "Um… where did you all go?"


	203. Jayden's Choice

Jayden looked around the empty street. He and the other Samurai were in the fight for their lives against Xandred's latest monster and the Nighlok was tearing up the city. Buildings were either burning or crumbling, street lights had been taking down, there was debris littered everywhere. Hundreds of civilians had been killed and buried by the debris.

Jayden stumbled as he climbed over the mess on the streets, looking for any sign of life from, well, anyone. The Nighlok and Jayden's final attacks had collided and they had caused a huge blast of energy. After that, time had slowed down for the red Ranger. His friends had seen that the blast was coming back on him and they had jumped in the way, like they always did, because they never learned.

"Kevin!" he screamed and hoped he would hear something from the blue Ranger. Kevin was the strongest. If he didn't survive, none of them could.

Suddenly, Jayden felt a surge of energy hit the Earth and he looked back to see a huge gap opening up between the debris. He knew what this meant. Master Xandred finally had enough water and power to flood the Earth.

The Sanzu Water broke through the gap and instantly began to flood the streets. Jayden felt it burning his legs but he still wouldn't give up. As the water levels rose, things started coming up to the surface.

But Jayden went under. He felt like he was diving into fire but he had to find his friends. If there was a chance they were still alive, even just one of them.

Just as he was about to run out of breath he saw Mike with his leg pinned between a fallen cement piece from a building and a rock. Jayden swam over, pulled Mike free, and then rose to the surface. By now, the buildings that had been on fire had been put out, and the water had risen so it was also reaching the top of the buildings. Jayden got Mike onto the roof and then pulled himself up.

As soon as he was on his feet, he was pushed back into the water.

"You did this!" Mike screamed. He dove into the water and swam under. Jayden went under as well as watched as Mike tried to swim to the bottom, but when he ran out of air he came back up. He did this six times, Jayden counted, before he gave up. He swam back to the building, pulled himself onto the roof, and then sunk to his knees.

Jayden followed him. He knew down behind the green Ranger and put a hand on his back. Mike pushed Jayden away.

"Don't touch me, you lying son of a bitch!"

"Mike…"

"If anyone should have died, it should have been you!"

"I'm sorry…"

Mike growled and then jumped up to his feet. Many things were coming up to the surface of the water; Mike could only hope there was something good. He walked to the edge of the building and sucked in as much air as possible. Then he let it all out.

"EMILY! ANTONIO! MIA! KEVIN!"

Jayden looked down at his hands.

_"Aren't you being a little hard on her? Jayden, I think she's really trying."_

_"People who try mean nothing. Do it, or don't bother."_

_"Jayden…"_

_"I'm going to bed. You should do the same. You're no good to this team if you're tired, and we're already down one Samurai."_

_"Down one Samurai? I thought we were a team of five."_

_"We're supposed to be."_

_"Last I counted, we were five."_

_"Emily's not the yellow Ranger."_

_"Jayden…"_

_"Goodnight, Kevin,"_

Kevin had always been the most like Jayden. Dedicated, passionate, nothing stopped him from doing what he had been trained to do. And while Jayden had softened up to his team, Kevin had always been a lot more open. He was strong, and sometimes a huge pain in the ass, but he loved his team. Jayden knew that made him a great Ranger. Better than himself.

_"He's half a monster. He's dangerous, insane and slightly creepy, yes, but we'll be no better than him if we kill him."_

_"We'll be half better. He's still a Nighlok."_

_"Half Nighlok. His other half is human."_

Mia had always been ready to try. She was a ruthless killer when it came to the Nighlok, especially when her friends were in danger, but she was always one of the most merciful people Jayden ever knew. She was always willing to give people, and Nighlok if she thought they deserved it, a second chance. While it hadn't quite paid off with the Nighlok, it worked wonders in the Shiba House, keeping the team together. Mia did a better job at keeping them together as family than Jayden ever did.

_"If you don't kill him then I will."_

_"You're not a murderer, Em."_

_"You don't get it…"_

_"You're mad. You don't know what happened to Serena and you're mad. You need someone to take it out on. You don't want to hurt your friends and you can't do anything about the fact that Serena's probably dead. You think the only thing you can do to make things right is kill Dekker."_

_"I…"_

_"You said it yourself, you blame him. But whatever he did… you can't let that change you. If you really want to kill him, I'll have Mentor make a training dummy in his likeness and you can murder that to your little heart's content. But let me deal with Dekker, okay?"_

_"If he hurt her…"_

_"I'll take care of that."_

Little Emily. Even in her worst moments she was still one of the sweetest and innocent people Jayden had ever met. She had been facing danger and death and still her view of the world was as optimistic as it could be. She had her low points, but she always bounced back and she was always there to remind the Rangers what they were fighting for, whether she knew she was doing it or not. She wasn't a natural born leader but she did possess some leadership skills that Jayden seemed to lack. He couldn't bring the team back up from a low. Emily was better.

_"Just stay away from me and keep your slimy fish away from my girlfriend!"_

_"It was just a joke… I… I didn't… I didn't mean to offend anyone… I was just…"_

_"Having fun. We know."_

Antonio was always joking around. If it wasn't Emily who was cheering up the team it was Antonio. He loved to mess around, he loved to have fun, and he didn't care what other people thought. But the thing Jayden really admired most about Antonio was how much he truly cared for his friends. He would goof off, he would tease and taunt, but he never wanted to hurt them. It was all in good fun. Jayden could never do that. He didn't know how to play around and have fun with his friends. Antonio was better than Jayden.

"Shut up! You hurt us all, Jayden. I'm scared of you and I'm scared of what's going to happen now that we're falling apart. I don't worry about these things… not normally. You haven't done anything to fix your mistakes. How can we learn to trust you again?"

"I'm really sorry, Mike. I promise…"

"Don't lie to me."

Possibly the biggest screw up, Mike was still better than Jayden. He never meant to hurt his team, like Antonio, but he always found a way to fix things, and he would defend his friends until the very end. Jayden long ago learned never to get between Mike and something he loved. Mike could protect the people he loved, and would sacrifice himself long before he let any harm come to his friends. This made him a better Ranger than Jayden.

And that made them all better. If anyone deserved to die it was Jayden, not them.

-Samurai-

Jayden woke with a start. He was breathing heavily as he looked around his room. Antonio was sleeping in his bed across the room and everything was as Jayden had left it. No Nighlok, no floods, no death.

Jayden slowly lowered himself back into bed, feeling the pain of his injuries. They were recovering, but the sudden movement had caused them some pain.

He had been having these nightmares since his rescue. He knew the others didn't blame him, but they didn't know so they couldn't. At this point, only he could blame himself. He hated this burden he had to carry. He hated it a lot.

When he realised there was no going back to sleep he pushed himself out of bed and limped to the door. He leaned against the walls in the hallway and made his way to the common room. He was surprised to see there was a light on, but the surprise disappeared when he saw it was just Serena feeding Terran.

She looked up when she saw him coming, "Why aren't you in bed?"

"Nightmares," Jayden took his seat.

"About?"

"You know."

Serena shook her head, "I'm not a mind reader."

"I mean, you know. You know my secret."

Serena's face darkened slightly. She pulled the bottle away from Terran and lifted him up to burp. While she gently tapped his back she looked to Jayden, "That. Have you ever thought of, you know, letting them in on it?"

Jayden shook his head, "Mentor Ji insists…"

"Mentor's not team leader, you are."

"It's not just them I have to protect, though," Jayden sighed. "I have to do this carefully."

"I hate to say it then, Jay, but until they know, they're going to do what they were trained to do. They're going to keep protecting you."

"They shouldn't have to…"

"I don't like it either," Serena shrugged. "Trust me; there are days where I really, really want to tell them. But I can't."

"You mean you won't…"

"If I tell them, they'll lose trust in you and maybe me. This team needs to stick together. The last thing I want to see is one of them getting hurt because of a lie… but it's kind of a lose-lose situation. If you don't tell them, they'll keep taking hits for you and they'll get hurt because of a lie. If you do tell them, they won't trust you and they might get hurt because you lied."

"So, I'm screwed?"

"Yep," Serena nodded. "Sorry, Jay. That's the way it works when you lie."

"I'm going to have these nightmares for a while, then, aren't I?"

Serena sighed, "If it helps, they also protect you because they're your friends."

"When that Nighlok kidnapped us, they tried to convince me to leave," Jayden said. "They were going to find a way for me to escape while they stayed behind and kept the Nighlok distracted. If they knew…"

"If they knew, they probably wouldn't have done it. They would have worked on a way to all get out."

"Is there anything I can do?" Jayden asked.

Serena shook her head, "Nope. And I don't want you to do anything about it. I like you, Jay, I really do, but I'm not going to make lying easier for you. Not when that lie could end up getting my sister killed."

"But you know why I'm lying, right? You understand…"

"But I also haven't been taking hits for you, Jayden. I don't put my life in danger for you. They do."

"Didn't you say they do it because we're friends?"

"I said they also do it because they're your friends. That's not the only reason and you know it."

"You're going to make me live with the nightmares, aren't you?"

"I don't control your nightmares," Serena shook her head. Terran was falling back to sleep so she got up and headed for her bedroom, "You're forcing yourself to live with this. You just have to decide if it's worth it."

"I love them, Serena. I love all of you."

"I know…"

"What would you do?"

"Fortunately I've never been in that position."

"You had Emily become the yellow Ranger for you."

"She was always meant to be the yellow Ranger. Had I not gotten sick, I would have taken her place. I would have taken hits for her. And even though I know this is her responsibility, it still makes me sick when I know she's hurt. I still feel bad."

"Imagine how I feel, then."

"I can't," Serena said. "I honestly can't, Jayden. But it's your fault you feel this way, that's why you have to live with it."

"I guess you're right."

"Goodnight, Jayden."

Jayden nodded and then dropped his head in his hands. He hated this, he hated it a lot. But Serena was right. This web of lies he weaved was all his own and he was going to have to live with the choice he made. He just hoped it was the right one.


	204. Protection Sucks

There was too much at stake to tell his friends his secret, so Jayden decided to keep it just that.

But he would never put them in danger. He would never ask them to jump in harm's way for him. For that to happen, he needed to be better; stronger. He needed to be the best Samurai that ever existed.

And he would start by learning to use his powers without his Samuraizer.

Mia and Serena were out of the house fighting a Nighlok. Master Xandred seemed to know the Ranger were weakened and he was doing all he could to take them out, but Mia and Serena never gave up. Nighlok after Nighlok attacked the city and they were out there, fighting and winning. They had a lot at stake and couldn't … no, wouldn't give up. They came home battered and bruised, but were always ready for a round two.

Jayden needed to be like that. He needed to have that strength; the strength to look out for his team at all times. He couldn't ever give up; not if he wanted to keep them all safe. He would die before he let any of them get hurt again.

With Mia and Serena out of the house, and Mentor Ji keeping a close eye on the battle, and the other Rangers resting in their rooms (as it was late in the night), Jayden managed to sneak into the dojo. He had been practicing for as long as Serena and Mia had been out, which he was sure was hours.

He held his hand up in the air but struggled to keep himself from falling over. He had gotten a few strokes, but never a completed symbol. He would fall to the ground, almost unconscious whenever he got close. Had he not seen Mia, Kevin, and Emily do this before, he would have believed it wasn't possible.

But they seemed to possess a strength he lacked. He knew it was possible, but he was starting to believe it was only possible for a certain few. Were Mia, Kevin, and Emily special? Were they hiding secrets like him?

He traced a few strokes then hit the ground breathless. He rolled onto his back and desperately sucked in air, trying to catch his breath. It was then he heard the door slide open. He turned his head to the side and saw Kevin, Antonio, Mike, and Emily were out of bed and watching him.

Antonio shook his head, "I told you guys. He's obsessed."

"What exactly are you trying to do, Jayden?" Mike asked. He walked over to the red Ranger and knelt down. "If you're trying to get yourself killed, you're doing a good job, but can it wait until after you've sealed away Xandred?"

Jayden pounded his fists into the floor and jumped to his feet. He pushed Mike out of his way and walked over to Kevin.

"How do you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Don't be a moron," Jayden shouted, "Show me how you do it."

"Symbols," Antonio whispered to Kevin, "He's been at it for days now. The entire time we've been recovering."

"I don't know how to teach people," Kevin shrugged his shoulders, "I just know how to do it…"

"How? That's what I'm asking!"

"You just… you focus," Kevin said. "Connect with your element and…"

"I've been trying!" Jayden shouted. He then turned to Emily. Kevin didn't seem like he would budge on the matter, but he could get Emily to help him. She couldn't refuse; he wouldn't let her. "Show me."

"Not now," Emily shook her head, "It'll slow down my recovery and I'm almost good enough to fight…"

"Do it," Jayden growled. He stood over Emily and glared down at her, "Now."

"Jay," Antonio called and hoped his best friend would listen to him, "It's too draining to do now…"

"I need to learn," Jayden shouted. He turned back to Emily, "Where's your Samuraizer?"

"You can't use it," Emily furrowed her brow. Jayden shot her another look. She pointed over her shoulder, "Serena took it so she could morph. Hers is in my room."

"Jayden, I can try to teach you once Mentor gives us the okay to train again," Kevin said, stepping between Jayden and Emily. "I can't promise results but…"

"Show me how you do it. I'll figure it out on my own," Jayden demanded but Kevin shook his head. Jayden whipped out his Samuraizer. He pointed it at Mike, "Show me or I'll light him up. I swear I'll do it."

"Dude!" Mike shouted, holding his hands up, "What the hell?"

Jayden traced the first stroke to show he wasn't kidding. Both Emily and Kevin possessed the powers needed to put out his fire, and they were the only two to do so. Jayden clearly wasn't thinking straight but knew what he wanted and knew how to get it.

Kevin was willing to push Jayden's limits a little further, but Emily wasn't. She quickly traced a symbol and a stone appeared, smacking Jayden in the chest and knocking him off his feet and the air out of his lungs. For the second time Jayden found himself out of breath on the floor.

Emily slumped slightly and Kevin caught her, holding her upright as she glared at Jayden. Antonio knelt down next to his best friend to make sure he was okay.

"Hopefully that knocked some sense back into you," he said.

"I want to talk to him," the Samurai heard a voice and saw Serena and Mia were home and neither looked happy. Serena looked around the room at the Samurai, "Alone."

"C'mon, guys," Mia gestured for the others to follow her out of the dojo, "Back to bed."

As the Rangers filed out, Serena walked up to Jayden. He was pushing himself up into a seated position while Serena knelt down in front of him. She pulled the collar of his shirt down and saw part of his chest where Emily had hit him was red.

"You promised you would protect them," she growled. Whipping out Emily's Samuraizer, Serena created an ice pack. She tossed it to Jayden, "You swore to me you would protect them with your life while you lied to them."

"I…"

"Threaten any of them again and I'll tell them the whole damn story!" Serena screamed. She saw Jayden's Samuraizer on the floor next to him and snatched it up. She tucked it in her pocket, "I'm keeping this."

"But…"

"You're dangerous, Jayden."

"I need to learn how to…"

"No, you don't," Serena shook her head. "Face it; this is not something you're going to learn overnight. And you've never going to learn it if you work this hard at it!"

"But…"

"Mia summoned up a portal not because she wanted to, though I'm sure she did. She did it because she had to. They only use their powers when they have to. It's the only time they have enough energy to do so."

"But…"

"Shut up, Jayden. The Samuraizer is confiscated until you calm yourself down and realise you don't have to be the best, " Serena stood up straight, "Besides, the more powerful you are, the more the Nighlok will come after you and the more the others will protect you. You're not doing anyone any favours."

"I…"

"You are going to bed," Serena pointed to the door and down the hallway, "Goodnight, Jayden."

Jayden did as he was told. He knew she was right and he had behaved poorly, but she didn't understand what it was like. He needed to do all he could to protect himself. He was an amazing Samurai already, but if he lost his Samuraizer, and there were no weapons around for him to use, he was screwed. All it took was one Nighlok to disarm him and he was a dead man walking.

Before he opened the door to his room he stopped and sighed loudly, "There's got to be another way…"

-Samurai-

"I'm fine," Emily whined from Mia and Kevin's bed, where everyone had gathered while Serena and Jayden spoke. Emily was exhausted after using her powers, but aside from that she felt perfectly fine. Still, the others fussed over her, just like they always did.

"Are you sure?" Mike asked, "You complain of headaches sometimes when you use your powers like that and you were hit kind hard in the head by the Nighlok…"

"Several times," Antonio nodded.

Emily rolled her eyes, "I'm fine… what's your name again?"

"Emily…"

"Emily?" Emily furrowed her brow, "Isn't that a girl's name? Well, whatever works, Emily."

Mike looked worriedly until he saw a smirk. He frowned and crossed his arms over his chest.

"That's not funny."

"You guys fuss too much. Now out of my room."

"Emily…"

"That time it actually was fun," Emily smirked. She fell back into the bed, "What's up with Jayden?"

Antonio took a seat next to her, "I think his ego took quite a hit with that Nighlok. He was next to…useless, for lack of a better word. You guys know how he is. He's always trying to protect us."

"I don't get why," Kevin said, "He's the red Ranger. He's the only one with the sealing power."

"It's not easy letting other people take hits for you," Mia said, looking around at the Samurai, "I still feel bad."

"That wasn't your fault," Mike assured her.

Mia shrugged her shoulders, "It doesn't have to be. It's still… well, my fault."

Emily rolled over onto her stomach and propped her head up in her hands, "I guess it's not Jayden's fault either. It's not like he volunteered to be the guy with the super power. And it sucks being protected all the time. Frustrating, even."

"Emily might have a point," Mike said. Emily looked up at him and smiled.

"Thank you, Hector."

Mike frowned, "Antonio, do me a favour and give her real brain damage, please."

Emily giggled, "I'll stop."

"So what do we do?" Kevin asked, getting back on topic, "Do we stop protecting Jayden? Or do we keep looking out for him, no matter what he says?"

"He is our friend," Antonio said, "I'd take hits for him whether he was the red Ranger or not."

"Same," Mike nodded, "but if it bothers him this much…"

"But we can't just stop looking out for him," Emily chipped in, "I know I said it sucked, but if we all stopped, what's Jayden going to think? That we don't care about him anymore? That he's on his own?"

"He's anything but," Mia said.

"Back to my question," Kevin sighed, "Do we protect him or do we stop?"

"What if we reminded him we cared?" Mia asked. "What if we let him know we're not just doing this because he's got the sealing symbol?"

"What are you proposing?" Antonio leaned forward, eager to hear Mia's suggestion.

"You guys are healed up enough for a day out, right?" Mia smirked. "Let's do what friends do. Let's have fun."

"If Xandred permits," Kevin said.

"I think Serena and I got our message across."

"What does Jayden like to do?" Mike asked. "Where would we take him? Does the man have any hobbies outside of sword training?"

"Laser tag!" Emily suggested with a big smile, remembering a commercial she saw on TV while recovering. "I've never been."

"Something Jayden would love," Kevin reminded her. Antonio shook his head.

"Jayden might like it," he said. "Who doesn't?"

"Worth a shot," Kevin shrugged and the others nodded their head. He then walked to the door and opened it, "Now get out, guys. I'm tired."

Emily crawled up into the bed, "But it's so big and comfy!"

Antonio fell back into the bed, let out a deep breath and nodded his head, "She's right. It's really comfortable here. I don't want to leave."

"Incoming!" Mike shouted and dove into the bed. Now that he had been told how comfortable it was, he had to try it out for himself. He crawled up to the top and got comfortable under the blankets, "Dudes, do you two have a special mattress?"

Mia turned to Kevin, trying to hold in a chuckle, "I don't think they're moving."

"But that's our bed," he said.

"There's enough space," Mike pointed to the other half. Because Mia and Kevin had pushed their beds together, there was more than enough room for all the Samurai to share. And given he and Emily were likely going to be cuddling the entire night and taking up less space than two people normally would, squeezing five Rangers into two double beds was going to be no problem.

Kevin shook his head. He looked to Mia, "Tell them to get out."

Mia smiled and watched as the Rangers got comfortable. Emily was already starting to fall asleep and she wasn't even under the blankets yet.

"One night wouldn't hurt. Besides, we are a team. Isn't this what teams do?"

"Sleep together? You remember Mike snores, right?"

Mia looked to Kevin, then over to her team, cuddled into her bed like tired children. Emily was curled up in her corner, passed out, and Mike and Antonio were already arguing over who got which pillow.

Kevin could almost see the motherly instincts leaking out of Mia as she tried to put an end to their argument by pulling out another pillow from beside the bed and then she tucked Emily in.

"She's asleep already."

Kevin shook his head, "She can be moved. And those two have feet."

"C'mon, Kevin. It's not like we'll be sleeping on opposite ends. There's enough room, we can ignore them."

"Our beds are so far away," Mike whined.

Kevin sighed loudly and gave in. He and Mia always had extra pillows, so he grabbed them and started lining them up down the middle of the bed. He glared at Mike and Antonio who were still awake to hear his instructions.

"I don't want even a finger crossing this barrier. Deal?"

"Deal," the boys nodded and settled in. Mia chuckled and crawled in on her side of the bed. Kevin joined her. She wrapped her arms around him.

"Deep down you love this."

"I only said yes to shut them up."

"You're a softie. They knew they could get away with it."

"We kinda did, dude."

"Condition two: silence!" Kevin told them. Mia rested her head against his chest and looked up at him. She pulled him down for a kiss.

"This is still our bed," she whispered, "We can do whatever we want."

Kevin smirked and kissed Mia again, this time with a little more passion. He opened one eye for a second and saw Mike and Antonio slowly slipping further and further under the blankets as they realised what was happening on the other side of the bed.

Mia smiled, "See, it's like they aren't even there."


	205. The Dumbasses

The venue for laser tag was glow in the dark, so the Rangers took extra caution to wear dark clothing. They didn't want to be seen or tagged. Because they were playing with other kids and teens from the city, they knew it wasn't likely they got the top score (though Mike was sure he would), so they made their own scores. Whoever got the highest score out of the six of them won for their team. If both players from the same team scored higher than all the rest, they would be treated to dinner by the rest of the Samurai.

They had split up into teams of two. Antonio and Jayden were one team, Mike and Emily were another, and Mia and Kevin were the last team.

Jayden had been somewhat excited when he had been told the Rangers were taking him out for a day of fun. He had apologized for his behaviour, but they told him they understood the pressure he was under. They just wanted him to know that they cared for him, and he didn't need to worry about them so much. As hard as he fought to protect them was how hard they fought for him.

It was a good feeling, but also a bad one. Jayden didn't want to see them get hurt. He loved them all, but it was worse now that he knew they cared so much.

_If they only knew, _he thought to himself as he ducked for cover behind a wall. Fortunately he was dressed from neck to toe in black, making him almost completely invisible. The vest he worn had a few small and very dim lights that flashed occasionally, especially when he was hit, making it possible to find him, but still very hard.

The vest was also quite large. The smaller kids had a hard time not blocking their sensors, making them a little harder to hit (occasionally an arm would block the laser from the sensor and the shot wouldn't count). But even though the vest fit Jayden and he had no reason to block his sensors for an advantage, he did have something most of the other kids didn't have. He had been training since before many of them were born. He would hear them coming no matter where they were, and he could sense an attack like it was nobody's business. Unless they teamed up on him, he usually tagged them before they tagged him.

Suddenly, he heard someone coming around the wall and into his hiding place. He held up his gun and waited patiently. As soon as the person stepped into view he fired, hitting them in the chest and activating the sensor.

"Jay!" he heard someone whispered and recognised the voice as belonging to Antonio, "You're not supposed to hit me! Whatever happened to one eye on your partner?"

"Sorry," Jayden shook his head and cleared his thoughts, "I was distracted."

"You're going to cost us the game," Antonio said, "How many people have you hit?"

"Quite a few, I think," Jayden answered.

"How many times have you been hit?"

"Once or twice. You?"

"More," Antonio said, "But I'm actually going out there and attacking! Why are you staying here?"

"I've got a lot on my mind."

"I'm sure Serena will give you back your Samuraizer soon," Antonio said, thinking that was what was bothering Jayden, "Just have fun. Live a little. We're here for…"

Antonio trailed off as his sensor lit up again, indicating he had been hit. He had no idea who had shot him, but it seemed Jayden had seen the laser. He pointed his gun up and shot. His first try hit his opponent's sensor.

"Kevin," Jayden whispered, "He and Mia got to the top."

"The top?" Antonio gulped, "They're going to take us all down from there. They have a bird's eye view!"

Jayden smirked. He grabbed Antonio's arm, "Come with me. They can't shoot what they can't see. We'll get up there and corner them."

"What about Mike and Emily? I haven't seen them since the game started."

"If we find them, we shoot," Jayden said.

-Samurai-

Serena hadn't been at the school during lunch. James had decided to take her off school ground to eat and to introduce her to a few of the other teachers in hopes that she would not only be able to talk to them about why she was in their school, but also to help her make a few friends. Like the students, most of the teachers hung out in groups. The English Teachers stuck together, the history teachers hung out together, math, science, gym, arts… they all had their cliques. And because Serena didn't belong in any of them, she had no easy way into the groups.

She had made a mental note of that when James pointed it out. It was no wonder the students behaved the way they did. The teachers, who were supposed to be role models, were treating each other poorly. Even James was guilty of it. He and the other coached would laugh at the other teachers who weren't as physically inclined as they were. The arts would clash with the sciences and both would mock the gym teachers' intelligence. They mostly did it when the students weren't looking, but their attitudes did leak into the classrooms.

And if the teachers could have cliques and be disrespectful, why should the students behave any differently.

Change was going to have to start at the top.

But first, Serena had to break up the fight occurring in the hallway. She set her bag on the floor as she returned from lunch and pushed her way through the crowd to get to the middle. She recognised one of the kids. He was on the football team and Serena remembered someone calling him Andrew. The other kid she didn't know personally, but she had seen him around school. He was Fred and he was, for lack of a better word, a nerd. But he wasn't the stereotypical nerd Serena was used to seeing. While he was smaller than most on the football team, he was still one of the bigger guys in school, and he was holding his own in the fight.

"Boys!" Serena shouted, hoping she wouldn't have to jump in. She could easily take them both down but she knew there had to be a better way.

Neither heard her. They kept swinging at each other. Serena decided instead to break up the crowd. The less of an audience there was, the less there was a chance someone would get hurt, especially if she did need to interfere.

"Anyone still standing in this hallway in five seconds will be sent to the principal's office for detention," she shouted. Fortunately, the principal was doing his job and he was disciplining any student that came him way, and his methods proved effective, at least temporarily. He still rarely left this office, but now Serena had one way to catch the students' attention.

Some of them did begin to clear out, but a large group stayed behind and Serena knew why. They didn't think she could punish them all. What they didn't know was that Serena had a good memory. She hadn't been at the school for long, but she had wandered the halls and heard enough gossip to know most names, especially of the repeat offenders.

And they were the same ones who pushed their luck with her. They were never as smart as they thought they were.

"She can't get us all," Serena heard one of them say and she searched the crowd for moving lips. She eyes fell on a brunette and she smirked.

"Think again, Ashley. I'm sure the janitor would love your help cleaning up the cafeteria after school."

"I… you…"

"And your boyfriend… Mark, was it?" Serena looked to the boy standing behind Ashley, "The blackboards seem like they need a good wash. Would you mind staying behind after class to clean them?"

Mark shook his head. Serena pointed down the hall.

"Then all of you, scoot!" she shouted. She wasn't sure if they were convinced she knew them, or if she had tapped into her "scary older sister voice" as Emily called it, but they all fled down to their lockers to get ready for when the bell rang and classes resumed.

Serena smirked to herself and then turned to the fight. The boys were still going strong but Andrew managed to get his knee up into Fred's stomach and then slammed him into the ground. Serena had seen enough. She was tempted to pull out Emily's Samuraizer, but decided she would try something else. As Fred got back to his feet and Andrew wound up a kick, which would really cause damage to Fred, if he wasn't already hurt, Serena jumped in the way, catching Andrew's foot. Andrew tried to pull his leg free, but Serena wouldn't let go. He was reduced to hopping on one leg.

Fred smirked, thinking he could use this to his advantage. He charged at Andrew, but Serena caught the back of his shirt and pulled him back. He fell onto his butt on the floor and looked up. Serena glared angrily.

"One more move and I'll make sure there's a spot for you with Howie. Wouldn't that be fun?"

Fred shook his head and jumped back to his feet, ready to run. Serena grabbed him again. He thought he could pull away, assuming that because he was bigger he was also stronger, but he couldn't break free unless he took his shirt off.

"Let go of my foot," Andrew demanded. Serena looked at him.

"If you're only going to use it to beat the living daylights out of your classmate, you don't need it."

"He flirted with my girlfriend!"

"So?"

"She's mine!"

"So? Did she flirt back?"

"No one flirts with my girl!"

"Then tell him to back off. Don't kick him."

"I did."

"Then ignore him. Your girlfriend should too. If not, she's not worth it," Serena dropped his leg and let go of Fred's shirt. The boys though they were free but Serena shook her head, "Office, now."

"He started it!" Fred whined.

"I saw you take a swing," Serena said, "Office. C'mon."

Serena grabbed the boys by the arms and dragged them off down the hall. As she did, she noticed a small group of teachers had been watching the entire fight and hadn't chosen to step in. She dropped the boys off in the office and approached the group.

"I could have used a little help…"

"We're teachers," the only man replied, "We just teach these kids. You were brought in to handle stuff like that."

"I… but…" Serena stammered. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"You handle the discipline," he told her. "We'll teach."

Serena blinked. Finally, after a few seconds, a response came to mind, "And how are you going to teach if you can't discipline?"

"We teach the smart kids," one of the woman replied, "The others are lost causes."

"The smart kids? What's smart?"

"The kids who get straight 'A's. The rest of these guys aren't going to amount to much. And it's a good thing, too. With the Power Rangers trashing the city, we'll need them to clean up this city's waste."

Another teacher pointed to one of the boys walking down the hall with his books hugged tightly to his chest. He was trying to make it through the crowd quickly, as if he was trying not to be seen. Serena had seen many kids doing this since she arrived. It was sad to say this was a normal thing to witness here.

"He's in my second period class. I don't know how many times I've given him an F because what he writes is… well illegible."

"So, he's got bad penmanship…"

"He can't even spell. My four year old spells better than he does."

"He…"

The male teacher rolled his eyes, "He's in my third period class. He's told me once he's dyslexic, like it makes a different. Society's just trying to make these kids feel good by giving them learning disorders instead of just calling them what they are."

Serena clenched her fists, "And what would they be?"

"Dumbasses. They aren't worth my time."

Serena growled and clenched her fists while the teachers laughed at the comment. The male teacher, however, noticed Serena wasn't laughing.

"C'mon," he nudged her gently, "We're just kidding around. I'm sure they're good for something."

"They would make excellent… no, that requires reading," one teacher laughed.

Serena had had it. She stormed off down the hall and scooped up her bag. There was nothing more she could do in this school. Not today.

She had to walk by the teachers as to get out of the school, and as she did but bumped shoulders with the male teacher (and she bumped him hard). He called her name and she turned around.

"What?" she practically shouted.

"What's wrong with you?"

"All the dumbasses in this school," Serena growled, "And I'm not talking about the students."

"Then who?"

"You, dumbass," and with that, Serena walked out the door, furious.

-Samurai-

"I told you," Mike grinned, holding up a cheap trophy which he had earned for coming in first at laser tag, "No one beats me."

"You beat a ten year old by two points," Kevin smirked teasingly, "That's nothing to be proud of."

"Hey, you all lost to a ten year old," Mike grinned, "And a twelve year old, and I'm pretty sure the kid who came in fourth was only eight."

"She was," Emily growled, "It was her birthday…"

"You sound angry," Mia chuckled. She opened the door to the Shiba House, letting everyone inside before her.

As Emily took off her jacket she nodded her head, "She kept tagging me! And she made up a game!"

"Hit the old lady," Mike giggled. He wrapped his arm around Emily's shoulders, "How does it feel being old like the rest of us?"

"Her brother asked me where my cane was!"

"Getting picked on by eight year olds?" Antonio chuckled.

"Shut up," Emily muttered and turned to Jayden, "Hopefully you had a good time."

Jayden nodded his head. He had to admit, at first it had been hard to let go and enjoy himself. He was so worried for his friends it was hard to enjoy his bonding time with them. But once he and Antonio were on their mission to trap Mia and Kevin, he was reminded that they were all just friends and they all cared for each other.

Laser tag had also reminded him that they were a team. While playing, Jayden learned he had amazing accuracy with a gun and could hit almost anything. Antonio, meanwhile, had figured out the best hiding places and how to get to and from each one without being seen. They worked together, using their strengths and covering for the other's weaknesses.

In a way, it translated over into his Samurai life. So what if he could master his symbols right away. Kevin, Emily, and Mia could. That was half the team and more than enough. Eventually Jayden would get it, but for now, he could use their strengths, and they could use him. If the time did come where their special powers were needed, they could stand back and trace their symbols while he, Mike, and Antonio covered them from the Nighlok and the Moogers.

"A great time," Jayden smiled, "Thanks, guys."

"It's just too bad Emily had to come in dead last," Mike chuckled as he playfully teased his fiancée, "I was looking forward to a free dinner."

"Next time we're playing hit the old man," Emily grumbled and sulked until she heard a sound. It seemed the others had heard it as well.

"Common room," Kevin whispered and the Rangers snuck over to the common room. They carefully poked their heads around the doorframe and peeked inside.

"Aw..." Emily began to coo but Mike placed his hand over her mouth before she gave them all away.

With everyone out of the house except Mentor Ji, he had been put in charge of looking after Terran, and it was his first time doing so in an empty house.

"Where's Terran? Where is the cutest little baby in the whole wide world?" Mentor asked in baby talk as he covered his hands over his eyes. He was kneeling in front of Terran's carrier while the little boy looked up at him curiously. Suddenly, Mentor pulled his hands away from his face and smiled, "There he is!"

"Jay, I think you've been replaced," Antonio chuckled. "Mentor's got a new favourite."

"Uh oh," Mentor said, covering his eyes again, "Where did Terran go?"

Mia pulled out her phone and started recording the exchange, "Normally I'm not one for blackmail… but this is too good."

"It's too bad we can't YouTube this," Mike said. "It would go viral, I'm sure. Samurai Mentor playing peek-a-boo with baby."

"You're just so cute, I could eat you right up," Mentor cooed to Terran while the Samurai tried to stifle their laughter.

"If you think this is cute, you should have seen dad when Emily was born," a seventh voice said and the Samurai jumped away from the doorframe. Serena was home early from school and had snuck her way into their spy group, unbeknownst to any of them.

"When did you get home?" Mike asked, "Doesn't school go on for another couple of hours?"

"The place is crawling with dumbasses," Serena said, "I couldn't stand to be there any longer."

"What about Mitch?"

"He's got Izzy and her friends. He'll live."

"It's not nice to call students dumbasses," Mia said and tucked her phone into her pocket, while quietly promising the Samurai she would send them the video.

"Who said I was talking about the students?" Serena asked. She then turned to Emily, "Feel like coming with me tomorrow?"

"No," Emily shook her head, "I hate school."

"I need you…"

"Why don't we all go?" Mike asked, "I probably should be getting back to my team. I can't play football, but the guys seemed to accept me. I can get inside their heads again."

"And doesn't Mitch have try-outs tomorrow? I wouldn't mind seeing that," Mia smiled.

"What the hell, count me in too," Antonio nodded, "You can make it a bring your family to work day."

"You just want us all out of the house so you can set up your cameras and catch Mentor Ji playing with Terran again," Serena laughed. Antonio shrugged his shoulders and looked to her innocently.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Serena smirked and rolled her eyes before turning to Emily, "Please can you come?"

"I… but… why?"

"I want you to read something in the cafeteria. Between James and me, we can get the kids and teachers to shut up and they'll listen to you."

"R-read? Publicly? In front of a school filled with bullies?"

"C'mon, Emy, you're a champ."

"I… I…"

"I'll be right there with you. And I'll write the speech for you and I'll even make it legible for you. You trust me, don't you?"

"No."

"Just stare at the paper and pretend no one's there."

"But…"

"And if you do mess up I'll jump in. I promise."

"I…"

"Yes Serena," Serena answered for Emily as she grabbed her sister's head and nodded it up and down, "I would do anything to help you, darling sister. You are the best and most amazing older sister there is and I'm sure whatever you have planned with not only benefit me by proving that I have the courage to stand up for myself and others like me, but it will also benefit the students you are working so hard to help."

Serena smiled at _Emily_'s response and kissed her sister's forehead.

"Now I know why I love you, Emy. Thanks! I'll have the speech written up by tonight so you can go over it!"

Before Emily could say anything, Serena hurried off into the common room, took Terran into her arms, and went into her room to feed him.

The Samurai weren't sure what to do. Mike blinked and then turned to Emily.

"How are you with speeches?"

"Horrible… I get stage fright and…"

"You can't read your notes you're so scared?" Kevin asked. Emily looked up at him, horrified. He nodded his head, "It happens to me too."

"I'm sure Serena's got that covered," Jayden insisted.

Emily placed her hand over her mouth and gagged slightly, "I'm going to go throw up now…"

Mia pulled out her phone and played the video of Mentor Ji and Terran, "Does this help?"

Emily shook her head, but as the video went on she chuckled slightly, "Okay… maybe a little. I still might throw up."

"Don't worry about it," Mike hugged her, "We'll all be there. We won't let anything happen. You just focus on the words."

"I hate words," Emily muttered.


	206. School Day

Going to school was a new experience for Jayden and it had occurred to him that he had NEVER been.

When he had reached the age to start school, his father had to take on the fight against the Nighlok, making it next to impossible to drive his son in every morning, and dangerous. If the Nighlok had seen Jayden, they would have gone after him right away.

So Jayden had been homeschooled from an early age by Mentor Ji. When his father passed, his schooling continued that way. It was the only way he could balance school work with his Samurai training and had been good at the time, but like everything else he had missed out on, Jayden was starting to wish he had gone, even for a year.

His morning routine was rushed. Antonio had woken him up early so he could shower. With seven people headed off to school, seven people needed to get washed and ready. The girls had showered the night before, so they weren't up in the early hours of the morning to get their hair done, and the boys were squeezing in their showers now.

After getting ready, Jayden had to rush to eat breakfast, which gave him the hiccups in the car as they drove to school.

Finally he was standing in the front hallway of the big building. It was three floors tall and very, very wide. Jayden wondered how many times he was going to get lost in the day.

Serena stepped out of the office and held some passes in her hand. She gave them to the Rangers.

"You guys are here as volunteers," she said, "You'll wear these so the teachers know who you are."

Before handing the volunteer pass to Emily, she held it away and looked her little sister in the eye, "Did you go over the speech I wrote up?"

"Yes."

"Can you read it alright?"

Emily bit her lip but saw Mike nodding his head. He had stayed up with her until the early morning going over and over the speech and coming up with ways to remember what she was supposed to say. She felt a little bit better, especially after hearing what Serena's speech contained, but would have still preferred if Serena had chosen someone else to go up in front of the entire school.

"More or less."

"So, we're not needed until lunch time, right?" Jayden asked, "What do we do until then?"

"Just walk around," Serena said and something had noticeably caught her eye, "If you see bullying… well stop it."

Before the Rangers had time to ask any questions, Serena took off like a rocket, racing through the small crowd of arriving students until she reached Mitch.

The Rangers watched her and then turned to the hallways. For most, the school brought back memories of their teenage years.

For Jayden, it was a bittersweet sight. Finally he was getting the high school experience, minus the boring classes, but he was missing out on sharing memories with the others.

Suddenly, Mike broke away from the group. He pulled a jacket out of his bag and put it on before rushing over to a crowd of big teens tossing a football around.

"I'll see you guys at lunch!" he cried to them. While he couldn't play, he had promised Serena to talk to his _friends_ on the team to get inside their heads. The more Serena knew about why they bullied, or why they thought it was fun, the more effective her approach to stopping it could be.

"So, the two people who know this school the best just abandoned us?" Kevin asked with a frown. He glanced at Mia, Antonio, Jayden, and Emily, "Great…"

"Do you want to go over your speech again?" Mia asked Emily. She then pointed to the cafeteria, "We could practice it in there."

Emily nodded her head until she looked over to Serena and Mitch and saw one of the coaches joining the duo. Emily knew her sister had been spending a lot of time with a teacher from this school and given the way this coach had placed his hand on Serena's back, Emily was sure it was him.

"What are you staring at?" Kevin asked as he got down to her level and looked where she was staring. He saw Serena with a student and a teacher and furrowed his brow, "Em, it's not nice to…"

"You guys are volunteers?" a voice asked and the Rangers turned around to find a teacher.

Jayden pointed down to Serena, "We're here to help…"

"She doesn't need help," the teacher waved his hand dismissively. "She only works for the five minutes between class and lunch. I need your help. I've got a class of delinquents in first period and a major headache."

He pulled out a stack of papers from the bag he was carrying and handed them to Jayden, "Just hand these out and make sure the students… who am I kidding. Just hand them out and babysit for me in 208."

Before the Rangers could protest, the teacher walked off. The Samurai traded looks.

"We're off to an awesome start," Antonio twirled his finger unenthusiastically.

"Where's 208?" Jayden asked.

"Upstairs. C'mon," Mia sighed and led the group. Obviously this teacher wasn't going to class, but someone needed to be around to keep an eye on his students. She had only come here once, but she knew the trouble the kids could get up to if they were left unsupervised for too long.

-Samurai-

Serena, meanwhile, was explaining herself to Mitch. It was the second time she had left the school without letting him know, but this time she could tell him the true reason for it and he seemed to be believing it.

"Just let me know next time, okay," Mitch said, "I don't mind, but these guys hate you more than me, now. I thought their stuffed you in a locker or something."

Serena chuckled and shook her head, "Never. They just made me so mad. They're behaving like… like…"

"They're behaving poorly," James said and looked around, "Now that you say it, I can see we are a problem."

Serena turned to James, "I didn't mean…"

"Before you came I did kind of… give up. Not on the stupid kids but on those that just couldn't… grasp my lessons right away. There was just so much stress and it's not like these kids have any respect for me. It was just easier to teach to the ones who listened and could learn."

"Well, that's going to stop. Today," Serena said. "I can't get these teachers fired, but I can sure as hell do something."

"What do you have planned?" Mitch asked. "Please don't let it interfere with my try-outs. Anything you do affects me, you know."

"It won't affect your try-outs," Serena promised. "And I'll be there for that, I swear. And my friends are here too. You'll have all of us cheering you on."

"From outside the gym. I want you there but not… watching."

Serena chuckled, "From outside the gym. Now scoot off to class. The bell's going to ring soon."

Just as Serena said it, the bell went off. Mitch looked up at her, surprised, and then rushed off.

-Samurai-

Class was chaos. The worksheets the teacher wanted the students to do had been turned into airplanes, spit balls and other projectiles that could take out an eye. Even with five trained Samurai in the room, these students were out of control.

"Eep!" Emily screamed and ducked as a spitball came her way. It flew over her head and stuck to the blackboard at the front of class. She crawled under the desk. This wasn't the first that had been thrown her way, but she was going to hope it was the last.

"This is what happens in high school?" Jayden asked, catching as airplane as he flew towards him. He crumbled it up and heard a chorus of "awws" from somewhere in the class.

Antonio shook his head, "I've seen monkeys in the zoo behaving better than this."

"Hey!" someone in class shouted as someone else ripped his worksheet from off his desk, crumpled it up, and tossed it in the trash.

"Dork," the other kid teased and ripped the glasses right off the first kid's face and put them on his own, "Now I'm a four eyes!"

"Give those back!"

Kevin had finally had enough.

"Everyone sit down!" he shouted and even the Rangers jumped. The students turned to him and saw he wasn't kidding. Slowly they took their seats and faced the front of the class. Kevin turned to the blackboard while the other Samurai kept their eyes on the students. None of them moved.

Kevin wrote _Samurai_ on the board and turned to the class, "This is a history class, right?"

One kid nodded his head. Kevin smirked.

"You're about to learn the true history of the Samurai. The boring edition. Because apparently that's all I can teach."

He shot Emily and Antonio a look. They shrugged their shoulders. Jayden and Mia chuckled.

The students all groaned, but Kevin silenced them with a glare. As long as he was in charge there would be no nonsense."

The rest of the class went off without a hitch and before Kevin knew it, the bell had run and the students race out of the classroom. Kevin had never seen anyone run that quickly.

He nudged Antonio, who had fallen asleep during the lesson. The gold Ranger woke with a start.

"I did my homework!" he shouted before he looked around and realised he was in class as a teacher, not a student. He let out a relieved sigh, "Phew."

"C'mon," Jayden said, "Let's go before we have to do that again."

"The last thing I want to hear is another lecture from Kevin…" Emily muttered. Kevin shot her a look and she quickly raced out the door.

For the next couple of hours, the Rangers hid out in the cafeteria and helped Emily go over her speech. The more prepared she was, the less nervous she would be.

Finally, after a long wait, and a lot of practicing, Emily saw Serena walking into the cafeteria. She smiled, until she saw the same coach from earlier walking in behind her. There was no one but them in the cafeteria at this time, and neither Serena nor the coach seemed to notice the Rangers.

So they kissed.

Emily's jaw dropped. Jayden, Antonio, and Kevin were equally shocked.

Mia was a little surprised, but her visit to the school had shown her that there was something special between James and Serena, and all the times she visited his home and mentioned him lead Mia to believe that something had started. She turned to the table to calm her friends down, "Guys…"

"She's actually dating?" Antonio asked. "I mean… I figured she and mystery man were close but..."

"That's close," Jayden finished for his friend.

Emily grabbed her speech in her hands and got up. She walked over to the other side of the cafeteria, where Serena and James were sitting down for lunch. She placed the papers down on the table and butt right in.

Kevin chuckled, "Emily no like."

"Given how Serena's last boyfriend treated her, are you really surprised?" Jayden shrugged and turned to Kevin, "I would be pretty protective too."

"Not to mention she seemed to have no idea," Antonio added.

"Let's go join before Emily scares him off," Mia said and at once the Samurai got up and joined the other table for an early lunch.

"You brought the whole team, I see," they heard James say as they took a seat. He had been to their house, but he hadn't met them yet. He had seen Emily, but had never been introduced. He knew Mia, and knew Mike was somewhere in the school, but the rest of the boys were completely new to him. "I'm Coach Smith, but you can call me James."

"Serena, we need to go over the speech one more time," Emily said and tugged Serena's arm, trying to get her away.

"Emily, relax and breathe," Serena said. She opened up her lunch box and handed Emily an apple, "Here, enjoy."

"Serena told me you were giving a speech," James said, "Emily, right?"

Emily looked down at the apple and nodded nervously, "Forced to give it."

"From what Serena tells me, we need to hear it," James smiled. He held out his hand, "Do you mind?"

Emily handed him her notes. He read them over quickly and passed them back.

Serena looked to James, "After lunch yesterday I spoke with a few of the teachers. They didn't think it was their job to help me break up a fight and said discipline for the students was up to me."

"Like I've said, the teachers don't care anymore. Do as little as possible. That's what our motto should be."

"One of them, I didn't bother learning the moron's name, pointed out one kid he knew had dyslexia and called him a dumbass. The other teachers laughed and said he wasn't worth teaching because he would never amount to much."

"Wait, a teacher said that?" Jayden asked, completely shocked at what he was hearing. He knew that bad teachers existed, but it was still a huge shock hearing it was true, and still happening in 2012.

Emily looked over to Serena, "He said that? Because the student was dyslexic?"

"I have no idea how many students in this school have a learning disability, or any kind of disability, but imagine struggling to get by in school and having your teachers tell you you will never amount to anything?"

"And your speech will prove them wrong? Why don't you present it?" James asked.

Emily clutched the papers to her chest, "I want to do it."

Serena smirked, "Emily's dyslexic. You wouldn't know it unless someone told you."

"We didn't even know until she told us. We knew she didn't like to read, but not everyone does," Mia said.

James nodded his head and glanced across the table at Emily. Despite her dyslexia, she was going over the speech again, reading and flipping from one page to another. He knew she had likely gone over it so many times she had it memorized, but it was still amazing to see.

And the rest of the school needed to see it as well.

"Hopefully this will break down one barrier," Serena smiled. "It might not do much for the bullying, but it'll get the teachers to smarten up."

"For sure," James nodded.

Suddenly, the bell rang and it was the start of the school lunch period. Serena grabbed Emily's arm.

"James, when the cafeteria is full can you get their attention?"

"We'll help," Antonio promised. He flicked his thumb over to Kevin, "If they don't listen, I'm sure Kevin's wouldn't mind boring them to death with the most uninteresting presentation of the Samurai you will ever hear."

"Samurai are cool," James smirked.

Jayden shook his head, "Not the way Kevin tells it."

"People need to know the facts," Kevin stated as the kids started to flood the cafeteria. "Facts aren't always fun."


	207. The Speech

The cafeteria had been silences, but none of the students or the teachers knew why. Mitch looked around for Serena, she usually spent the lunch period with him and today he had been looking forward to talking to her about his try-outs. He had been hoping she could calm his nerves. Izzy had trained him well, but he wasn't the best. He knew there was a chance he wouldn't make it. But if he was calm and confident, he stood a chance.

Suddenly, someone stood up at the front of the cafeteria on a chair so everyone could see her. A few murmurs started but they were quickly hushed by Coach Smith. Some teachers tried to tell the person (Mitch didn't recognise her as a student) to get off the table, but Serena stood in front of her.

The principal walked into the cafeteria as well. He was in need of a coffee. He had no idea what was going on but he saw Serena in the middle of all the commotion and assumed this had something to do with her.

He crossed his arms and stuck to the back of the cafeteria. He was eager to see how this played out. A few teachers tried to approach him, but he stopped them. He would let this happen.

Emily clutched her papers tightly in her hand. The words were spinning and blurring and her nerves were starting to get the better of her. She saw a few boys sitting in the corner. Mike was part of their group, so Emily assumed they were the football team. One of them suddenly shouted for her to get on with her announcement and the others laughed at his interruption until they noticed Mike wasn't laughing.

"Not cool, dudes."

"C'mon, the faster this loser talks, the faster we can eat our meals in peace."

"That loser's my girlfriend," Mike growled, "and she's nervous enough as is so listen up; got it, dick-face?"

"Whoa, relax. I didn't know…"

"Exactly. You don't know. So shut up. I'm sure there are people here who want to hear what she has to say. If you're not one of them, get out of my face."

"Dude, I'm sorry."

Mike ran his fingers across his lips, signalling for the entire football team to be silent. They leaned back in their seats and faced Emily. From across the room, Mike gave her a smile.

Emily smiled back and looked down at her paper. Finally the words were making sense and she remembered what she had to say.

"When I was a kid I was always told I would amount to nothing. My older sister was good at everything and, as far as I was concerned, she had stolen all the good genes and left me with nothing. I was bullied from kindergarten right up until I left school because I broke a pink crayon. I was called names, teased, my hair was pulled, and I was shoved into lockers, and tied up at recess. People would stick gum in my hair, kick sand in my eyes and would pound on me mercilessly in dodge ball. I wasn't a bad kid. I hadn't done anything to them to deserve my bullying. All I did was break a crayon. Kids do that all the time. But one kid decided that was enough to justify torturing me for eleven years. As a result, I had no friends, no confidence, and no self-esteem. I would go home and cry to the only people who believed in me.

"Then, to make matters worse, when I was in the second grade, after another day of being picked on because I had a hard time reading a book to the class during story time, I went home and my sister found me crying all alone. She did as she always did and comforted me, telling me things would get better and I just had to ignore what the mean kids were saying. Their words meant nothing to me because these people were projecting their insecurities onto me. They were too scared to let the world know they were just average and ordinary, so they built themselves up by knocking me down.

"Just as I started to feel better, my sister started to cough. It was nothing surprising at first. For about a year before that she would have coughing fits from time to time and assured us they meant nothing. We lived on a farm and dust sometimes got caught in the back of your throat and made you cough. My sister loved working with the horses, so I thought she had just spent time with them before I got home from school. But the coughing didn't stop until suddenly she passed out. I got my parents; we took her to the hospital.

"She was sick for eight years after that and we were waiting for her to die. I was forced to face my bullies and my life on my own. Finally, I've found friends who love me. I'm in a class with my friends and every day they tell me I'm getting better and better with my work. I'm the youngest, the smallest, and I have the hardest time picking up on lessons, but I work hard every day and I'm keeping up, and sometimes even surpassing them, and all expectations people have of me. I've confronted my bullies and, as it turns out, she, and everyone else who tormented me, was wrong. I did amount to something. My sister recovered from her illness and since then had a son. The doctors didn't deliver him, though. I did. In the snow, in the freezing cold, in the middle of nowhere. He's fine, too, before you ask. He's one of the most amazing people I've ever met, and he's not even a month old yet. I'll do anything for him, and I'll teach him everything I know. I don't expect him to learn it all, and I will be understanding when he does make mistakes, because it will happen. But one thing I will not tolerate is letting him turn into one of you. He'll have more self-respect than that, and he'll have more respect for others. He won't tease kids to make himself feel better. He won't beat them up or shove them into lockers. He won't dump them in the trash or call them names. And he won't discriminate because someone's got autism, ADHD, dyslexia, or any other disorder that affects their education or their personal life. He'll treat them as an equal. And if a teacher ever tells my nephew he's a dumbass or that he's not worth their time because he won't amount to anything, I'll tell him to challenge them and to show them they're wrong. He can do anything he sets his mind to, regardless of what people perceive as a limitation. This world isn't custom made and while it suits a good chunk of people, there are so many who work twice as hard to fit in. The last thing we need is douchebags putting us down.

"In fourth grade I was told I had dyslexia. When people found out, a lot of them told me I would never be able to read or write, and that I should just give up because I would never amount to anything. Now, here am I, standing in front of hundreds of students, reading a speech. Tonight, I'm going to go home, and before my sister puts my nephew to bed, I'm going to read him a story. I'll help him with his homework when he starts school, that includes reading and writing as well as comprehension. And I'm doing it to show all of you that I can."

Emily took a deep breath. The room was spinning by now but she was glad she was done. Kevin helped her off her chair and let her sit down.

Chatter started up in the cafeteria and Serena smirked to herself. Emily had definitely left an impression, and that was exactly what Serena wanted. She wanted her message to be heard. It was just too bad the speech couldn't include the part of Emily's life where she began a Samurai Ranger and was one of six people responsible for keeping the entire planet safe.

Serena turned and looked down at her sister. She pulled her in for a big hug.

"You did great, Emily."

"I might vomit…"

"It's over," Serena laughed.

Mike raced over and scooped Emily up from the chair. He twirled her around in his arms before setting her down.

"Did you see their faces?" he asked excitedly. "The entire football team looked mortified! It's like they knew you were talking to them."

"The teachers seemed pretty uncomfortable too," Serena was smiling from ear to ear, "I freaking love this job! I help people and make the scum of the Earth feel like shit!"

"I didn't mess up a word, did I?" Emily asked. "I didn't read something backwards or skip a line, right?"

"Flawless," Mike nodded his head, "Everyone was surprised when you told them you had dyslexia. I'm pretty sure some of them think it's just a stunt. You might want to dumb yourself down for them."

Emily smiled and leaned into Mike as he kissed the top of her head and congratulated her again.

Suddenly, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Emily turned around and saw a girl her age was looking at her.

"That's so cool what you said. No one in this school believes I've got ADHD. They just think I'm a trouble maker and don't bother with me. My science teacher said there was no point in even trying to teach me because I was just going to end up in jail."

"That's horrible!"

"I liked what you said about challenging what other people say about me. I'm going to get an A on his next quiz and show him I'm not a stupid jailbird."

"And I'll help," Serena smiled, "Hopefully I can get a few people to help, but I'm going to start an after school club. Anyone who struggles with their homework can come and somehow I'll figure out a learning style that works best for each of you. That way you guys have in school help with your work."

"That sounds really cool," the girl said. "I'll definitely go to that."

"What about the bullying?"

Serena turned and saw Mitch looking at her. She pulled him aside and smiled at him, "This will help, I promise. The better people feel about themselves, and the more respect their have for themselves, the less bullying there will be in this school, I promise you."

"I can feel good all I want," Mitch shrugged, "It won't make the bullies stop."

"Trust me, Mitch; the bullying is going to stop. You just focus on try-outs."

Mitch nodded his head and saluted, "Can do!" he was about to race back to his table to eat when he remembered something important. He turned back to Serena, "The girl who gave the speech… you told me she was your sister earlier."

"So?"

"So, unless you have another sister… you were going to die?"

"Yeah."

"You never told me that."

"Did I have to?"

"I guess not… it's just shocking. I'm glad you're all better though. This school would be a disaster if you weren't here."

Serena smiled as Mitch rushed off back to his seat and his new friends. She didn't feel like she had really done anything yet, but she knew Mitch wasn't wrong.

Still, she was going to prove him right.


	208. Just The Way He Feels

Mentor Ji loved babysitting Terran. As demanding and tiring as the job was, he found he couldn't get enough. He had babysat Jayden when the red Ranger was just a baby, and caring for Terran reminded him of that.

The young Samurai was falling asleep in Mentor's arm, but Ji couldn't let him go. While he rocked the little boy to sleep, he read a book, telling Terran about the story of his ancestors and how, one day, if he trained hard enough, his Aunt Emily may pass down the responsibility of yellow Ranger to him. Everyone was aware that the choice was Emily's, and normally her own children were first choice, but because she and Mike were getting married, and it was looking like they would have a kid together, unless they chose to have more than one, there would only be one choice for green, and two for yellow. It made sense to give green to the only option, and present a Samuraizer to Terran.

But that was still years away, and even if Emily didn't choose Terran, it was important he understand where he came from.

Even his Nighlok ancestry. It was Serena's choice how she raised Terran, but if it were up to Mentor, he would have Terran grow up with the knowledge that he did belong, in part, to the Nighlok. Keeping a secret, no matter the reason, was hard work, and involved a lot of heartache. Ji knew first hand and he didn't want to see Terran or Serena suffer because of it.

Just as Terran was about to drift off, he seemed to pick up on a familiar voice. The Rangers were finally home after their long day from school and Terran picked up on his mother's voice. His need for sleep seemed to disappear immediately. Mentor smiled at the little boy as he set the book down and got up from the stool, greeting the Samurai as they pulled off their winter clothes.

"How was school?"

"Depends. Pre-speech, it was hell," Antonio chuckled, "After the speech, everything seemed a little quieter."

"Emphasis on the little," Jayden added. He walked up to Mentor and gave him a pat on the shoulder, "If that's what high school was like, thank you for not sending me."

"You would have had fun," Mia insisted but Jayden rolled his eyes and announced he would be in the dojo. He was still sore from Takeshi's beating, just like the others, but he found it helped to do a few light drills. If anything, it kept him from feeling sluggish, which was the last thing he wanted. He was feeling better about the way his team operated, with everyone taking hits for the other man, but he still wanted to improve. He still needed to protect them. For that to happen, he had to be the best he could be.

Mentor passed Terran over to Serena and then looked at Emily, "And how did your speech go? You were nervous about it last night."

"I aced it," Emily grinned. "No mistakes, no switching words. Everything went well."

"I'm glad to hear that."

"And you know that kid I'm helping," Serena smiled to Mentor, "Mitch? He had his cheerleading try-outs today. He won't know for sure for a few days, but he's confident."

Mentor had a happy look on his face. When he first got Serena her job he knew she would do well, but he hadn't expected the job to be so complicated. He had imagined she would be dealing with a few cases of bullying, maybe a couple times a week at first and then they would be progressively reduced. Still, Serena never gave up and despite distractions from her personal life, she was doing much better than Mentor had ever expected. He was proud.

He was proud of all his Samurai and how well they had managed to adjust to their ever changing life in the Shiba House. He gave them each a smile and then gestured to the kitchen.

"I will be making a special dinner tonight will all the house favourites."

"Seriously?" Mike asked, "Tell me that includes pizza and wings. That's got to include pizza and wings…"

"Try homemade pizza and wings," Mentor smirked.

Mike started drooling, "Sorry, Em, I think I've found a new love."

"That's fine. When we watch movies, you and Mentor can cuddle and I can get the comfy chair all to myself," Emily shrugged and laughed.

"While you do that, we're going to go hang out in our room," Kevin said as he took Mia's hand. He heard Antonio whistle and turned back to the gold Ranger, "We'll be reading in the peace and quiet."

"Uh-huh," Antonio nodded, "Anyways, I'll go make sure Jayden doesn't over exert himself. You know how he gets."

Emily picked up her jacket from the hook and looked to Mike, "Either you and Mentor can have your fling, or you can come join me and Scruffy on a walk.

"Walk," Mike said as he grabbed Scruffy's collar and called the dog, "I'll only love Mentor once the pizza and wings are in my stomach."

"So I've still got some time?"

"Until dinner," Mike smirked.

-Samurai-

Antonio met up with Jayden in the dojo and was happy to see his best friend was still taking it easy. He picked up a training sword and joined him on the mat.

"Light taps," he said and Jayden nodded his head. Neither was ready to take a hit, even in training.

"Ten minutes?" Jayden asked.

"If you think you can handle it," Antonio taunted. Jayden smirked and the sparring began. Because it was at a slow pace, the boys could talk while their sparred and not just between moves. "You're really coming around. Serena's talk seemed to calm you down."

Jayden nodded his head and remembered what had happened only a couple nights ago. He had gotten so frustrated with the fact that he couldn't learn to create symbols without a Samuraizer and he had taken that frustration out one his team, and threatened Mike in the process. Serena had called him out on it and really let him have it. She had been tough, but very fair, telling Jayden what he needed to hear.

And the game of laser tag had helped a lot.

"A lot of pressure comes with the responsibility of being leader. I'm sorry I snapped and there's no excuse for the way I behaved… but you've got to give me some credit. It's bound to happen from time to time."

"I know," Antonio smiled, "but we're a team, okay, Jay? We help each other out. You can have these little outbursts from time to time, but don't bottle them up so they explode. Talk to us. Tell us what's bothering you."

"It's just hard," Jayden lowered his sword. The ten minutes weren't up, but he didn't want to spar anymore. He wanted to talk. "You guys have it easy. You fight. You put your own lives at risk. But I'm leader. I'm the one asking you guys to do this. If anything happens, it's on my head."

"You don't have to worry about me. I walked into this. I knew what I was doing. You never asked me to do anything. I insisted. If something happens to me, it's my fault."

"It doesn't work that way, Antonio," Jayden sighed. "Sending you guys into battle is enough stress already. When you guys promise to take hits for me… I freak out. My mind goes to the worst case scenario. What if one of you dies?"

"It might happen," Antonio shrugged, "I won't lie. I have nightmares all the time. I've seen everyone die and it's not good. But we're doing it for the greater good. If I die, and because of my sacrifice you succeed in sealing away the Nighlok for good… it'll all be worth it."

Jayden closed his eyes and winced slightly at Antonio's choice of words. _You_. It was a word with two meanings. Either Antonio was talking about him specifically, or he was talking about the team as a whole. Jayden preferred the latter.

"I know," he breathed out. "And if that does happen… I hope you… one of you, doesn't die in vain. The guilt will tear me apart."

"But…"

"Antonio, there's nothing you can say that'll change my mind. Whether you like it or not, that's how I feel. I can't turn that off. I'm not going to do anything stupid, I promise, but I'm going to do everything I can to keep you guys safe. You have family waiting for you back home. Mentor and I have always known we would likely be saying goodbye. It's just easier."

"Jay, no one's going to die."

"You said it yourself. It's a possibility. It's almost happened so many times before. How long before our luck runs out?"

"If it helps, I can get to work on the Black Box again," Antonio said. He had hardly touched it or thought about it since the incident with the Stones. He and the other Samurai had quickly learned that programming the Rangers' Stones into the box was a torturous affair. Kevin's, Emily's, and Mike's Stones had been programmed and that act had nearly torn the team, and the friendship between the red Ranger and his Samurai apart. Antonio had refused to program Mia's or Jayden's Stone until they found a painless way, and had put his project on hold.

"I doubt you'll be able to convince any of the others that programming Mia's Stone would be a good idea. Or mine, for that matter. I am the guys with the sealing symbol, right?"

Antonio nodded his head, "I said I would work on it. We'll never know what's inside unless we try and figure it out, and we won't figure it out unless we play around with it a bit. I'll see if there's anything I can do about the programming. Maybe there was something I missed last time."

Jayden smiled, "A new weapon would make things easier. The Nighlok are getting stronger. It's only fair we fight fire with fire."

"Hey, if I can't be punny, neither can you," Antonio smirked playfully. "You owe me one gold joke."

Jayden rolled his eyes, "Alright, what do you got?"

"Nothing now," Antonio smirked, "but when I do come up with something, and something good, you will not be allowed to complain about it."

"Deal," Jayden laughed.


	209. What Almost Happened

For once, good things were happening all in a row. After Emily presented the speech at Serena's school, the older Earth Samurai had nothing but good news to report about the students and the teachers. Many of them seemed to have grasped the message of what Emily had been trying to say and, if they still believed their prejudice opinions, they were keeping them to themselves and weren't letting them interfere with the proper function of the school.

The bullying also seemed to calm down. Serena had noticed that most kids only bullied in order to survive. In the school, it was eat or be eaten, and if you weren't being a bully, you were being bullied. But now that they realised what they were doing, and how it was wrong, some kids had decided to stop. It took a few more interventions from Serena before that did happen, but the school was starting to become a safer place.

Much to Serena's surprise, Principal Stevens had also heard the speech. He had come out of his office for a coffee and had been moved by Emily's words. The school did have a program for students with special needs, but no thought went into it. He decided to change that sad fact and had promised to educate all staff members on the various disabilities the students faced. The more comfortable the teachers felt, the more they could encourage equity and understanding in all students in the school, which would create a much safer environment.

The football team was still a problem, but Mike had reported that many of the players could be calmed simply by being firm and showing them who was in charge. He had accomplished it with one player before Emily's speech, and none of the others interfered. It was good news for Serena, who never planned on letting them walk all over her. Now it was just a matter of earning their respect so they would listen to her even when she wasn't around.

And, Mitch had done it. The day after the speech the results had been posted for the cheerleading try-outs and he had made it. He had been so happy and excited that even when the football team walked by and teased him about it, he hadn't paid attention to them. He just ignored their comments, gave Serena a big hug and a thank you, and then ran off to find his friends. Serena was amazed at the turn around, and amazed at what Mitch had managed to accomplish. She was definitely going to have to remember his story.

A couple of weeks later, the school was a lot more manageable. Serena wasn't comfortable leaving the students for a day. But she wasn't worried one of them would be permanently damaged either physically or emotionally, if she stepped out to enjoy a lunch with Coach Smith. She was confident some teachers had come around enough to take care of the students and discipline or encourage their behaviour when necessary.

Even the Shiba House was getting better. The Rangers had recovered from their injuries at the hands of the Nighlok and were back to being Rangers. Serena had traded Samuraizers with Emily and while the Rangers had gone out a few times already to fight Xandred's Nighlok, none of them had come back seriously injured, which was a good thing for Serena. With life going so well already, the last thing she needed was an injured teammate.

And Terran continued to grow and surprise her every day. While there was a huge age gap between Serena and Emily, Serena had still been young when Emily had been born, and could just barely remember the first couple of years of Emily's life, which made Terran's development all the more exciting. She knew what to expect, but was surprised at all the little things he could already. He was still crying, as all children do, but he was making happier sounds now that he was getting bigger. When he would see the Samurai, Serena especially, if he was in a good mood he would coo and gurgle instead of just stare. He had even begun to smile, and had done so, for the first time, just for Mike. Serena had been disappointed she had missed it, but was happy to see Mike and Terran were bonding.

And she was excited to get home to her baby and her family. But there was still about an hour left before school was done and if Serena wanted a proper paycheck, she was going to have to stick around.

She was sitting in the cafeteria. Another thing she had done for the school was start a club where any and all students could come and as for help, or give help for homework and assignments. Students who struggled benefited, and even those who did well had a place to do even better or to help those in need and earn a few of the volunteer hours they needed to graduate. Serena was happy to sign the forms, as long as they actually did help out (without teasing or calling other students dumb because they didn't know an answer). But in order to keep that running, Serena had a lot of extra work to do. She needed to make sure she was up-to-date with what the students were learning. She had never complete high school due to her illness and was therefore learning with these students.

She was going over a few notes one of the teachers had been nice enough to pass to her about an upcoming science lesson. It went right over Serena's head, but she was working hard to make sure she understood it. Many of the students in her club were in this class and if she was stuck on the lesson, they were likely going to have a hard time as well. But she pushed through and was just starting to get a grasp on what was being taught.

Suddenly, she felt someone tap her shoulder. Most of the students were supposed to be in class, but some students had a free period. However, because it was the end of the day, most walked home. She was surprised there were a few students hanging around.

Her surprise faded when she turned around and saw Howie. He had been serving an in-school suspension since he had nearly knocked her into a coma with a football, and Serena had forgotten all about it.

Judging but the angry, frustrated look on his face, he hadn't forgotten about her.

"I'm back," he crossed his arms over his chest. He towered over Serena, especially considering she was sitting down. Serena didn't let that bother her. She turned back to her work.

"I guess I'll see you in the halls tomorrow, then."

"I want my spot back on the team," Howie growled, "That little fucker you brought in to replace me can't play. The team needs a captain and I'm the best in the school."

"You were kicked off the team, Howie. There's nothing I can do about that. You'll have to talk to Coach…"

"C'mon, whore, you and I both know what Coach will say if I ask. But you can persuade him."

Serena scoffed, "How exactly…"

"Give him what he wants. I know you're not afraid to put out and Coach has a thing for you."

"My relationship with Coach Smith is none of your business," Serena said. "Howie, I would love to chat, but asking me about getting you a spot on the team is pointless. There's nothing I can do…"

"Fine, then, you owe me."

"I don't owe you…"

"You got me kicked off the team!"

"You gave me a concussion," Serena stated calmly. Howie, meanwhile, was losing his temper. "I didn't ask you to smack me into a locker or throw a football at my head. Your behaviour resulted in your consequences and you're going to have to live with that. If you want things to change…"

"I want you out of my school! Everything was fine until you showed up."

"I beg to differ," Serena rolled her eyes, "But if that's what you think…"

"Get out, or I will make you get out."

Serena finally got up from her seat, "Howie, it's my job to come here every day and do what I've been doing. I understand you don't like it…"

"I don't like you!" Howie shouted and Serena noticed his fists were clenched. She took a few steps away from him. She could barely remember what happened last time he had gotten angry with her and she liked her brain the way it was: intact.

"I can see you're angry," she said.

"No shit…"

"Howie, I would be more than happy to talk to you over lunch tomorrow, when you're calm. We can figure something out then. Right now you need to go home and unwind."

"We'll talk now!" Howie shouted and he reached out, grabbing Serena by the arms. He pulled her in and shook her, "I want you to do as you're told…"

"What's going on?"

Howie heard another voice in the cafeteria and let go of Serena. He saw a young man, though still older than him, watching him and decided this wasn't worth it anymore. He gave Serena a stink eye as he stormed out.

"Prepare for hell, bitch!" he shouted.

Serena let out a deep breath and smiled at Kevin. She had no idea someone was coming to pick her up from school today and thought she would be walking home by herself. She was happy he had turned up, though she knew she could handle Howie.

She pointed to the football player and smirked at Kevin, "Meet the root of the problem."

"I thought the teachers were the problem."

"They were the trunk," Serena shrugged. She collected her things, "I didn't know you were coming today."

"Mia sent me out to pick up dinner. No one felt like cooking. Emily told me I might as well pick you up on the way."

Serena glanced up at the clock, "Well, there's still five more minutes left…"

"Can you skip out early? The food's in the car getting cold."

Serena nodded her head, "I guess five minutes won't completely sink my paycheck."

Serena stuffed her binders and notes into her bag while Kevin waited for her to get ready to leave. While he waited, he thought about what he had walked in on. He knew Serena could take care of herself, but it made him nervous when he saw the student trying to intimidate her. He was aware of the fact that Serena had already gotten a concussion working at this school and now she was being physically threatened by a student.

"So what's up with the Neanderthal?" he asked, hoping to get a little more information.

"Howie? He just thinks he owns the place," Serena shrugged and looked up. She saw Kevin had a worried look and chuckled, "Relax. He's a High School senior. I'm a Samurai, and despite the obvious size difference, I'm sure I can handle him."

"Just don't underestimate him," Kevin said.

"Emily's deadly than he is and I handle her all the time," Serena said. "I'm not underestimating him. He is the guy who nearly turned my brains to mush. I'm just not letting him intimidate me."

"So next time he grabs you, you're going to kick his ass? Can't you get fired for that?"

"Hopefully it won't come to that. Now, c'mon, I'm hungry."

-Samurai-

"I see what you're doing there," Antonio said as he glared over the card in his hands. He was playing an intense game of _Go Fish_ with Jayden as a way to pass the time until dinner arrived.

"What am I doing? I don't have a six, so pick go fish."

Antonio stared Jayden straight in the eye as he reached down and picked up a card. All he needed was a six to end the game, and hopefully he had enough pairs to win.

Jayden chuckled, "Do you have a King?"

"Go fish, loser," Antonio smirked as he playfully teased his opponent. Jayden picked up a car and nodded to Antonio.

Now the gold Ranger had two cards in his hand, "Do you have an eight?"

"Go fish," Jayden grinned wickedly. Antonio knew he was up to something. Carefully, he reached down to pick up another card. He put it in his hand and nodded to Jayden. Jayden was still smirking, which made Antonio nervous, "Antonio, would you mind passing over the six you've been talking about since the start of the game?"

"I…. but… and you…" Antonio growled, plucked the six from his hand, and tossed it over to Jayden. The red Ranger caught it and chuckled, setting his pair of sixes down.

It was his turn to go again, "Do you have a five."

Antonio glared at the card he had just picked up, "No…"

Jayden held out his hand, "Pass it over."

The gold Ranger shook his head. He dropped his other card and held the five close to his chest, "No!"

"Antonio. Pass it over!"

"No!"

"Antonio," Jayden laughed and lunged for the gold Ranger, "C'mon. Terran's watching. Do you want to cheat in front of him?"

Jayden pointed to the carrier where Terran was sitting peacefully and watching the game between his two uncles. Emily had set him down there while she, Mike, and Mia trained in the dojo.

"Terran, a lesson can be learned from this," Antonio said as he scooted away from Jayden, "Never, ever, give up!"

Jayden dropped his cards and lunged again for Antonio. This time he pinned the gold Ranger down and sat on top of him. He held his hand out, "You're stuck. Either give me the card or I'm never getting up."

"You think you're so smart," Antonio smirked and tucked the card up his sleeve before he reached for Jayden's sides and began tickling the red Ranger, "But I know your weakness!"

Jayden fell to the floor laughing and tried to push Antonio away but it wasn't working. The gold Ranger kept getting his fingers in. Finally, Jayden grabbed Antonio's wrists and sat up.

"Stop it," he laughed, "Just hand over the card."

"Never!" Antonio tried to push back on Jayden, expecting the red Ranger to push back. When Jayden didn't, both were surprised and fell. Jayden landed on his back and Antonio landed on top of him, with his face only a couple inches above Jayden's.

Suddenly, everything stopped and the boys were looking each other in the eyes. Antonio knew what he wanted to do, but he wouldn't do it. After a few seconds he tried to push himself up but Jayden whispered_ "no"._ The gold Ranger looked to his best friend, completely shocked for a minute.

Finally, something snapped and Jayden seemed to panic. He pushed Antonio off and crawled away before jumping to his feet.

"You win," he said as he raced out of the room. Antonio sat up and rubbed his face with his hand. He and Jayden had wrestled like that before, even after his secret had come out, but there had been something different about this time and the way they both landed. Normally, if that happened, whoever was on top would just get off. But this time, Jayden hadn't let Antonio.

"What was that?" Antonio heard and turned to the doorway and saw Mia standing there with a bottle in her hand. Antonio shrugged his shoulders. He pulled the five out of his sleeve. He tossed it into the pile of cards.

"How much did you see?"

"Enough."

"Can you explain it to me, then?"

"Nope. But if you want to talk about it…"

"Mike, give it back!" Emily shouted as she and Mike came racing into the common room. Mike was holding Emily's towel in his hand and he was running away from her. They were still in their training uniform and Emily needed the towel to dry off her sweat. Mike seemed to think he could make a game out of it.

As they raced around the room, Antonio turned to Mia. He shook his head, "I'm just going to go think on my own for a bit. Save some dinner for me, okay?"

"If do you need to talk…" Mia started but Antonio walked away. She sighed and shook her head. Mike and Emily had _perfect_ timing.


	210. Confusing Feelings and Scars

Antonio had run and there was no sense running after him. It was clear he wasn't ready to talk.

So Mia fed Terran his bottle, which allowed enough time to pass before deciding she would talk to Jayden. She knocked on his door and waited for an answer, so he would know it wasn't Antonio. Jayden and Antonio shared a room and had every right to just walk in on one another.

"I'm training," she heard Jayden call but she knew it was a lie. She opened the door and poked her head in the room.

"You don't have to say anything if you don't want to," she assured him, "But if you want to talk…"

Jayden looked up at Mia and nodded his head, inviting her into his room. She closed the door and walked over to his bed to take a seat while he stayed at his desk. When Jayden had run out of the common room, he had noticed Mia. He knew she had seen what had happened. There was no point trying to hide it from her.

"Before you say anything, I still love Amanda."

Mia nodded, "Of course you do. She means a lot to you."

"If you're looking for an explanation, I don't have one," Jayden shrugged his shoulders, "All I know is… I felt comfortable and when Antonio pulled away…"

"You didn't want him to?"

"He's my best friend," Jayden nodded his head, "And I've told him time and time again that was all we were ever going to be. Then something happened."

"Did it just happen today?" Mia asked. "Is this the first time you… felt comfortable around Antonio… like that?"

Jayden rubbed his head in his hands, "The way he looked at me… the way he cared about how I felt. I saw it in his eyes… I knew what he was thinking but he… he knew not to force anything and… he did it for me."

"I don't get it."

"He cares about me, Mia. He loves me. He's got his own feelings for me but he'll never let himself cross that line because he loves me. Any other guy, or girl, would have taken that as a chance to try something but he… he didn't even dare."

"He respects you, Jay. You and your decision. It couldn't have been easy for him, either."

"I'm just… I'm so confused," Jayden said, "He's my best friend and I'm in love with Amanda… but what happened there… made me… I felt something different."

"Like what?"

"I don't know," Jayden shrugged his shoulders and then he got up from his seat and sat next to Mia. He looked her in the eyes, "I know I haven't had a normal childhood so… maybe this is just me but... promise you won't tell anyone this? Not even Kevin."

"I swear," Mia nodded.

Jayden took in a deep sigh, "Even before Antonio came back… sometimes I use to wonder… I mean… I always imagined myself with a girl but… sometimes… I would think about… maybe…"

"Being with another man?"

"Is that weird?"

Mia shook her head, "No."

"So you've thought about it too?"

Again, Mia shook her head, "Nope. I can't say I have… well, with another girl, I mean. I've never really been curious. But I can understand why some people would be. I mean, why not?"

"So you've never wanted to… kiss Emily or Serena?"

"Have you thought about kissing Mike or Kevin, or Antonio?" Mia asked. Jayden blushed and lowered his head. Mia gently nudged him, "Oh, c'mon, you can be honest. Do you really think I'm going to be offended or get mad?"

"It's never been serious," Jayden shrugged, "I mean… I guess… the idea never did disgust me. And every once in a while it's been a passing thought that I didn't really… think about. I just assumed I was… you know…"

"Straight?"

"Yeah."

"So… do you like Antonio?"

"He's my best friend. Besides, I love Amanda. Being away from her is killing me. I know that's real."

"So… are you just curious? What happened with Antonio, was that just another passing thought?"

"I don't know," Jayden sighed. "I don't know, I don't know."

"It could just be nothing, you know," Mia shrugged her shoulders. "It's human nature to be curious. You see something and you want to test it out. I've never wanted to kiss a girl, and I've never been curious about having a relationship with a girl, but that doesn't mean it's never crossed my mind. I just know what I want, and I always have."

"That sounds normal…"

"It's like… getting an ice cream cone," Mia said. "I always want strawberry. There's never a doubt in my mind. I love the colour, the flavour, and it's just the best flavour for me. No matter what, I'll always choose strawberry ice-cream. But… sometimes, I do picture myself with a chocolate ice-cream cone, or a vanilla one. I'm not going to try them, I'll still take strawberry, but I can think about it."

"What flavour do I want?"

"Right now, you want vanilla," Mia smiled. "You love vanilla and that's fine."

"Vanilla being Amanda, right?"

Mia nodded, "But it's okay to wonder about chocolate. And seeing as there isn't anything between you and vanilla right now, maybe it would be okay to try a little bit of chocolate. See how it works for you. Maybe you'll like it more, maybe you'll like it the same, and maybe you'll realise it's not the flavour for you."

"I've got a lot to think about?"

"I promise I won't tell anyone what I saw," Mia smiled and took Jayden's hand, "I won't breathe a word about it, even to Antonio. You can figure this out on your own."

"Thanks, Mia," Jayden said and he felt better. It was the reason why he had invited Mia in. She always knew what to say and she always found a way to make anyone feel better about anything. "I guess… there's nothing to do but think about it. Maybe I was just curious for a minute and I freaked out because Antonio was so close to me when it happened."

"There's nothing wrong with being a little curious. But if you want my advice, talk to him. He's been through this before. Maybe he can help you out."

"It's kind of embarrassing," Jayden rubbed the back of his neck, "and it might confuse him…"

"The man had you right where he wanted you and he didn't try anything," Mia said, "He knows and respects your choice. I doubt letting him know you're a little curious will do anything to change that."

"I guess you're right," Jayden nodded his head, "Thanks again."

"Anytime," Mia smiled.

-Samurai-

After eating dinner, Serena had gone to shower. She loved her job at school, and while the kids were all teenagers, she knew the place was still crawling with germs. After having to live with her illness for eight years, the last thing Serena wanted was to come in contact with another deadly virus. Or, even worse, to pass something down to her son. He was still young and his immune system was very weak. He needed as little exposure as possible. If Serena was going to take him out, the school would be the last place she would bring him.

So while she washed up, Emily and Mike were still stuck on babysitting duty. But they loved it.

Terran wasn't sleepy. He slept through dinner and now was wide awake and seemed eager to explore what was around him.

Emily was on in her bed with Terran sitting on her stomach. She had her knees propped up so Terran could lean on back and his head was still supported. She was playing games with her nephew. It was a simple game of peek-a-boo, where Emily would lean forward and use Terran's hands to cover her eyes and then she would ask where he went. When she revealed her face, Terran would smile brightly. When she hid her face, Mike saw Terran would seem worried. Like he had actually lost his aunt. The game kept both Terran and Emily very entertained, and Mike was enjoying watching it from the other side of the bed. He had a pen and notebook in his hand and had thought he could get a little symbol training in while Emily played with Terran, but he found himself staring at his fiancée and his nephew.

He found himself imagining what ifs. He loved Terran, and would never want anything to happen to Serena, but his train of thought started with: what if Serena died and left Terran behind? Mike and Emily would become his guardians and Terran would be theirs to raise. He would be their child.

But Mike wanted his own child. He wanted a baby that truly belonged to him and Emily. He knew he wanted to start a family with her and it was practically a given now that they were engaged. But seeing the way she played with Terran and the way she looked after him, no matter how tired or stress out she was, made him want it even more.

So when Emily popped out from behind hers and Terran's hands for another peek-a-boo, Mike leaned in a kissed her cheek. It surprised Emily slightly, and the shock was evident on her face. The change in expression made Terran smile even more. That made Emily and Mike even happier.

"Do you want to play with him?" Emily asked. Mike shook his head.

"No. Just keep doing what you're doing."

Emily cocked an eyebrow and smirked playfully, "I know you're staring. You haven't traced a single symbol in ten minutes.

"I find this really cute," Mike said as he gestured to her and Terran, "So sue me."

"He's a baby," Emily chuckled, "He's going to be cute for a really, really long time. You might want to get used to it before your symbol training really starts to suffer."

"Don't tell me, if the roles weren't reverse, you wouldn't be staring."

"Okay, but that's different. I'm a woman. I'm actually looking for a guy who will take care of kids, and seeing one who plays with someone else's child is automatically… well… attractive."

"Give me baby," Mike teased and reached for his nephew, taking him away from Emily. He cuddled Terran, "Is this attractive?"

"Mike! No using the baby!"

"I'll return the favour when he's older," Mike promised, "I'll be his wing man."

"Whose wing man?" Serena asked as she walked into the room. Mike frowned.

"Don't you knock?"

"Not when you're babysitting my son," Serena shook her head and picked up Terran, "Is Uncle Mike already trying to set you up with a girl?"

"He's trying to use the baby against me," Emily crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Mike.

"Not against you," Mike corrected and then he looked up at Serena, "Emily says guys are automatically more attractive when they play with babies."

Serena frowned and turned away as it dawned on her what Mike was playfully trying to do. But even playfully, Serena didn't want to know about it or be a part of that conversation.

"I have to be anywhere but here. C'mon, Terran, you're going to come with mommy so Auntie Emy and Uncle Mike don't scar you permanently… or me…"

Serena carried Terran out of the room while Mike leaned into Emily and kissed her. He gently lowered her down onto the mattress when suddenly she hissed in pain. With one hand she pushed him off her and then she grabbed her other arm. Mike watched her roll up her sleeve and realised what he had done.

While the Rangers had nearly completely recovered from their time as Takeshi's prisoners, and were well enough to resume their normal lives, some of their injuries still remained. Jayden still had a pain in his ribs from time to time; one of the bones in Antonio's arms had been bruised and still hurt. When Kevin was reminded of his water torture, he would cough incessantly until he could calm himself down, or someone else could calm him. Mike still had a little pain in his knee that gave him a slight limp from time to time. Emily was bothered by her scar. The scar was a result of the Nighlok carving her element into her arm. The boys all had a scar as well, but it didn't seem to bother them as much as it did Emily. Anytime someone's touched anywhere near her scar, Emily would shutter and pull away. She hated when it was touched or brushed.

Emily stared down at her arm. Mike glanced down at his own arm, where his scar was. He let out a forced chuckle.

"It's a symbol of team unity," he tried to joke, "We just need Mia to join and we'll all have matching battle scars."

Tears welled up in Emily's eyes. Mike's expression softened, "Hey, Em, I'm just kidding."

"I wish it didn't scar," Emily whispered and leaned into Mike's chest. "I've been through a lot but normally something good comes out of it. Nothing good came out of this, and it's the one thing I'll never be allowed to forget."

Mike wrapped his arms around Emily. He knew this upset her greatly. Emily was one of the strongest people Mike had ever met but she was also easily affected by traumatic situations. She had fallen silent when her mother left and had to fight what had turned into a life-threatening phobia after being kidnapped and burned alive.

He squeezed her lovingly and kissed the top of her head, "Something good will come out of it, Em. It'll be a battle scar you'll be proud to show off."

"Unlikely."

"Something good can come out of it now," Mike smiled and he leaned in to kiss Emily on the lips just before he pulled away from her and got off the bed. He started to take his shirt off.

Emily shook her head, "Mike, I'm not in the mood…"

Mike picked up his pyjamas from the floor and slipped them on quickly, "I was going to suggest a funny movie marathon until we fell asleep," Mike reached under his bed and pulled out his collection of DVDs. He loved Zombie and horror movies, but he also had a huge collection of comedic films, which Emily also enjoyed watching. He picked up his laptop from his desk and set it on the bed, "Get into your comfy pyjamas while I pick out a hilarious movie."

Emily smiled and did as she was told and quickly got changed. She crawled back into bed while Mike set up the DVD. He crawled in next to her, wrapped her up in his arms and started the movie.


	211. How Did He Feel?

Jayden's talk with Mia had helped. He knew what he was feeling could be considered normal, and that it was okay to be curious. But it hadn't really given him any answers. He still had no idea what exactly it was he was feeling. Did he just get caught up in the moment? Were his feelings romantic feelings? Was he just confused because of how close they had gotten? Or was it really just curiosity getting the better of him? While he had shared a bed with Antonio before, their faces had never been that close together, with their lips only inches apart. And Jayden had, from time to time, thought of what it would be like to have a relationship with another man.

He never let it bother him before, though. Normally the thought would appear and disappear within a matter of seconds. If it did stay any longer, Jayden shooed them away and continue with his day like nothing ever happened.

What confused him even more were his feelings for Amanda. They were broken up, he was sure of that, but they were waiting for each other. Amanda was going to wait for Jayden to be done with the Nighlok, and Jayden wanted only her.

Or did he? He had no clue and it frustrated him. He didn't want anyone to get hurt.

He thought of Mia's little ice-cream theory. Did he like vanilla? Did he like chocolate? Maybe he liked both; but what did that mean? Was he being greedy? He couldn't choose both, though Mia hadn't specified he couldn't have a double scoop, but given the ice-cream represented real people, Jayden was certain the single scoop was implied.

Now he was really overthinking this problem. He didn't even like ice-cream all that much. He enjoyed it from time to time, but not to the point where he worried about which flavour he would get.

He practiced in the dojo. This was the best place to think, or clear his thoughts. For now, either would work, as long as he figured something out or forgot the incident entirely.

But suddenly, as he slammed his sword into the dummy, he heard a scream. For a minute he thought the noise had come from the dummy so he stared at it curiously. The he realised the scream belonged to a baby.

He checked the time: 5:35 AM on a Saturday. He chuckled to himself. Poor Serena had forgotten the meaning of sleeping in. Terran, like all babies, had a nasty habit of getting her out of bed early, and keeping her up all night. Setting down his sword, Jayden made his way out of the dojo and into the kitchen where he found Serena feeding Terran.

"He screams, and screams, and screams; can't he tell the food is on its way?" Serena grumbled when she saw Jayden coming in. "I hope he didn't wake you."

"I was already up," Jayden assured her and walked to the fridge, "I'm guessing going back to bed isn't an option for you? Anymore."

"Not after that alarm clock," Serena glared down at her son, "You are so lucky mommy loves you."

"I'll make us something to eat, then," Jayden offered. He figured he should do what he could to help it. It wouldn't have been very nice of him to make breakfast for himself and leave Serena on her own.

"Thanks," Serena smiled.

Jayden pulled out the carton of eggs and a bowl. As he cracked the eggs the room was silent.

Serena decided to speak up, "Last night… did Antonio seem a little… different to you?"

Jayden furrowed his brow and pretended to be clueless, "I don't know. I guess not. Why?"

"He seemed a little off to me. He told me he went on a walk and his strange behaviour started after that. Do you think something happened?"

"Like what?"

"Anything" Serena shrugged, "Did he tell you anything? Did he talk to you at all last night?"

Jayden shook his head, "Nope."

"Really?"

"People have mood swings sometimes," Jayden said, "Antonio's allowed an off day every now and again."

"I guess," Serena sighed, "It just seemed a little weird. Like he was uncomfortable. Maybe I'll talk to him later."

"I… hmm…" Jayden thought for a minute. He didn't want word of the incident to spread around the Shiba House, especially before he had answers, but he could trust Serena with a secret. And neither Serena nor Mia ever needed to find out the other person knew. Jayden dumped the eggs in a frying pan and turned to Serena, "Chocolate or vanilla?"

"What?"

"Ice-cream flavours. Do you prefer chocolate or vanilla?"

"Depends," Serena shrugged, "Sometimes I get bored with one and choose the other. I don't think I have a favourite ice-cream…"

"So you like them equally?"

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

"Just… can I ask another question? A more personal one?"

"Depends on the question."

"Men or women?"

"Which do I prefer?" Serena asked. "Wait… in what way are we talking? Like friends? More than friends? In general…?"

"More than friends. Romantically."

"Men."

"Have you ever thought about... women?"

"All the time," Serena nodded her head and it surprised Jayden slightly. She shrugged her shoulders, "What? I'm all for trying something new. Besides, after the Dekker incident… incidents, they just seem easier. I wouldn't have to worry about her getting me pregnant. No offense, Terran. Mommy still loves you."

Jayden chuckled slightly, "And it doesn't bother you that you… you know… sometimes have those thoughts?"

"Not really. At first it was kind of weird but then I just… let them happen. There's nothing wrong with appreciating what's in front of you. Why? Have you been having those thoughts?"

"For a while now… but something happened."

"Who did you walk in on?" Serena smirked, "I knew it would happen eventually…"

"I didn't walk in on anyone. Antonio and I were playing a game and… he cheated."

"He cheated and you get these strange uncomfortable thoughts about you and him?"

"No. It was a game of _Go Fish_. He had a card but wouldn't give it up. I reached for it, we ended up wrestling. It was no big deal. It's happened before."

"Boys will be boys," Serena nodded.

"Suddenly we both fell over. He landed flat on top of me and we were… well…" Jayden finished up with the eggs, dumped them on a plate and then walked over to Serena. He put his face right in front of hers, "We were like this."

"You're in my bubble," Serena said, putting two fingers on Jayden's forehead and pushing him away.

"Exactly," Jayden said. "And… I mean, Antonio and I have been close before. But never that close. I knew what he was thinking, and what he wanted to do… but he didn't do it."

"How dare he!" Serena gasped. She lifted Terran to burp him. "You set boundaries and he respects them? The fiend!"

"I know it sounds… odd… but he pulled away and for a split second I didn't want him to. I told him no."

"Like… no don't move, I'm comfortable?"

"Yeah," Jayden nodded. "Then I got uncomfortable because I realised what I said and I ran off…"

"Antonio might be feeling weird then too," Serena said. "Did you talk to him?"

"No… what do I say?"

"How do you feel?"

"I don't know…"

"Did you want to kiss him? You were so close."

"I don't know… should I?"

"Not if you didn't want to," Serena said.

"What confuses me even more is… I can't be gay… I love Amanda. I still do."

"I don't know what to tell you, Jay."

"What did you tell Antonio? You know… when you told him he was gay."

"I didn't tell him he was gay. I suggested it to him and he told me… once he did a little exploring."

"Should I do some exploring? But I'm not gay. I love Amanda."

"I… hmm…" Serena thought for a moment, "Maybe both."

"Alright, whatever. I love Antonio and Amanda… but it's different… right?"

"Did you want to kiss Jayden?"

"I don't know."

"Have you ever wanted to kiss Jayden? Or any other guy? Mike and Kevin are pretty cute… if I'm being honest."

"I… I guess I've thought about it. But that's different from wanting to do something, right?"

"I guess."

"So you have no answers for me?"

"Kiss a guy."

Jayden frowned, "And who am I going to kiss? Mike and Kevin will punch me in the face and if I kiss Antonio I would be sending him the wrong signals," Serena was about to open her mouth but Jayden interrupted her, "and I am not kissing a stranger!"

"You're not adventurous," Serena huffed, seemingly disappointed. Jayden rolled his eyes.

"And you are?"

"I had a romantic relationship with a Nighlok. That's enough adventure."

"If you kiss a girl, I'll consider telling Antonio what happened yesterday night."

"Tell Antonio, and I'll kiss a girl today," Serena smirked.

Jayden was tempted. He had to admit, it was something he wanted to see just for the entertainment and shock value it would have on anyone who saw it or heard about it. He nodded his head. Talking with Antonio couldn't be a bad thing.

"Deal."

Serena got up, "Hold my baby."

"Wait? Now?" Jayden asked as he took Terran from Serena's hands. She nodded her head and gestured to the clock.

"The others should be up by now," she said. Jayden saw she was right. Even on a Saturday, most of the Rangers were up fairly early for morning training.

He followed her to the common room, "Kissing Emily does not count."

"Nor do I want to do that," Serena said. Jayden stood in the doorway and watched Serena join Kevin, Mia, and Emily, and he soon realised who Serena had her sights set on. He tried to contain his laughter.

Mia looked up at Serena approached her, "I thought I heard Terran…"

To Mia's, and everyone else's surprise, she was interrupted by a kiss. And not just a quick peck on the lips. This last for about fifteen seconds before Serena finally pulled away from a shocked Mia.

Serena shrugged her shoulders, "Not bad… I think I prefer James, though."

She walked back over to Jayden, took Terran, and headed back to the kitchen to eat her breakfast.

Mia quickly looked to Kevin both apologetically and to see what his reaction was, "I…"

"I am not complaining," he smirked, "And there is no way I can be mad at that."

Mia turned to Emily for answers, but saw the yellow Ranger was folded on her stool with her face hidden in the cushion. Obviously it had come as a surprise to Emily as well.

So Mia turned to Jayden, "Do you…"

"I was just told to hold the baby," Jayden threw his hands up. He couldn't explain Serena's behaviour without spilling his secret, so he decided to play innocent.

"If you two are having a kissing war… You have my full permission to fight back," Kevin shrugged and smiled playfully at Mia. "I am not going to get in the way of you taking back that kiss she stole."

"I… I don't… I… that never happened," Mia finally decided. She crossed her arms and legs as if the gesture made it official.

Kevin chuckled, "Whatever you say," he reached out and poked Emily, trying to pull her from her ball. Emily was frozen stiff. Kevin poked her again, a little harder. Her whole body tipped to the side slightly, but she didn't get out of her ball.


	212. Talks and Kisses

Jayden had to hold up his end of the promise. He had made a deal with Serena that if she kissed a girl he would talk to Antonio about what happened between them. This was one of the most nerve-wracking things he had ever done, but he knew he had to go through with it.

He just hoped Antonio would be as understanding as Mia and Serena said he would be. A part of him knew his best friend would be happy to hear there was a good reason why Jayden freaked out. But another part of him worried Antonio would get the wrong idea… though Jayden had no idea what the right idea was.

He was in love with Amanda. When he saw her, or when he thought of her, his heart skipped a beat and a feeling of bliss and love overwhelmed him. He was new to the dating game, but he knew what he had with Amanda was and always would be love. Nothing was going to change that.

But what he had, and always had, with Antonio was special. He had never been afraid to be himself around Antonio. He never had to pretend he was something he wasn't. With the exception of his BIG secret, he never had to lie to Antonio. They had been apart for fifteen years, and still picked up right where they left off. He found himself laughing more when he was around Antonio. He always had a good time when he was around Antonio. Antonio could make him feel better about himself.

He loved Antonio.

He used to think it stopped there. He loved Amanda one way and he loved Antonio another. But the line between the two had been blurred since Jayden had stupidly muttered the word no. If he ever reached his old age, and he looked back, that simple utterance would be the moment where his entire life shifted.

Especially after this conversation; once these words were spoken to Antonio, there would be no denying what happened and no going back.

He knocked on the door to the dojo. Antonio hadn't slept in their room so Jayden knew he could find his best friend in there.

"Still sleeping!"

Jayden chuckled and opened the door. He walked inside, pretending like everything was okay.

"The others do use this room, you know. You can't monopolize it."

Antonio sat up and looked at Jayden. He didn't have a million questions running through his head. He just had one: what happened?

Jayden took a seat next to Antonio on the mat, "Can we talk?"

Antonio nodded his head, "Yeah. I've kind of been wondering about…"

"Me too," Jayden said, "I wish I could tell you for sure what I meant… but… I'm not sure."

"Okay…"

"Maybe you can help me."

"Uh… I'll try…" Antonio rubbed the back of his neck, unsure of what was going on. He didn't want to make any assumptions. He didn't want to be wrong.

"Here's the problem," Jayden started, "I love Amanda…"

"You guys are great together," Antonio smiled, "She's really good for you."

"Thanks," Jayden said, "and the way she makes me feel is… it's special… but you do the same thing."

"I…"

"I thought it was just because we were friends. Best friends. We were always close and it just never really occurred to me just how comfortable I felt around you."

"Are you saying…?"

"Does that make me… you know…" Jayden nervously turned to look at Antonio and he was really hoping the gold Ranger could help him out with this. "If I feel this way… am I…?"

"Gay?" Antonio turned as red as Jayden's shirt as he finished the sentence for his best friend. He didn't want to say it, but the word wasn't coming out of Jayden's mouth. Someone had to utter it. He then shrugged his shoulders, "Once incident doesn't make you gay."

"How do you know?"

"Once I got passed the denial… it was pretty easy to see," Antonio said. "I've never really been attracted to girls…"

"I have Amanda…"

"I realised it when you and Amanda… started. When I thought I was losing you. Then Serena kept talking to me and pointed it out. She kind of suggested it. That's when I really started to notice that I was more into men. Dad and I did a little trip of discovery. He took me to a few bars and stuff… I mean, I've never had a relationship before… but looking at the girls, and then looking at the guys… I'd rather be with one of the guys. But it's not black and white. Maybe, in a few years, things will be different. People change their sexuality all the time. It's like… one giant experiment."

"So… it's not just me you find…?"

"Hot? Attractive? You're definitely at the top of my list, but you're not the only guy I look at. Remember, at that new electronic store. I did think that salesman that I hit on was hot. It's just too bad he was straight."

"All the good ones are straight, huh?"

"Yep," Antonio nodded. He looked to Jayden, "So… what do you think this means for you. Was it just a confused thing… because I get how what happened could be confusing… or did you… you know…"

"I don't…"

"You can be honest with me, Jay. I'm not going to jump on you if you tell me you're gay. I have more respect for you and for myself than that."

"Maybe… but that's what confuses me," Jayden sighed, "I'm still so in love with Amanda. The way she looks, the way she makes me feel… everything about that. I just… I don't want to lose it. I can't afford not…"

"First loves always feel that way," Antonio shrugged. "How many people marry the first person they date? How many of those marriages are actually successful?"

"Emily…"

"After everything Mike and Emily have been through, I think they'll make it. But the odds are not on your side."

"Are you trying to break me and Amanda up?" Jayden frowned. He rolled his eyes, "Antonio…"

"I'm just saying, you've got to think with your head. Maybe Amanda is the one for you…"

"How do I figure that out?"

Antonio shrugged his shoulders, "I'm the man who has never been on a date before, remember? What would I know about finding the one?"

"What would you do?"

Antonio shook his head, "I'm biased. I don't want to answer this question."

"Think with your head, Antonio," Jayden touched his arm and then quickly pulled back. It was weird for both of them.

"My head is telling me to tell you to experiment. You and Amanda are broken up."

"We're waiting for each other."

"Be honest with yourself, Jay. If you have these confusing feelings now and you don't let yourself figure them out, imagine what's going to happen in a few years, once the confusion had piled on. After everything you've put her through, you owe it to her to make sure she's the one. And you owe it to her to be honest."

"But I can't be gay if I love her…"

"Dad did ask me once if I thought maybe I was bisexual."

"How do I figure that one out? I just love everybody?"

"I really wish I could give you a straight answer, amigo. This is hard for me too because of… well…"

"Yeah…"

"Only you can give yourself answers. Only you can get them. I'm not saying date and hump every person you see and see who gives you more pleasure. But look around. What turns you on? What turns you off?"

"I… I don't know."

"You owe it to yourself to experiment," Antonio said. "I promise, I won't do anything you're not comfortable with. Even if you're gay or bi… we can be friends and that's all. I don't mind."

Jayden smiled brightly. This was one of the reasons he loved Antonio. He nodded his head.

"Thanks."

-Samurai-

After breakfast, Mia and Emily were doing dishes. The dojo was still occupied by Antonio, and now Jayden, so the Samurai figured they may as well get their other responsibilities done while they were waiting.

Mia washed a plate and then handed it over to Emily. The yellow Ranger stretched out her arm, pinched the plate between two fingers, dried it quickly, and dropped it in the sink.

Mia rolled her eyes, "You're going to break the plates."

"You kissed my sister."

"Your sister kissed me," Mia still had no logical explanation for that, and admittedly, she was just as freaked out as Emily. But she tried to move past it.

"You should get revenge," Mike suggested as he and Kevin walked into the kitchen. Mike had still been in bed when the strange incident happened and he was very disappointed he missed it. Since he had heard what happened, he had been trying to convince Mia that revenge was needed. Mia knew he just wanted to see the kiss with his own eyes.

"No revenge," she shook her head and handed Emily another plate, "She and I will talk later."

"You don't have a thing for my sister, do you?"

"Emily, she kissed me."

"I didn't see you pushing her away…"

"I was surprised!"

"Don't kiss my sister and there will be no more surprises."

"I'm not changing your mind, am I?"

Emily shook her head, "Nope."

Just then, Serena walked into the room. She smiled at Emily and the boys, then winked at Mia.

"Hey, beautiful."

"You're not funny," Mia placed her hands on her hips, "What the hell was that?"

"Relax. It meant nothing. Like I said, I prefer James," Serena smirked and leaned against the counter. "Jayden and I had just been talking about something and one thing led to another."

"Uh… Jayden's not going to come in here and try to kiss one of us, is he?" Mike asked and he pointed to himself and Kevin.

Serena shook her head, "You two are safe."

"So… what led up to you kissing Mia?" Emily asked. "What conversation could you have possibly been having?"

"A complicated one," Serena shrugged. "Look, don't worry about it. It won't happen again."

"It better not."

"Hey, I remember a time when Mia got a little curious herself," Mike smirked. All eyes turned to him curiously. "Remember when that Nighlok bit her and she went crazy on us?"

"I have no idea…" Mia started but Mike smirked wickedly.

"You kissed me."

Emily started to chuckle. Kevin seemed slightly alarmed by Mike's statement, remembering it to be true. Mia had kissed Mike. She hadn't been herself when she had done it, but she had kissed him, and she had tried to kiss Jayden.

Serena turned to the pink Ranger, "Huh, so who haven't you kissed? Apparently, you've hooked up with half the team."

"I…"

"I remember she was going to kiss Jayden, too."

"And Jayden," Serena smirked. "And you're mad at me for kissing you?"

"I… but…"

Emily slowly started to back away, "I'm going to get out of here."

Mia turned to the yellow Ranger, "But we're not done the dishes."

"I'm the only person in this room you haven't kissed. And I would like to keep it that way."

"Technically, Serena kissed me and the Nighlok made me kiss Mike."

"Technically, you've made out with half the team."

Mia scooped up some of the soap bubbles from the sink and clapped her hands together in front of Emily's face, splashing her with bubbles. Emily screeched and jumped before wiping the bubbles on her face.

As Emily did this, Mia placed her hand behind Emily's neck, "You're right. So why don't I just finish what I started…"

"No!" Emily giggled and pulled away from Mia. She darted off and hid behind Mike, using him as a shield. "I'll stop, I promise."

"And as for you…" Mia said and pointed her finger at Serena, "You will…"

"Keep my lips to myself," Serena nodded, "And James."

"Yourself," Emily said.

"Get used to it, Emy."

Kevin wrapped his arms around Mia's waste, "And you'll stop at half the team and keep those lips reserved for me?"

"Of course," Mia nodded and kissed him.


	213. Big Mistakes

Jayden spent a lot of time thinking. He skipped out on training because all the thinking had exhausted him. It had been about a week since he had had his talk with Antonio, and a week since he started pulling himself away from his friends. He wasn't doing it to hurt any of them, or because he was mad at them. He just needed all his spare time to think.

He looked at the lion Zord. His head hurt. He was tired of thinking.

"What do you think?"

The lion shook his head. Jayden let out a sigh. The lion couldn't really help him out. At best, a relationship between two Zords was friendly. They were creatures of romance, though the Ape and the bear, and the dragon and the turtle, were very close, nothing went beyond play.

Jayden thought about that. What he had with Amanda was real, there was no denying that. But with Antonio, did he just play? Was it all just play, and Jayden's inexperience led him to believe something else? He loved Antonio. He also loved Kevin, Mike, Mia, Emily, Serena, Terran, and Mentor. They were all family.

But where was the line. The line that separated family love with romantic love. Jayden had no interest in kissing his teammates (maybe only Antonio), but when he first dated Amanda he hadn't been ready to kiss her. He didn't pounce on her. It took time. Building a relationship took a lot of time. It never just happened. They never just started. One day led to another. Several dates sparked feelings. Feelings started an exclusive relationship. Slowly, an exclusive relationship turned into love. Then, if everything worked out and the two were meant to be together, love turned into marriage, marriage into family. Family meant kids, and the cycle started all over again with them.

Jayden knew that much. If it took time with Amanda, maybe his feelings for Antonio were taking some time as well. Maybe his feelings for other men, or other women were taking their time as well; like they were lost in the mail, or something strange like that. Maybe love would catch up to him.

So was he straight? He didn't know. Was he gay? He didn't know. Was he bi? He didn't know. Was he confused?

Very

Very, very confused.

Suddenly, he heard a knock on his door. He turned and saw Antonio walking in with Terran in his arms.

He held out the baby, "Serena's at school, Mike and Emily are out and Mia and I are going to pick up some groceries for dinner. Mentor's… wherever he goes, so it's just you and Kevin watching the baby."

"I… Are you serious?" Jayden asked as he was handed Terran. Antonio nodded his head.

"I figured a game of house would help you with your thoughts," he said. "I'd stay back with you… but we both know that might get awkward, so I offered to go with Mia so Kevin could stay behind and train."

"You set this up?"

"Don't get mad," Antonio quickly stated, "I probably should have talked to you about it first, but what's the worst that can happen? It's only for a couple of hours anyways."

"What's this going to prove?"

"Playing house is the best way to figure out what you like. Kids do it all the time. Mia admitted she played house day and night when she was a girl and she knows exactly what kind of family she wants."

"But…"

"Just babysit the little fart. If you need help, Kevin will be in the dojo," Antonio smiled. He kissed Terran's head and then rushed off.

Jayden looked down at Terran. The little boy seemed just as confused as the red Ranger. He wasn't used to being left with Jayden. This was going to be a new experience for both of them.

"Something stinks," Jayden frowned. He lifted Terran and sniffed diaper, "Oh… wow that's some powerful stuff. Are you sure you're not a descendant of Yamiror?"

-Samurai-

Serena could hear her footsteps' echoes as she walked down the halls. All the students were in class, and she was patrolling for delinquents. No students belonged in the hall without a pass, and those who were, were usually up to no good.

"It's quiet," she whispered. Even for the middle of second period, the hallways were strangely empty. There was no one around. Not a teacher with planning time, not a student with a full bladder.

Not even Howie, who had threatened Serena several times since he got out of his in-school suspension.

Which meant something was up. She was sure Howie was up to something.

She knew his schedule well. It was the only way she could stay one step ahead of him. She knew where he was headed at all times, and where he was supposed to be. When he wasn't there he was up to something.

So she walked to his class and peeked through the window in the door. His seat was empty, but she had seen him earlier that day. If he wasn't in class, he had to be somewhere else.

Then she saw the time. Second period was almost over. She started down the halls toward the gym and listened carefully for footsteps that could be following her.

She was just about to turn the corner to the gym when she heard Mitch shouting for someone to let him go. She raced around the corner and saw Howie, Jackson, and Grant had pinned Mitch to the lockers.

"Seriously?" she groaned as she approached them. Howie held Mitch by the shirt so Serena place her hand on his shoulder, "Let him go."

"Yeah, Howie, let him prance around in his short skirt like all the other cheerleaders," Grant chuckled.

"Let me go," Mitch tried to push Howie away but the bigger student wouldn't budge.

"Fine," Howie dropped Mitch, "We got what we came for anyways."

"You okay, Mitch?" Serena asked. Mitch nodded his head and straightened out his gym uniform.

"Yeah."

"Get back to class, then," Serena pointed to the doors.

Mitch picked up his water bottle and rushed off inside the gym, but he wasn't going to leave Serena to fend off Howie and the boys by herself. He would tell Coach Smith what happened.

Howie, Jackson, and Grant turned to Serena and surrounded her. Serena rolled her eyes.

"Seriously, guys?"

Howie nodded his head and suddenly Serena was grabbed by Jackson and Grant. She tried to struggle, but Howie punched her in the stomach. The boys were all much taller than she was and they were used to fighting against tough opponents. Not to mention, Serena couldn't beat up the students without losing her job and her only source of income for her son.

"If I can't get back to my job as football captain, you're not going back to yours," Howie said. The three of them grabbed Serena and dragged her away just as the bell rang, marking the end of the period.

Mitch and James popped out of the gym doors as soon as the bell stopped ringing.

"They were right here!" Mitch pointed but quickly realised Serena and the football boys were gone.

"Looks like she took care of it," James smiled. He gave Mitch a pat on the back, "I'm sure you know Serena can take care of herself."

"Yeah… I guess," Mitch nodded, but he had a bad feeling. James held the gym doors open.

"Go get changed, squirt. You don't want to be late for third."

-Samurai-

After an eventful morning with the baby, Jayden was trying to figure out how to feed Terran. He knew how a bottle worked, but Terran was refusing to drink from in.

Kevin finally came into the kitchen after his morning workout. He chuckled when he saw Jayden struggling with Terran.

"He likes looking at your face when he drinks," Kevin said and adjusted Terran in Jayden's arms, "It fascinates him."

"Thanks," Jayden smiled and just like magic, Terran started to drink.

Kevin walked to the fridge, "While you do that, why don't I make us something to eat?"

"Shouldn't Antonio and Mia be back by now?" Jayden asked, looking to the clock.

"Mia's probably dragging Antonio around to a thousand different places for the perfect ingredients," Kevin chuckled. "Didn't you find it odd that I chose not to go with her? Poor fish-boy had no idea what he got himself into. Eggs or ham and cheese?"

"What?"

Kevin held up the bread, "Egg salad sandwich, or ham and cheese?"

"Uh… Egg salad," Jayden nodded and then he looked down at Terran. The milk in the bottle was almost all gone. He was drinking it like he had just come out from a trek in the desert. Jayden was starting to think he should have fed him earlier.

When the milk was gone, Jayden pulled the bottle away and sat Terran on his lap while he looked over at Kevin making his meal. Antonio had been right about this little game of house. It was starting to feel a little real. It was uncomfortable for Jayden because it was Kevin, who had no idea why Antonio had volunteered to accompany Mia out of the house, but when Jayden looked past that, he could tell what Antonio was getting at. He did like this.

But he could also imagine liking a game of house with a woman instead of Kevin. It did nothing to give him a better idea of what he was looking for in a partner.

"You've got burp him or he'll get a little fussy," Kevin said, snapping Jayden from his thoughts. Remembering the proper baby feeding procedure, Jayden nodded his head and held Terran up to burp. He tapped lightly on his back.

Kevin started to smear the egg salad on the bread, "So are you going to join us for training anytime soon? We're all starting to wonder whether or not you'll be too rusty to lead us into battle by the time you do come back."

"I've just got a lot to think about," Jayden said. He heard a burp from Terran and smiled. Then he felt something wet dripping down his back. He moved Terran away from his shoulder. The little boy was smiling contently.

"Uh…" Kevin began to snicker as he realised what had happened, "I forgot to tell you, it's always safer to put a blanket or cloth under him. Babies tend to…"

"What's on my shirt?" Jayden frowned. He touched what looked like goop and sniffed it.

"Take your shirt off," Kevin smirked. He walked a plate over to the table and set it down in front of Jayden, "I'll put it in the machine. That'll have to be washed."

"That's gross."

"You've never wondered why Serena wears at least three shirts a day?" Kevin laughed, "C'mon, Jay, take off your shirt. I'll hold Sir Barfs-a-lot."

Jayden began to blush as he looked down at his shirt. It was the only thing standing between him and being topless.

"C'mon. It's just us. It's not like one of the girls is going to walk in," Kevin held out his hand.

Jayden passed over Terran, "I'll go. I know how to work a washing machine. I'll be back soon."

"No whites!" Kevin called and shook his head. He looked down at Terran, "Uncle Jayden has a bad habit of turning his reds pink. I think he's jealous of Auntie Mia's Ranger colour."

Jayden got to his room and pulled off his shirt. He didn't know why he couldn't do that in the kitchen. It was only Kevin and the blue Ranger had seen him shirtless countless times and there had never been a problem.

Maybe there was a reason to wonder. Jayden wasn't sure he was gay, but he was starting to think bisexual wasn't a crazy guess.

-Samurai-

"This is ridiculous," Mike laughed. He and Emily were standing next to the football field at the school Serena worked at. Emily had insisted they stop by to check up on her. Mike knew she just wanted to make sure James was keeping his hands off her sister, "You don't see Serena spying on us."

"Anymore," Emily muttered to Mike's surprise.

"She used to?"

"Duh. I was her baby sister."

"Was?"

"She doesn't call me that anymore. Not since you and I… you know."

Mike grinned and nodded his head, "I guess I kinda took the baby from you too."

"She's just happy you haven't given me a baby," Emily giggled. She snuck in closer to the school, "You can see the cafeteria through those windows. She should be having lunch with him."

"Coach is a good guy," Mike said, "You should be happy he's the one hitting on your sister."

"After her last boyfriend, I don't trust anyone," Emily said. She walked up to the window and peeked inside.

"We're so getting in trouble if we're caught."

"It's not creepy if I do it. I'm still seventeen. Some of the kids here are older than I am. For all this school knows, I'm a student from a rival school. You keep lookout."

Mike rolled his eyes and turned to make sure no teachers caught him and Emily and thought they were up to trouble. It was then he saw Howie, Jackson, and Grant.

"Hey, Em, I'll be back."

"Where are you going?" Emily asked him.

"The more information I can get from the football team, the more I can help Serena figure them out."

"Fine."

Mike gave her a peck on the cheek and then rushed off to the boys, bumping fists with them as they greeted him.

"Dude, are you back?" Jackson asked.

Mike shook his head, "Sorry guys, I'm still a little sore and my parents are super protective. My girlfriend and I were just stopping by to say hi."

"Serena's sister, right?" Howie asked. Mike nodded his head.

"I know, but hey, outside of school, Serena's pretty cool."

"I find that hard to believe," Grant rolled his eyes, "Dude, Serena kicked Howie off the team. Without him, or you to replace him, we've lost every game since. We've got almost no hope for playoff this year."

Mike sighed. He looked to Howie, "To be fair, you did kind of mess her up with that little stunt. I mean, it was wicked cool how you nailed her right in the head, but don't you think it was kind of extreme?"

"No," Howie shook his head, "She walks in here and thinks she can take over my school! No way. I just put her in her place. Then Coach gets involved, and because he's trying to impress her, he kicks me off. If that isn't bad enough, I got an in-school suspension and I was grounded! My dad was furious!"

"Dudes, c'mon," Mike said, "If I can get her to let me date her little sister, surely you and her can come up with some way to agree on how to run the school. Compromise."

"Won't have to," Howie smirked, "She's never coming back here again."

"What do you mean?" Mike asked.

"Man, shh," Jackson tapped Howie on the arm, "Don't tell him."

"It's cool," Howie said, "Mike's one of us. The football team sticks together, right?"

"Yeah."

"When your little girlfriend asks, you tell her you have no idea what happened, okay?"

"Of course," Mike nodded.

Howie smirked, "We put the bitch out with the trash."

"Wait… what?" Mike frowned, "What does that mean?"

"It means they hurt her," Emily growled. She had given up on trying to spot Serena and had come to see if Mike knew of any other spots she and James would eat lunch. She heard her fiancé talking with the football team, and her years of being tortured by her own bullies meant she understood their code. They had done something to her sister.

"She deserved it," Howie told Emily. "C'mon. She must annoy you at home too. We got her off all our cases."

"Shut up."

"I heard she was supposed to die," Howie smirked, "She would have saved me a lot of trouble if she had just croaked like she was…" Before another sound could escape his lips, Howie was on his back on the ground, with Emily on top of him.

Mike couldn't believe it, "EMILY!"


	214. Punishments

Mentor walked back into the hospital waiting room. After hearing what had happened, he had to step away before he really lost it.

Howie and the boys had made a big mistake picking on Serena when Emily was nearby. As protective as Serena was over Emily, nothing could compare to how dangerous Emily was when her sister was in trouble. Emily had almost lost Serena and never wanted that to happen again.

She had beaten up Howie pretty good. He was also in the hospital getting checked over.

Sadly, the fight hadn't broken up when Mike pulled Emily off Howie. Jackson and Grant weren't about to let their former captain take a beating from a girl. The only thing that had stopped the fight was James. He had come out to see if he could find Serena and saw his football team and Mike and Emily in a less than friendly affair. Mike held Emily back while James sent Grant and Jackson to the principal's office to wait for further instructions before they got the chance to get their hands dirty.

When the two boys were gone, Serena was found in the dumpster and Howie had reluctantly admitted to dumping her there. He did, however, claim he had no idea why she was covered in bruises. According to him, Jackson, and Grant, they found her the way they did and dumped her to get back at her for kicking him off the team. No one believed him.

James had decided that both Serena and Howie needed to see a doctor and he drove them to the emergency room. Once there, Howie's parents were called, and Mike had called the others to tell them what happened. Jayden stayed behind to watch Terran, but Kevin, Mia, Antonio, and Mentor all rushed over.

As Mentor walked back into the waiting room, he heard Mia screaming at Emily, reducing the young yellow Rangers to tears. She had upset Mia before, but never like this.

"But he…"

"I don't care what he did!" Mia shouted, "You should know better!"

"I…"

"Shut up, Emily," Mia growled. She pointed to the ice pack in Emily's hands, "Ice it and shut up."

Emily did as she was told and pressed the ice pack to her left cheek. It was the only sign that she had been part of the fight. When Howie realised Emily was too strong to simply hold off, he had fought back and punched her in the face. That was when Mike finally managed to grab her and pull her away from the boys.

"I'm going for a walk," Mia announced and stormed outside. Kevin gave Emily a look before he followed Mia.

Antonio plopped himself down in the seat next to Emily. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"I think that punk deserved it," Antonio smirked.

Mentor cleared his throat, announcing his arrival. Antonio's arm fell away from Emily and he shifted to the other side of his seat. Mentor stood in front of Emily and glared down at her.

"Any news on Serena?"

"Doctors said we should be able to take her home… but Howie got what he wanted. She won't be able to go back to school for a few days. She needs to rest."

"Get in the car," Mentor pointed to the doors, "I will bring her home once the doctors release her."

"But…"

"Emily, car," Mentor Ji growled. Emily got up, handed him the ice pack, and walked out of the waiting room. Antonio and Mike followed her. They needed to find Mia and Kevin so they could all drive home, though Mike was sure Emily was going to prefer walking the entire way back by herself. The drive was going to be very tense.

Mentor watched his Samurai leave and then felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around and saw a man and woman looking at him.

"You're the little terror's father?"

"Uncle," Ji said, "She's staying with me. Her and her sister."

"We apologise for what Howie did to her sister. He finally admitted he was the one who inflicted the bruises and we will get him to apologize. But what that little monster did to our son…"

"Is unforgivable," Ji nodded his head, "I understand completely. I can assure you, I will be having a long talk and she will be severely punished."

"She's wild," Howie's mother stated, "She should be locked up!"

"Your son did provoke her."

"I don't care what he did to her sister. She had no right getting involved! She broke his nose! She's half his size and she managed to break his nose! She's a freaking maniac!"

"You handle your own son. At least my niece had the guts to take on three bigger opponents on her own. Your son and his little friends teamed up against Serena and they had threatened her numerous times."

"Until today, I don't recall him ever doing anything! Besides, Serena doesn't have any broken bones! She's just going to be really, really sore."

"A fractured rib, sweetheart," Howie's father reminded his wife. "Howie did fracture her rib."

"Whatever…"

"Not whatever," Howie's father said. He turned to Mentor Ji, "I am not happy with what your niece did, but you may have a point. Howie did, in a way, provoke her. If someone threatened my brother, I would get involved to."

"You're lucky we're not calling the cops," Howie's mother said to Ji. "I could get that little bitch behind bars in a matter of hours…"

"Mam, I understand you're upset," Ji said, trying not to growl in her face. He was mad at Emily, but he would never stand by and let anyone insult his Samurai, "but please, shut up before _you_ provoke _me_."

Howie's mother screeched. She grabbed her husband by the arm, "Did you hear him."

"Darling, why don't you get us something to drink?" Howie's father slipped her some money and send her to the cafeteria. His wife left in a huff. Ji could finally breathe. He looked to the other man.

"I do apologize for my niece."

"Like I said, Howie did provoke her. I will have a talk with my son and I can assure you his behaviour will stop. But if your niece does do anything like this again, I will not hesitate to get the police involved."

"Of course," Ji nodded his head. "By all means. And I'm sure Serena would appreciate it if something was done about Howie's attitude. He was the one who gave her a concussion only a few weeks ago."

"He did?" Howie's father asked and sounded very surprised. Ji was also surprised to hear this.

"You didn't know?"

"Howie's been hiding stuff from us for years," the man said. "He learned to forge my signature when he was ten. I've changed it time and time again, but the little man's a master. I haven't received a note from the school in years."

"From what I hear, your son's been ring leader in the school's dangerous behaviour. My niece, Serena, was hired to get the bullying under control. From what she tells me, Howie was the root of the problem."

Howie's father sighed loudly, "You know what… I am not surprised by this. My wife will be when I tell her. I can't believe him, I thought I raised him better than that!"

"Try to understand where he's coming from," Ji suggested. "While my own son's never been a problem, I have had my fair share of tough parenting moments. I've got a houseful of kids at home every day. Sometimes kids don't need punishment. They need direction."

"I will try to remember that," Howie's father sighed, "Though his behaviour will not go unpunished. That's for sure."

"He is your son. You will do with him as you see fit. But, just as you will come after my niece if she threatens your boy, if young Mr. Howie does anything to my nieces, I will deal with him as I see fit."

"Understood," Howie said and shook hands with Ji.

-Samurai-

Terran was sleeping and everyone was out of the house, giving Jayden a little time to explore. He had borrowed Antonio's laptop and was looking up some information about sexuality on the internet. Right now he was entertaining himself with moments of discovery from other people who realised they were gay or bisexual. Some of them were rather complicated and long, spanning over years and years of confusion. Others were short. Some always knew, it was just a matter of coming out to their friends and family.

This didn't help Jayden figure himself out, but at least he wasn't alone.

He heard the front doors opening and shut the laptop. He jumped to his feet and raced into the hallway.

"Emily…" he started, ready to discuss with her what had happened but Mia cut him off and sent Emily to hers and Kevin's room. Jayden wasn't really sure why, but he suddenly did not want to be in Emily's place. He looked to the boys, "Is it as bad as…"

"Howie's definitely going to be humiliated when he goes back to school. He got beat up by the little dyslexic kid who did the speech. Everyone remembers her," Mike muttered.

"It'll be a huge blow to his ego, at least. And once other kids hear Emily managed to beat him up, I'm sure they won't be as scared of Howie."

"Or he'll come back worse," Kevin said. "Something tells me he has no shame," Kevin turned to Jayden, "he left that shiner on her face. I feel like shit when I hurt her accidentally. I couldn't imagine doing it on purpose."

"He's always been scum," Mike shrugged his shoulders, "I've hears some stories from the other boys. I'm not surprised he hit her back. I'm surprised it took that long, though."

"For what it's worth, I'm proud of her," Antonio said. The boys all looked at him. He shrugged his shoulders, "What? That dick had it coming! You guys saw what he did to Serena. If Emily hadn't of beaten him up, I would have."

"Emily knows better than to…" Kevin started but Antonio cut him off.

"She didn't kill the kid. And knowing what he's done to Serena before, he had it coming. He's lucky it was only Emily pounding into him and not one of us. Face it; we'd have done the exact same thing."

"That doesn't make it right," Kevin said. "She could have gotten herself in a lot of trouble! She had no right to…"

"C'mon," Antonio chuckled, "The five-foot cutie beats up six-foot-two football jock and his friends. He goes to hospital for bruising and broken nose, the other boys are too scared to fight back, and she only comes out with a bruise on her cheek? That's a story the cops would believe. If any one of us got in trouble, I'm sure the cops would have found a way to pin the blame on Mike."

"Hey!"

"Sorry, amigo. You beating up the jocks sounds a lot more believable."

"Fortunately, the cops weren't called," Kevin said. "I'm going to the dojo."

"I'll join," Mike said, "I can hear Mia screaming from here and I don't like it."

While Blue and Green went to work off their frustration, Antonio turned to Jayden.

"How was house?"

"It got awkward," Jayden sighed. "Thanks."

"Kevin didn't find out, did he?"

"No… but Terran barfed on my shirt and… I couldn't take it off in front of Kevin. I got nervous."

"You've done it a million times."

"I know… but…"Jayden sighed and trailed off.

Antonio reached for his laptop. He opened it up and saw the website that was up. He turned to Jayden.

"Your doing?"

"Yeah… sorry. I didn't want to borrow the others' because… well…"

"That's cool," Antonio smiled. He passed the laptop back to Jayden, "You can use it. You'll be safe in our room. I'll go train with Mike and Kevin or something."

"Thanks."

"No problem. I know how confusing it gets. Anything I can do to help, just let me know."

-Samurai-

Emily didn't know what was worse, the pain in her cheek, or hearing Mia scream at her. She knew what she had done was wrong, but she didn't regret it. Mia seemed to know and was trying to drill the consequences of her actions into her head.

It was working. Emily still had no regrets except getting caught. She should have waited for night time and a dark ally, like all the other scumbags.

"But he…"

"Emily, shut up," Mia growled, "I don't want to hear any butts! Do you know how disappointed your parents would be if they knew? They did not train you for this!"

"But…"

"We fight Nighlok! That's it!"

"But…"

"Do you think Serena's going to be happy to hear what you did?" Mia shouted and finally she saw she had Emily's full attention. The younger Samurai looked up horrified. Mia continued, too furious to calm down, "Howie should not have been able to do what he did to Serena. She had it in her to fight back! Those boys are weak compared to her! But do you think she did? Do you?"

Emily didn't answer. She lowered her head and pulled her knees to her chest. Mia paced back and forth in front of the bed, trying not to lash out like Emily had on Howie.

"I'm sure Serena's going to be disappointed when she gets home," Mia growled. "And poor Terran, look at the example you've set for him! He's going to have a hard enough time fighting off his Nighlok-half. He doesn't need his sweet Aunt Emy showing his that violence is the answer."

Tears welled up in Emily's eyes but Mia didn't cave. Not this time. She stormed over to her door.

"I'll let Mentor Ji deal with the rest of your punishment. For now you stay in here. Don't move, don't touch a damned thing, Emily."

"Mia…"

"Not a sound!" Mia screamed and then slammed the door. She needed another walk.


	215. A Consequence

Mentor Ji helped Serena into the house. She had been hurt worse before, and so she was convinced this was nothing to worry about and insisted she was good enough to return to work, but Mentor wanted to follow the doctor's orders. She would rest up for at least a few days and then he would see if she was ready to go back.

He hadn't told her about Emily. Serena had seen Howie and was wondering what happened, but Mentor was silent on the matter.

He walked her to her room, got her settled and comfortable with Terran, whom she was more than happy to play with, and then he went out in search of Emily. On his way, he ordered the boys to pull out everything from her room.

Kevin and Mike felt bad. They had been punished like this before and knew just how painful it was. But Mentor had no tolerance for violence. He wasn't going to let Emily's behaviour go because she had been provoked or because she was the baby. She insisted she be treated like the other Samurai, so she was going to be treated like the other Samurai.

When Mentor found Mia, he was pointed to her room. She told him Emily was waiting there for him. It would take the boys a while to get everything out of her room (and he did mean everything), but that gave him a chance to talk with her.

He walked into the bedroom. Emily was in the same position Mia had left her. Mentor felt bad but he knew what he had to do.

"I am very disappointed, Emily."

Emily didn't say a word. Mentor sat down next to her on the bed.

"You know better than to use your training to hurt others. What made you think this was a good idea? You could have seriously hurt him. You could have gotten yourself in a lot of trouble. His mother was furious."

Still, Emily didn't say a word. Mentor knew she had it in her to remain silent no matter how hard he tried to get her to speak. She had done it once before.

"When your sister goes back to school, you will go with her. You will write up a letter of apology to Howie and you will deliver it to him personally. You will say what you mean and you will mean what you say. You will apologize to him as you hand him the letter, then you will come straight home. You will not wait for a reply from him; you will not speak to him except to apologize. Am I clear?"

Emily didn't say anything.

"I know you care for your sister, but what possessed you to do this, Emily?" Mentor asked her. "You are the last Samurai I would have expected this from. Normally you are the one breaking up fights."

"I'm not sorry I hit him," Emily said. "He deserved it."

"Then you will have a hard time writing up that apology."

"You said to say what I mean and mean what I say. Apologizing would be lying. He hurt Serena."

"You had no right to go after him! You knew you could hurt him!"

"He deserved it!"

"Emily…"

"No. He deserved that broken nose and everything else I did. I'm sorry I had to be the one to put him in his place, but he deserved it!"

"Emily…"

"He's probably beat up so many other kids before. Now he thinks he can pick on my sister? Someone had to show him! I'm not sorry! I'll write him a letter and tell him exactly what I think. And I'll mean every word of it."

"I will read your letter before you send it out," Mentor told her. "You will not…"

"You're not getting an apology from me! He hurt her! He smacked her head twice and then he beat her up and left her in the dumpster! He deserved his broken nose!"

There was a knock on the door. Emily curled back up into her ball and fell silent. Mentor looked up and saw Kevin.

"The room's empty," Kevin said sadly. Mentor nodded his head. He was not getting through to Emily just yet. Hopefully when she calmed down he could get her to apologize. He knew, deep down, she did feel sorry for her actions. She was Emily, after all. She apologized for everything.

"Show her to her room and explain to her the rules," Mentor instructed Kevin, who nodded his head. Mentor got up, but before he left he looked at Emily, "Until I can trust you around the others without worrying you will hurt them, you will be confined to your room with no privileges."

Mentor walked out and Kevin signalled for Emily to follow him. She got up and did as she was told.

Kevin followed Mentor Ji, who did a quick inspection of the room before he continued down the hall. Kevin stopped in front of Emily's door but before he let her walk in he traced a symbol. Monkey the Ape appeared in his hands and he passed it to Emily who hugged it.

"We're not totally cruel," he told her with a faint smile, "but everything else is gone. The pillows, the blankets, the pictures, your clothes…"

"I get it," Emily whispered. Kevin grabbed her arms and looked her in the eyes

"Look, for what it's worth, the bruising and stuff will heal. Mentor and Mia… they just want to make sure this'll never happen again. So do the rest of us. You had no right to…"

"You don't have a sister. You don't know," Emily whispered to Kevin, "I had every right."

He sighed and looked down at her, "You're wrong, Em. I do have a sister. I'd do the same for her," he kissed her forehead and then gently pushed her into her room, "You still need to think about what you did."

"I'm not going down without a fight," Emily said.

"You never do," Kevin smirked.

-Samurai-

"Is it safe to come in?" Antonio asked. He held his hand over his eyes while the other was outstretched and waving around so he wouldn't bump into something as he entered his and Jayden's room. The red Ranger chuckled.

"I'm not watching porn."

"I don't know what you do," Antonio opened his eyes and smiled, "Discover anything yet?"

"Nothing yet. Most of what I found is just more information on what being gay and bisexual means. I still don't know if I'm either."

"I think you should date around," Antonio suggested. Jayden shot him a look, "What? I never said you should date me! I said around. Like… go find a man, see what happens. Or a woman. Whatever you're more comfortable with."

"Both… I think."

"So you're leaning more towards bi?"

"But… that could just be… am I hanging on to Amanda?"

"Definitely not," Antonio shook his head, "You love her. That was real. Even I can see that. But plenty of gays had heterosexual relationships."

"I know," Jayden said, "It's just… I don't want anything complicated. I want an easy life. When this Samurai stuff is done, I don't want to be the weird gay guy… no offense."

"You want to be normal?"

"Yeah."

"Do you need to be in a relationship right now?" Antonio asked as he walked over to Jayden. The red Ranger shook his head.

"It's too dangerous. After what happened to Amanda…"

Antonio closed the laptop, "Then don't worry about it. Love will happen when it happens. And you can talk to me anytime. I won't judge. If you find yourself attracted to a guy, we can see if it's curiosity or real attraction. And Mike and Kevin can help with the girl stuff without ever knowing you're curious."

"So if I find a man or woman that I'm attracted to…"

"Just go for it. Let it happen. One thing I learned is that there's nothing wrong with the way you feel. You can't help who you fall in love with. Some people fall for the opposite sex, others for the same, some for both."

"I guess I could just let it happen. This has been a big distraction. I haven't trained in days."

"Shall we go train before you turn into tin man, Rusty?" Antonio teased and pulled Jayden out of bed. Suddenly he stopped, "Dammit, dojo's taken. Mike's setting up his room. We'll have to find somewhere else to train."

"Doesn't Mike have his own room?"

"Emily's in their room being punished," Antonio said. "Mentor's not happy and the punishment for violence is removal of all privileges and isolation so no one else gets attacked."

"Like what Kevin and Mike went through? He's doing that to Em?"

Antonio nodded, "Personally, I think she's justified. That Howie punk deserved more than what he got. No one else agrees with me."

"She shouldn't have attacked him."

"C'mon! When they found Serena, she was in a dumpster and barely conscious. Don't tell me the sicko didn't get what was coming."

"Let's agree to partially disagree," Jayden smirked. "As much as I think Emily shouldn't have hit him, even once… I would have loved to see it happen."

-Samurai-

Mia was pacing in the common room. She had lost her temper with Emily so many times but she couldn't do anything about it. Her little yellow Ranger had terrified her and disappointed her.

When she first got the call from Mike she had been told that Emily had been in a fight and was now at the hospital. Of course, given Emily's record, Mia thought Emily had been admitted to the hospital, not the other guy. Part of her losing her temper was her feeling relieved and she had screamed at Emily for it.

But then disappointment washed over her. Every part of Mia understood what Emily had done. Had Mia been in Emily's place, defending Serena, she would have done the exact same thing, or maybe more. She didn't have any biological sisters, which had been an argument Emily tried to use to convince Mia she had no idea what really happened, but Serena was her sister, and Emily was her sister. She didn't need blood or paper to prove it. She knew exactly what Emily felt.

And while she was sure she would have done the same thing, part of her wanted to believe she would have risen above her anger and she would have done what was right. She would have let Howie face his consequences without the broken nose and she would have gone to find Serena. She had convinced herself and Emily that that was what she would have done.

She didn't regret yelling at Emily. But she did regret two things she had done when she yelled.

Without knowing how Serena would feel once she learned of the incident, Mia had told Emily that she had likely disappointed Serena, and it crushed Emily. If it was true, then it was true, but Mia had no right to make that assumption. If Serena was disappointed, it was up to her to tell Emily and it was up to her to handle what came after that. Mia knew Emily always did what she could to make Serena proud. Disappointing her was one of the worst things that could happen to Emily.

Mia also felt bad for getting Terran involved. She had no right bringing the baby up. She had been trying to tell Emily she needed to think about how her actions would affect others, especially those who looked up to her (because Emily did have some admirers), but she had used Terran and that wasn't fair. He would never remember this day. It had been a cheap shot that hurt Emily. Mia was going to apologize once she was calm and once Emily was calm.

She heard footsteps approaching the room. She saw Serena walking in.

"You shouldn't be out of bed. Doctor's…"

"Doctor can go screw himself," Serena muttered. "I've have enough bed rest in my time. Unless you want to tell me I'm dying, I'll do what I want."

"Your rib…"

"Will be fine," Serena assured her, "Now where's Emily. I was sure she would have come once she heard what happened."

"I, uh… she… well…"

"Is she okay?" Serena asked, "You told her I was fine, right? She hears my name and hospital and freaks out every time…"

"She knows," Mia assured the older Samurai and then pointed to a stool, "You might want to have a seat."

Serena didn't like the sound of that. Her going to the hospital always freaked Emily out, and for good reason too. Nothing good ever happened when Serena went to the hospital. She was hoping that would change when Terran was born, but he hadn't been delivered in a hospital so Serena had never gone for a good reason. Always bad, and it always worried her sister.

She remembered hearing stories back when she was sick. Stories of the things Emily would do when Serena had to be taken down to the hospital, even for a routine check-up in the early stages of her illness. Emily would lock herself in her room and cry until Serena came home. Or, she would break one of her favourite toys, a toy she knew only Serena could fix, and would scream and cry until Serena was home. Sometime, she would try to hurt herself so she could go to the hospital too, thinking she could be with her sister.

So when Mia told Serena to take a seat, a thousand possibilities raced through her mind.

Then Mia told her what had really happened.


	216. If the Roles Were Switched

Jayden finished up his shower after training with Antonio. They had train outside, but they had sweated so much they forgot it was the middle of winter.

As he went to put his clothes in the wash, he walked by Mike and Emily's room. He knew Emily was locked inside as part of her punishment, and part of him was glad Mentor was treating her like the others. He knew Emily was likely thankful for it. She had been begging for over a year that everyone treat her equally.

But the look on Mentor's face seemed far from satisfied. He knew punishments were never supposed to be fun for neither the giving nor receiving party, but Mentor should have at least been happy knowing he was doing the right thing.

"Are you okay?"

Mentor finally broke his stare away from Emily's room and sighed. He shook his head.

"This was much easier to do with Kevin and Mike."

"Kevin and Mike don't wear pigtails," Jayden chuckled. "Even with Terran in the house, she's still the baby. No one likes disciplining the baby."

"You are right," Mentor nodded, "But I'm sure she's learned her lesson."

"Same here," Jayden said. "I'm sure she learned it the minute the fight broke up. But learning your lesson, and learning there are consequences to your actions, are two different things. At least she's here and not with the cops. We both know it could have ended worse than it did."

"One Ranger with a criminal record…"

"And it's not green," Jayden chuckled. Mentor shot him a look but Jayden shrugged, "Oh, c'mon, you've been thinking it since day one."

"I trust she will stay in her room," Mentor said, "I need a tea."

"Laundry," Jayden said, holding up his sweaty training uniform and both men parted ways.

-Samurai-

Serena couldn't believe her ears.

"It must have been a set up. Why would Emily even be at my school?"

Mia sighed, "She and Mike were out and apparently she wanted to check up on you and James."

"When will she get over that?" Serena rolled her eyes and groaned, then regretted it as she clutched her ribs, "It's not like I've never dated before."

"Remember how the last relationship ended, and ended, and ended…"

"Okay, that one was bad, but…"

"She worries," Mia said, "And she was there. She did attack him."

"Do you know why?"

"Emily just said it was because of what he did to you. I believe it."

"I never should have taught that kid to fight," Serena shook her head.

"It was for Samurai training," Mia said, "You never thought she'd use it for evil."

"What she did was hardly evil. Howie had it coming."

"That's what Antonio says."

"What did Mike say? He was there. He knows what happened."

"He doesn't say much."

Serena ran her hand through her hair, "God… I can't believe it. Are you sure…"

"Positive."

"She beat up Howie? My little sister beat up Howie? What about Jackson and Grant?"

"According to Mike they saw everything, but Emily had Howie beat pretty quickly and they chickened out.."

"I should have known they were cowards."

"Hey, Mia!" Kevin called as he walked into the common room, laptop in hands. He stopped when he saw Serena, "Oh, you're up."

"What's up, Kevin?"

"Uh…" Kevin started to lower the screen. He wasn't sure if Serena knew what Emily had done, and he didn't want to be the one to tell her, "It's…"

Mia could tell why Kevin was nervous and shook her head, "I just told her. She knows."

"Emy beat up Howie," Serena said so Kevin knew Mia was telling the truth, not that she doubted Kevin trusted her.

Kevin lifted the screen and set the laptop down on the table, "Then you both might want to see this. Apparently some kid was just around the corner. Caught everything with his camera phone and posted it on YouTube."

"Just because I said I don't believe it, doesn't mean I want proof," Serena said. Kevin shook his head.

"No, you should hear this."

Serena and Mia turned to the screen.

"Psycho Shrimp Beats up Ex-Star Football Player?" Serena read the title of the video, "Emily's not a psycho."

"She's psycho for taking him on," Mia shrugged, "He's twice her size in every way."

"Just listen," Kevin said and hit the play button. The three of them watched the exchange between Mike, Howie and the boys. Serena was less than flattered by some of his words, but knew he had to say some unflattering things so the football team could trust him.

"This happened just after they beat me up," Serena said. "They just missed it."

"Imagine what Emily would have done if she had seen that," Mia muttered. Kevin silenced them both.

_"It means they hurt her."_

_"She deserved it. C'mon. She must annoy you at home too. We got her off all our cases."_

_"Shut up."_

_"I heard she was supposed to die. She would have saved me a lot of trouble if she had just croaked like she was…"_

The fight started. Kevin let it go for a few more seconds before he closed the laptop and turned to the girls.

"She still shouldn't have hit him, but I would have given him a good pounding too. I said it before, but I really mean it now."

"We have to take this video down before the press or someone bad…" Mia started. Kevin gave her a smile.

"Antonio's already working on it. You didn't think I would let something like this spread."

"View count says people have seen it already."

"Only about a dozen. If Antonio can get it down before tomorrow no one will know it exists. It'll just be a rumour that the top jock in school got his ass handed to him by Emily. And I doubt his pride will let that rumour go around. By the end of the week, people will be looking for a big man, not a little girl."

Serena let out a loud sigh, "She's in lockdown, right?"

"Emily? Yeah," Kevin nodded, "Mentor's thinking two days."

"Don't tell him I saw her," Serena got up and walked out. Kevin and Mia traded looks.

-Samurai-

When Serena got to Emily's room she walked right in. If she knocked, she risked someone hearing it, especially Mentor. He had a habit of lurking just around the corner.

She looked around the room. She hated to see it so bare. The bed was stripped, all the drawers in her dresser and night table were gone, the picture frames has disappeared. Everything that meant anything to Emily was gone. Serena knew how much Emily cherished the stuff in her room. In fact, they were only in her room because she cherished them. It made the punishment much harder.

Serena found Emily curled up against the wall, fast asleep. There was nothing else to do in the room but sleep. Serena was thankful someone had left Emily with Monkey the Ape, which was wrapped tightly in Emily's arms.

She knelt down, holding her ribs as she did so, and she reached for her sister's shoulder, "Emy," she shook gently, waking her sister, "Emily, I want to talk."

"I'm grounded," Emily whispered and buried her face in her arms. She knew it was Serena and didn't want to talk to her sister, fearing Mia's assumptions were right. She knew they were right. She knew Serena would be disappointed.

And Serena was, but the issue was more complicated than that. She wanted Emily to know that she was disappointed and that there were a million other things she could have done. But she also wanted Emily to know that her actions were understandable.

"Ji can't ground you. I do," Serena chuckled. Despite the pain in her ribs, she pulled her sister into her arms, "I have more rights than he does."

"Go away."

"Emily, just listen to me…"

"I'm not sorry. Not even you can make me say it."

"I know," Serena nodded her head, "but…"

"You're disappointed. I get it, okay…"

"Emily, stop it," Serena grabbed Emily's arms and pushed her away so she could look at her, "I am disappointed. You had no right getting involved. You had no reason to be near the school in the first place. I am the adult and I will do as I please. You are the little sister."

"No…"

"I know you don't like it, but that's the way it is. When I'm eighty and you're seventy-two, you're still going to be the little sister."

"You would still be in that dumpster," Emily whispered. "You're lucky I was there."

"James would have started looking for me. We meet up for lunch every day."

"I know."

"Emily…"

"Please go away."

Serena sighed and pulled her sister back in for a hug, "I am so disappointed, Emily. You shouldn't have been there. You shouldn't have started that fight. Swords and fists are not for when you get pissed."

"So I should have ignored him?" Emily asked.

Serena nodded her head, "Yes. What he says can't hurt you and it can't hurt me. I am responsible for handling punks like him, not you."

"But…"

"No buts," Serena said, "Emily… I hate what you did. I really, really do. You shouldn't have been going to the school, you shouldn't have been checking up on me, you shouldn't have gotten involved with Howie and the boys and you should not have, should never have punched the living daylights out of him! You know better! I taught you better! I never once thought you would ever beat anyone up, for any reason!"

Serena heard Emily sniffle. She hugged her sister closer.

"But I do get it," she whispered. "I know why you did it. When I go back to school I will have a lot of damage control to do, but I will back you up, I swear. As long as you admit that what you did was a mistake, I will be on your side."

"I'm not sorry."

"What you did was wrong," Serena stated sternly. She was not going to budge on that no matter how much Emily insisted, "Why you did it is another matter."

Serena kissed Emily's forehead and then pulled away from her. She got up to her feet, clutching her ribs as she did so. Emily watched sadly. Serena was going to leave and she was going to be stuck on her own again until Mentor decided she had been punished enough. She didn't regret what she did, but she had definitely learned to reserve her fists of fury only for the really deserving scumbags of planet Earth.

-Samurai-

Serena wouldn't let this just sit. Emily deserved her punishment no matter her reasons for beating up Howie, but in light of Emily's true reasons, Serena was hoping an adjustment could be made.

She approached Mentor Ji. He was surprised to see her out of bed but figured it had to be important.

She opened her mouth to say Emily and Mentor could read her lips. He shook his head.

"I don't like it either, but…"

"Emily's not like Kevin and Mike," Serena said, "She loses her temper, sure, but what Howie said…"

"It doesn't matter what he said, Serena," Mentor shook his head again, "Emily knows better…"

"I'm just asking you to cut her punishment in half," Serena said, "Let her out tomorrow night. This'll kill her more than anyone else."

"If I continue to bend the rules for Emily…"

"You're not bending the rules. You're fitting the punishment to the crime and the person. Howie implied he wished I was dead. He said he wished my illness killed me. That's when Emily hit him."

"Serena…"

"Emily's punished. I agree with that. I would do the same thing if I were you. But you punished her when you thought she just attacked him because he hurt me. Now you know what he said. You know you can't say things like that to Emily."

"Not everyone knows Emily's sensitivity. She needs to control herself."

"Thirteen years of being picked on and this is the first time she's gotten into a fight. I think she knows how to control herself. And she's still being punished. When this is done, tomorrow night, she'll know never to do it again."

"Serena, if I change my mind now…"

"She's my sister, Ji," Serena growled. "I get you're trying to do what's best for her and I'm willing to let you do it until tomorrow night. I know what's best for her. I've had to punish her before."

"Serena…"

"I've had to punish her more than my parents have. I know what I'm doing."

Ji sighed, "Tomorrow night her things will be returned by me, but she will continue to spend the night in her room. The following morning I will let her out."

"Ji…"

"Halfway between what I wanted and what you want," Ji said, "Can we agree on that?"

"I guess it's not like she can really hang out with anyone at night anyways. They'll be getting ready to sleep," Serena shrugged her shoulders and nodded, "Alright, agreed."

"Now off to bed, Serena," Mentor said, "You should not be up. You should be resting."

"Mentor…"

"I will not discuss it. With the exception of caring for Terran, you will remain in bed."

Serena rolled her eyes, "Fine… but only because I am tired," she was about to leave when she heard Mentor call her name. She turned around, "Yes?"

"I overheard your discussion with Emily," Mentor said and a slight smirk appeared on his lips when Serena seemed surprised. She had been sure he hadn't been around when she slipped into Emily's room. "The age gap between you and your sister does put you in an awkward position, especially given what happened with your mother, but please remember that you are just her sister. She has just as much right to protect and worry for you as you do her."

"I can take care of Howie, Mentor…"

"I was talking about your new beau," Mentor said. "Don't tell me, if the roles weren't reversed, you wouldn't have gone to check up on Emily and her new boyfriend."

"Mentor, I'm an adult."

"An adult with a sister who loves you enough to make sure you don't get your heart broken again. Given her dating history compared to yours, I think Emily has a right to double check your choices in partners."

"Just because she landed a husband in her first shot…" Serena started but Mentor shot her a look. She groaned, "Fine, she can be a bit nosy, but once I introduce her and James properly and she sees he's not a bad guy, she'll have to lay off."

"You're still keeping a watchful eye on Mike."

"Only because… but that's just… Emily's… shut up, Mentor."

"Off to bed," Mentor waved her out of the room, "The more you move around, the more you risk further injury to your ribs."


	217. Nobody Said It Was Easy

The house was quiet.

Too quiet.

Jayden picked up one of Terran's toys and pressed the button. It lit up and started to sing and dance. Normally the Rangers hated when the toy was on. Not only was the song one of the most annoying things they'd ever heard, but it was loud.

Today, though, they appreciated the break in silence.

Emily was still locked in her room. She wasn't running around the house, bouncing off the walls, making noise, and having fun. Without her, the house just wasn't the same. There was always a shift when a Ranger was missing, but the louder the Ranger, the more noticeable the shift.

Mike, who was normally also loud, was quiet and understandably so. He agreed with Emily's punishment, but he didn't like it and part of him was worried about her. He remembered what it was like for him when he had been locked in his room with nothing to do. He had survived it, but only just.

A part of him wished he had taken the blame, or he had thrown the first punch instead of Emily. He could handle the consequences and it would have been less of a shock hearing he had been the one involved in the fight. He could hear the others:_ "Mike? Again? Don't you ever learn your lesson?_" His uncontrollable rage would have given him a better excuse for fighting than what Emily had, and something inside Mike told him that if he had been the one involved, the punishment wouldn't have been as bad because everyone expected it. Most of the reaction from Emily's behaviour was pure shock. The others were so surprised, and Mike as well, to hear it was Emily who threw the first punch (and actually won), they didn't know what to do.

Antonio walked into the room with his laptop, "Alright, I got the video down last night, but I can't promise the guy who uploaded it doesn't still have a version on his phone or somewhere."

"Mentor Ji can handle that," Jayden assured Antonio and the others. "We'll just keep an eye out on the internet for these videos until it becomes old news."

"Yeah, you know how kids are," Kevin smiled, "Something else will come and shine brighter and they'll get distracted. They'll forget all about the little munchkin who beat up the big brute."

"I still would have loved to see that," Antonio said, "We all joked she was dangerous, now it's real! She broke his nose."

"It's not funny, Antonio," Mia said and the got up and walked out. Antonio looked to the other boys.

"What did I say? It's true!"

"Mia just feels bad for yelling at Emily," Kevin sighed.

"Duh. I don't care what you guys say, Howie deserved to eat dirt and Emily shouldn't be in trouble! She should be…"

"As big a brute as Howie was, he did not deserve a beating," Jayden said, "No one deserves pain."

"Uh… yeah, some people…"

"No one," Jayden shook his head, "And even if he did, it was not up to Emily to take matters into her own hands. She hurt him, she did so intentionally, and she needs to be punished, just like anyone else would."

"You mess with the bull, you get the horns," Antonio said, "Everyone knows that…"

"What happened between Howie and Serena should stay between Howie and Serena. Emily shouldn't have gotten involved and needs to learn…"

"Jay, she's not a psycho. This is a onetime thing. We all know that! I still don't get…"

"Her behaviour needs to be punished," Jayden said. "I hate it too, Antonio. Personally, Howie got what he deserved. But think logically, Emily gets away with quite a bit already. How long before that starts piling up? Even unintentionally, that could be bad. We treat her like we would anyone else. It's what she asks for and it's what needs to be done. She did the crime and now she needs to know there are consequences."

"Fine, keep her locked up," Antonio's eyes shifted back to his laptop, "but she's not getting words of warning from me when she comes out. I'm praising her. I'm proud of our little monster. We've raised her well."

Jayden rolled his eyes and then noticed something different about the room, "Where's Mike?"

-Samurai-

Mike knew Jayden was right but wanted to believe Antonio. He couldn't listen to the bickering anymore over what needed to be done with Emily.

In a way, Antonio was right. It was a onetime thing. Emily didn't need to be punished because it wouldn't happen again.

But Jayden was also right. She wasn't being punished because of what could happen in the future. Her beating someone up did happen. Her punishment was a result of past actions, not future actions.

Mike did hate it, though. And when Antonio mentioned her being _"locked up"_ he had had it. He got up and snuck out.

He sat in front of her door. When he had been punished, Mentor took the door away, stating Mike had lost his privacy. Mike hadn't liked it, but it did give him and Emily a chance to talk without breaking the rules and it made time go by a little faster.

But this time, Mentor had kept the door so Emily could keep her privacy, but now it was harder to talk to her.

Mike found a way. He always found a way. He made a note with his Samuraizer and slipped it under the door. It never came back so he slid the door open slightly and peeked inside.

Emily was fast asleep on the floor. He was sure it was her way to protest. No one wanted to see her on the floor. He scooped her up carefully and set her down on the bed so she was a little more comfortable. He picked up his note from her floor and put it by her head so she would see it when she woke up.

Then he walked out of the room, closed the door, and sat in the hallway.

-Samurai-

Serena had been confined as well, but this was for recovery. Howie had beaten her pretty well and even managed to fracture one of her ribs. It hurt like hell, but Serena had suffered through worse and she hadn't had her son to distract her.

She was so surprised at how big he was getting and how fast he was growing. But was surprised her most was his grip. He had some of her hair in his hand and seemed perfectly content with tugging and pulling.

"If you want to give mommy a haircut, just say so," Serena got his little fingers open, pulled her hair out of his death grip. She brushed her hair behind her shoulders, out of his reach, and her phone started to ring. She picked it up and smiled. "Hi, James."

She knew he had been worried about her, especially when he had to leave her at the hospital, so she had been expecting his call.

She assured him everything was okay and she would be back at school in a few days. In the meantime, she made him promise to keep an eye out for her. The school was getting better, but it was only an improvement. There was still no permanent change.

Then she was surprised to hear Mitch wanted to speak with her. Clearly she had worried him as well. Mitch generally felt guilty for the things that happened to Serena because she was trying to help him. He knew not to blame himself, but it was hard. He was close with her, and she was close with him, so most of the changes being made were, more or less, being made for him.

And all the hits Serena took were for him, especially this time. He had left the gym to fill up his water bottle and ran into Howie and the boys. They picked on him; Serena rescued him and then ended up in the dumpster.

So she assured him she was fine and even joked around about it to make him feel better. She heard the bell ringing in the background and he suddenly had to leave. He passed the phone back to James.

"Poor kid thinks he should have ended up in the dump," James chuckled. "Stop getting hurt, Serena."

"I'll try," Serena laughed and clutched her ribs. They hurt.

"I was thinking of stopping by… if that's okay," James said. "I just need to see for myself that you're okay."

"I'll be back at school in a few days…"

"I know, I know, but you were the one who tried to convince me you were fine when you had a concussion. I need to see for myself…"

"You don't trust me?" Serena teased.

"Not even a little bit," James teased back. "Please, can I come over? I remember the way and I won't stay for too long. I just…"

"Alright," Serena said, "I'll have a talk with the others but I'm sure I can convince them. Stop by after school."

"I'll see you then."

Serena nodded and hung up the phone. She tossed it on her bed and looked at Terran. He was smiling up at her. She had no idea why. He couldn't possibly know who she was talking to or what it meant.

"Sometimes, kid, you freak me out," Serena muttered. Then it hit her. The smell. She lifted her son and sniffed his diaper.

"God, that's rotten! What the hell do I feed you?"

-Samurai-

Emily was having the worst day of her life.

She still didn't regret her actions, but she was really starting to regret the fact that she had no regrets. Maybe her punishment wouldn't have been as bad if she had just claimed she made a mistake and was sorry for it.

Her room was completely bare. No pictures, no frames, no blankets, no pillows, no clothes, no nothing. There was nothing to look at and nothing to entertain herself with. Even the clock had been taken out of the room because it could have been used as a radio, so Emily had no idea what time it was.

All she had was a note Mike had left her and Monkey the Ape. If she didn't have those two things, she was sure she would have lost her mind by now.

At about midday, or so she assumed, she heard a bunch of muffled voices. She crawled over to her door and lied down on her stomach, peeking through the crack underneath. She couldn't see anything. Just the floor of the outside hallway, but she could hear a little better. There was definitely a conversation going on somewhere else in the house.

Then she heard laughter, big, loud, happy laughter. She wasn't sure how many people were laughing, but her friends were having fun without her.

They had the right to. Just because she was miserable didn't mean they needed to be miserable. She didn't want that. But she was lonely, bored out of her mind, and frustrated, and they were having fun.

She felt tears stinging her eyes and lightly tapped on the door, hoping someone would come and check up on her. They always did. She was their little sister. She could get them to bend and eventually break.

But no one heard her. She hit the door harder. Still, no one came. She pounded her fists into the door. No one showed up.

She got to her feet. Now she was really frustrated. She punched and kicked the door until finally she heard footsteps. Ji opened the door and pointed to her bed. He was not happy.

"Sit down," he told her and Emily listened. She took a seat on her bed. Ji didn't say another word to her. He took down the door and walked off with it.

He made his way to the common room, where all the Rangers, Serena, Terran, and James were gathered. When Serena's boyfriend showed up, everyone decided this was their chance to get to know him better. After Serena's last choice had nearly gotten them killed a number of times, James had a lot of tests to pass, unbeknownst to him.

Ji set the door against the wall and returned to the group with a warning.

"No one is to walk in her hallway for any reason," he said. Unlike Mike and Kevin, Emily had the power to make each and every person in this house cave. He knew Serena had gone to see her, and Mike had been in the room, and it was going to stop. Emily needed this punishment to reflect and she wouldn't get that chance if someone pulled her out early.

"You guys are really taking this punishment thing seriously, huh?" James asked. He had been filled in on why Emily wasn't part of the group.

"I know she doesn't look the part," Serena sighed, "But Emily could have done a lot worse."

"To Howie?" James shook his head, "Seriously? Your little sister could have done worse to the punk I only let join the football team because he ate guys twice her size for breakfast?"

"My sister's deadly."

"What, does she know Kung Fu or something?"

"Sure," Kevin nodded his head, "She knows Kung Fu."

"Still. Emily put Howie in his place," James said, "I mean, knowing him, he probably broke his own nose and blamed her…"

"She broke it," Mike said, "I was there. I saw. She was about to break his arm too when he punched her."

James had his eyes wide in shock. He turned to Serena, "And that little monster was bullied? People back in your hometown weren't afraid to mess with that?"

"It's complicated," Serena said. James shook his head.

"We are never visiting your hometown."

-Samurai-

The days passed (or so it seemed. Really it was only a few hours). Emily could hear muffled speech from down the hall as her friends all spoke and joked and had fun without her. She recognised Mike and Serena's voices and knew even they were having fun without her. It killed her.

So she started making noise again, hoping someone would show up. She made noise by punching or kicking her wall. The first few times, Mentor Ji did show up. The first time he came he told her once to stop and sit on her bed. Emily did as he was told until he was gone. She crawled back off the bed, waited a few minutes, and then started making noise again. The second time Ji had simply pointed to her bed and stared at her, without a word, until she went back to her bed.

When he was gone she got up, kicked the wall and screamed she wasn't sorry. She hoped Mentor would stay and he would try to talk to her, or that someone else would show up. She hoped Mentor would send Mike, or Kevin, or Jayden, or Antonio to have a talk with her. She hoped she could convince them she was right.

But Mentor showed up a third time, pointed to her bed, and walked off without waiting to see if she would follow orders. Naturally, she didn't. She kicked the wall. He never came back. She screamed. He never came back. She kicked and screamed. He never came back. She kicked, screamed, and punched.

He never came back.

So she broke the rules. She crawled out of her room and sat in the hallway. Mia and Kevin's bedroom wasn't far from her room. Even if they saw her and yelled at her, at least it was something.

But Ji walked by, saw Emily was out of her room, and pointed for her to go back in. Emily started testing his limits and Ji was starting to believe she was a child.

She stuck a foot in her room. Ji didn't say a word to her. He continued to point. Emily took off her shoe and threw it into her room. Ji continued to point. Emily pulled off her sock so it was barely hanging on her foot, left the sock in her room and pulled her foot out.

Ji had had enough. Still, without a word, he dragged Emily back into her room, onto her bed, and walked out.

And he had to do this three times before she finally caved.

James was gone before dinner. He had promised to only drop by for a couple of hours and Serena was sure he was happy to leave now that it was Emily vs. Ji. The entire house was starting to feel uncomfortable and her relationship with James hadn't reached the level where he was expected to stay and sit through it.

When dinner did come around, the Rangers ate, for the most part, in silence. Mike continuously glanced down the hall at his and Emily's room. He wanted nothing more than to go and comfort her, but Ji wouldn't allow it. It killed him.

Then he heard a sound that pushed him over the edge. With the house so silent, everyone could hear Emily crying from her bedroom. Mike got up with his plate.

"I'm going to finish eating in the dojo," he whispered and walked off to his makeshift room, where he could close the door and pretend everything was okay.

Ji turned to Serena. The punishment was supposed to be bad, but he wasn't sure what the crying meant. Serena knew Emily better and, as Serena had told him, she had to punish Emily before. It was her call.

But Serena knew Emily had never done this before. She had never punched a guy and deserved such a harsh punishment, but even when she had gotten a time out, or grounded, for little misdemeanours, someone had eventually caved. Serena had only been a child herself when she had to start disciplining Emily, and could never follow through with proper punishments. The more Emily cried, the faster Serena would give up and just talk to her about her actions.

And her mother had always felt guilty for leaving Emily as a baby. Even if it was for Samurai duties, there was no explaining that to a baby. So when Emily started to look even remotely sad, Ellie second guessed herself and let Emily off with a warning. Every time.

Even Jack, who had been the disciplinarian in the house, had always let Emily get away with practically everything. She wasn't his favourite daughter, but she was his special little girl. While Serena had spent most of her life before her illness training with her mother, Jack had a lot of time with Emily. Because no one thought she would ever be a Ranger, she was raised with a normal life. She was daddy's precious baby girl, and she could make his heart melt in seconds.

Serena was about to keep up with tradition when she looked down at Terran. Suddenly, discipline made sense. She didn't want Terran to think he could get away with murder, especially when it was in his blood. She knew Emily knew better and this wasn't an incident that would happen again, but a point needed to be made. Emily needed to apologize for the way she handled things.

So she shook her head.

After that no words were spoken and the table slowly started to shrink. Mia left, then Jayden. Kevin could barely make it much longer and had to get away. Antonio was gone soon after that, muttering something about everyone else being cruel and unfair.

Serena, Ji, and Terran were the only ones left at the table.

"She's throwing a fit," Serena heard Ji say. She nodded her head.

"This is way more complicated than it needs to be. She was just defending me, right?"

"Would you rather be visiting your sister in juvie? Or would you like to be explaining to the police officer why she isn't a danger to society?"

"Okay, so it was bad… but…"

"When she calms down I will have a talk with her," Ji promised. "If she apologizes, the punishment will be lifted. But she will still write that letter to Howie."

"Agreed," Serena lifted Terran and walked off to her room so she didn't have to listen to anymore crying.

Ji held his head in his hands and sighed. Now that he was getting the full taste of parenthood he was starting to think he had hit the jackpot with Jayden. The red Ranger had been easy.


	218. Those Moments

At first, Ji couldn't believe it.

Then it started to sink in.

The house was quiet again. The crying from Emily's room had stopped.

Just as he promised Serena, he got up and started making his way to Emily's room. He could hear some coughing and sniffling from her door as he approached it. He knocked gently on the wall and stepped into her room. She was sobbing into her mattress, but aside from that she was calm.

Ji knew what she needed. He sat down next to her. Without a word he lifted her into his arms and hugged her. It took a few moments, but Emily finally wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him back.

"Emily, I would like for you to listen," he told her. Emily didn't make a sound. Assuming he had her attention he rubbed her back and he continued, "We are all very disappointed by your behaviour yesterday. While that young man did do some very nasty things to you and your sister, you were wrong to fight back. Do you understand that?"

He felt Emily nodding her head in his shoulder.

"Not only do I expect better behaviour and restraint because you are a Samurai, but also because I know you were raised better and I know you know your behaviour is unacceptable. You hurt Howie and things could have been much, much worse. Not just for yourself, but for the team. What if it hadn't been James who showed up, but another teacher? A teacher who decided to get the police involved? Your punishment would have been up to them. Howie's mother, at the time, was so upset, I'm sure if she had gotten the chance she would have pressed charges then and there."

He felt Emily bouncing slightly off his chest as her sobbing turned into hiccups. She was calming down more and more and Ji was happy to see it. Emily wasn't a bad person; she just made a stupid choice.

He pulled her out of his arms and looked at her, "Is there anything you would like to say?"

This was her moment. Ji was really, really hoping that what he was trying to tell her finally sunk in. He hated doing this and any excuse she gave him to end the punishment early, he would take, but only if it was a good excuse. Only if it meant he had gotten through to her.

"I shouldn't have hit him, even once," Emily nodded her head. "I should have ignored him. I'm sorry."

Mentor smiled brightly and pulled Emily back into his arms. He held her and hugged her tight.

"I am proud of you for standing up for your sister, but I'm more proud you had the courage to admit you were wrong. That takes a lot of strength, Emily, and that's the strength you should have used against Howie."

"Not my fists," Emily whispered.

Mentor kissed her cheek and then got off the bed. He held out his hand and she took it.

"You have a few more apologies to make. You've disappointed the others as well as me."

He guided her out of the room and into the common room. He sat her down on her stool and called the others. While they waited for the Samurai to gather, Mentor Ji looked at Emily. She seemed completely miserable.

As the others arrived, they were shocked to see Emily out of her room. Without making a sound, they took their seats and waited to hear what Ji had to say. When they were all there, Ji gave Emily a look. She knew what she had to do.

She pulled at a loose thread on her stool and barely looked up as she whispered her apology.

"I'm sorry, guys. I shouldn't have fought Howie like that. You guys all expected better and you have a right to be disappointed."

"I'm not disappointed," Antonio said but he was quickly punched in the arm by Jayden, "Ow… shutting up."

"I'll write up the apology letter to Howie and I'll admit I was wrong and that he has every right to be mad and stuff… I'm really, really sorry."

Mike jumped stools and sat next to Emily. He pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight.

"It's okay. Once you apologize we can put it all behind us, right guys."

"He provoked her and he's a brute," Antonio muttered. "You don't have to apologize…"

"Doesn't matter what he did," Emily whispered, "I know better. My actions are my own and no one controls them but me."

"C'mon, squirt," Serena said as she got up, "I'll help you write up that apology letter."

"Actually, can I talk to her first?" Mia asked. Everyone in the room seemed a little nervous, knowing how Mia had reacted when she first found out what Emily had done.

The yellow Ranger hid in Mike's arms.

Mia sighed, "I'm not going to yell, I promise."

Emily gulped and got to her feet she followed Mia to her bedroom. Mia had her take a seat on her bed. Emily did as she was told and clutched the blanket in her fists. She was really worried about what Mia was going to say.

Mia paced back and forth for a few seconds. This only added to Emily's panic. What was Mia going to do?

Finally the pink Ranger turned to her, "I, in no way, condone what you did to Howie. It was stupid, irresponsible, and inexcusable. You are _so _lucky he, a teacher, and his parents all decided against calling the cops. If they had, I would have had them lock you up and throw away the key! I'm so disappointed in you, Emily."

Emily's lower lip quivered. Tears filled her eyes again. She looked up at Mia, hurt, mortified, and ashamed. "You promised you wouldn't yell…"

Mia took a deep breath and nodded her head. She knelt down in front of Emily and took her hands gently.

"I just… I got mad, Emy. First I was worried Howie picked on you and something happened to you. Mike just told us you were at the hospital because you and Howie were in a fight. What was I supposed to believe?"

"I'm sorry…"

"Then you were okay and I was relieved, but I found out what you did and… God, Emy, I've never been so furious in my life!"

"I'm sorry."

"That was stupid; really, really stupid; and not just because he could have called the cops. Think about what else could have happened, Emily. This guy had taken down Serena twice before you pissed him off. If his friends hadn't been so shocked, they could have pummelled you and Mike into the ground! You were so outnumbered and something tells me they've been in fights before."

"I'm sorry."

"And you would still get in trouble by the cops for starting that fight!"

"I'm sorry," Emily's tears streamed down her cheeks. Upsetting Mia was never a good thing. For the boys, ironically, it meant a good beating. For Emily, it was almost just as bad as upsetting Serena. Both older Samurai were on the same level in Emily's eyes. While Serena would always hold a special place in Emily's heart, Mia was right there, as close as anyone could get.

Mia squeezed Emily's hands a little tighter, "You were wrong, Emily. You were so wrong. I'm not going to apologize for yelling, but I said something I shouldn't have said and I know it hurt you. I'm going to apologize for that, okay?"

Emily nodded her head. Mia sat next to her on the bed.

"I was wrong to tell you that you disappointed Serena. Making that assumption was not something I should have done, especially before I knew how she felt. And I shouldn't have ever mentioned Terran's name either. You scared me. You disappointed me. You upset me. I guess… when I got angry, I just lost it. I just wanted to see you hurt so I said those things. I'm sorry, Emily."

"But… you… were… right," Emily muttered out between sobs and hiccups. Mia shook her head.

"I was… but you didn't need to hear it from me. If Serena was disappointed… you should have heard it from her. I should have just said what I meant. You disappointed me."

"I'm sorry."

Mia wrapped her arms around Emily. She hugged her tight.

"Me too."

For the next little while, the two girls sat in silence. Mia tried to calm Emily back down after getting her all worked up. She brushed her hair, hugged her warmly, and gently rocked her until the sobs and hiccups eventually died down. Then, she softly grabbed Emily's arms, pushed her away and looked her in the eyes.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

Mia smiled and hugged her sister again until there was a knock at the door. Serena was standing with a pen and paper.

"It's nearly been two hours," she said. "I kind of want to get this letter out of the way before Terran wakes up again."

Mia chuckled and wiped her eyes, "I'll let you get to it, then. You two can stay in here. I'll help the boys with your stuff. I'm sure you'll want your room back to the way it was."

Emily nodded her head while Mia and Serena switched positions. Serena grabbed one of Mia's DVDs from under her bed and used that as a makeshift table to write on. She looked to her sister.

"So, what do you want to say?"

"I want to write it," Emily whispered.

Serena smiled. She passed the pen and paper over to her sister and leaned back.

"Let me know if you need any help."

-Samurai-

Antonio collected a few of Emily's and Mike's things in his hands from Ji's bedroom, where EVERYTHING had been stored. All that was left were the few personal items that belonged on the desk, the dresser or the night tables. He and Jayden were collecting them while Mike had Kevin, Mia, and Mentor working on putting everything in its place.

"So, have you thought about your little situation?" Antonio asked. Jayden shrugged his shoulders.

"Not as much as before. You're kind of right. I don't need to worry about it as long as I'm not working on a relationship."

"But you should know what you want. It'll be unfair to date anyone when you're unsure."

"For now… I'm thinking of doing what you tell me. Letting it happen and accepting my feelings. If I don't have something figured out by the time I get back to Amanda, I'll talk to her. Maybe she'll be able to help me. And being honest with her can't be a bad thing, right?"

"Have you not met women?" Antonio laughed. "If you tell her the truth, you'll have to be ready to run. If she is waiting for you, I'm sure she'll be waiting a long time. The _last_ thing she'll want to hear is that you're dumping her for some guy you _might_ be attracted to, especially after everything you put her through."

"Or girl," Jayden added and then sighed, "Alright… so hopefully I'll figure this out before then."

"If not, wear running shoes," Antonio chuckled. "And bring flowers. Not roses, though. She'll hit you with them and thorns hurt."

Jayden laughed for a moment. He collected a few more of Emily's things and then looked to Antonio, "Odds are that I'm sticking with her though."

"What do you mean?"

"If I am gay… a relationship with her is out of the question, I guess. But if I do turn out to be bisexual or straight, I'm sticking with her. I love her."

"Makes sense. You'll just have to be honest with her, though. Tell her you did experiment."

"Didn't you just tell me…?"

"Two different things, mi amigo."

"Can I be asexual?"

"You'd think that would solve all your problems," Antonio chuckled and rolled his eyes. He started for the door, "C'mon, Romeo. Mike's probably waiting. And don't drop anything or Emily might beat you up for breaking her stuff."

-Samurai-

As much as Ji hated drama, these moments were somehow worth it.

It was that moment right after the storm, when everything calmed down and started falling back into place. It was the moment the Samurai all came back together and the house was finally peaceful.

He made his way around the Shiba Home. Mike, Jayden, Antonio, Kevin, and Mia were working together getting Mike and Emily's room back to the way it was supposed to be, and they were actually having fun doing it. Of course, Mike knew where everything belonged and was taking advantage of that fact to boss the others around. It was all in good fun and everyone knew it, but Kevin still couldn't let it go and ended up wrestling with Mike over how the bed was supposed to be made. It got nothing done, but it had been fun to watch.

And then Ji walked over to the other room. Emily was hard at work writing her letter and Serena was nearby in case she needed help. Ji was happy to see his punishment, while it had been rather painful, had worked out.

He knew he had no right to brag, but he felt like he was parent of the year (ignoring the fact that it was only February and he technically wasn't really a parent to any of the Samurai except Jayden). He was proud of the way he handled Emily's behaviour, and proud that he had stuck to his guns. Nowadays, that was a skill that was rarely found. Most parents gave in to screaming children.

But as happy as he was, Ji started to wonder what it would have been like if Emily had been his child. He saw her, and all the others, as his children in a way, but there was no biological attachment. He missed that.

Well, he knew he couldn't miss it. He never had it. He had no children; only Jayden, whom he had adopted and raised from a boy. He wouldn't give that up for anything, except maybe giving Jayden his real father back, but Ji was starting to feel a little curious.

What if he did have his own child? What if he did have a normal life? He had watched Jayden grow up. The red Ranger had been born in the Shiba House and never left, but Ji knew that was a different experience entirely. Just watching Serena and Terran, he knew he had missed out on something.

He was proud of his Samurai and he loved them all. Long after their battle against the Nighlok ended, he wanted to keep in touch with them. He wanted to know how their lives turned out, and, if possible, he wanted to stay a part of their lives.

When he first heard the Samurai refer to him as their Uncle Ji to the real world, he had been touched. He knew it was just a cover, but it meant so much more to him. It started to become real.

At first he had tried to keep his distance. They were only temporary in his life, so there was no point getting attached.

Then he did.

He didn't know when it happened. It was definitely before Emily got her spirit stolen. His Rangers had been injured in battle before that and he had been worried, but that had been a true life or death moment. He remembered sitting by her beside while the others fought. He remembered biting his nails and almost reducing himself to tears right in front of her.

It had happened before Dekker kidnapped Kevin, Ji was sure of that. He had been deeply worried for his blue Ranger. He acted brave, because he was still trying to keep his distance and trying not to get attached, but he had, admittedly, worried himself sick.

The more he thought about it, the more he started to realise that maybe he had always been attached. They were, in a sense, the missing part of his life. Because of his duties to the Shiba clan, he had never gotten the chance to start his own family. When their parents had been Rangers, they had all been adults and able to take care of themselves.

Maybe, just maybe, it had happened the day Jayden had brought them home.

But there was still a part missing. They were all kids to him, but they were grown. He never got the chance to be a real father.

He was pulled from his thoughts when he heard a noise. He looked around and found he had wandered to the other side of the house, just outside Serena's bedroom. He paid closer attention to the noise and smiled brightly. Terran was up.

He walked in and turned off the baby monitor so Serena wouldn't come in and take the baby. He leaned over the crib and gently scooped the little boy up.

"Were you waiting for me?" he cooed and Terran smiled, happy to see his Grandpa Ji.

Ji gently bounced the baby in his arms as he collected Terran's blanket, a few toys, and the diaper bag. He carried him to the common room. Terran seemed to know what was happening and cooed happily. Ji chuckled.

"You know its playtime, don't you? Of course it's playtime. It's always playtime with Grandpa Ji."

_The End_

_Author's Note: Yeah, I'm ending it there. Not the series, just this story. With the new season coming up, I know there's no way I can keep this going unless I want it to become monster huge (though I guess it already is…). A new story will come out soon, once the season begins to air, with a few quick stories in between. Look out for those and don't forget to tell me what you think!_


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